An incredible 80 Bournville Harriers turned out to represent their club at this year’s Birmingham Half Marathon. Orlando Corea came in 17th overall in 1:11:10 with Mel James first lady home for Bournville in 01:25:03.
Bournville results (there may be more but these are ones listed on the official results website as running for the club):
(pic by Katchoo on Flickr)
Sorry can you say that again, I didn’t have my hearing aid switched on… something about a stuck caps lock was it?… have you tried hitting it with a hammer?
I JUST WANT TO SAY THAT I AM REALLY PROUD OF ALL OF YOU – FASTER RUNNERS AND SLOWER ONES, LONG ESTABLISHED RUNNERS AND THE NEWER ONES. YOU ALL WERE REALLY GREAT ON SUNDAY, AND, YES, THIS POSTING IS IN CAPITALS AS A ‘SHOUT’ BECAUSE I WANT TO SHOUT FROM THE ROOFTOPS TO SAY HOW GREAT ALL THE RUNNERS WERE AND ALL THE SPECTATORS WHO STOOD AROUND FOR SUCH A LONG TIME. I THINK SPECTATING IS HARDER THAN RUNNING!!!! WELL DONE ALL OF YOU.
A massive well done to all of you who ran in the Birmingham Half!! I know what a massive achievement it is, especially for first timers!! I managed an hours support in Bournville before jetting off on my jollies and must say thoroughly enjoyed seeing the speed of the elite’s followed not far behind by our very own BvHers!! I loved supporting! May consider it again next year…… for the whole event!! xx
Nearly a week on from the Birmingham Half and I’m still on a bit of a high.
I love this event……it’s what got me running two years ago and largely what keeps me at it. This was my third Brum Half and each year the support seems to get better and my times get quicker!!
So many familiar faces in the BIG crowds……Alec at the startline, Andy H at the cricket ground (twice!), Maria in Bournville (twice), Gareth and Linda (Maryvale Rd & Cannon Hill …..unbelievable!!)….Steve James near Pebblemill……and many others too. Thanks to all, it really spurs you on.
Lots of great performances……but Maggie Curtis…..after a long time out, was just fantastic. Rob Andrew on the telly was pretty cool too!
I’m a proud brummie (with the accent to prove it!!), a proud BvH’r and for one Sunday morning each year, I get to combine lots of the things that mean so much.
Roll on next year.
Well done to all BvH. Such fantastic times and so many of you entered. I did think of you all as I was waiting to start my half in Amsterdam. Cant wait to catch up with club on Monday. WELL DONE guys.x
Dear Gary, I don’t know whether you read my last posting? but it states that I/we have had nothing but praise and pride for BvH……
………the moral of the story is…….we are very proud to be part of this club……… we are just hoping that the club are proud of us too . xxx
Dear Ed, thank you for that refreshing blast…I have duly had my gold stars, a jelly snake and watched a smashing episode of Bleep and Booster!
Annnyyyway, just wanted to say we do love Chris. We love everybody! Look, it`s like this..
We – the baby beginners (or not far off)..(ok I know it`s pushing it a bit, but humour me?) feel like we just took our ever first baby steps (aarhh!).
You – our metaphorical parents (in terms of running years you understand?….we don`t need to get Jeremy Kyle involved), are who we look up to in order to get praise and affirmation. And if we`re lucky, a Tinky Winky and a curly wurly.
No praise for babys` first step? = sad baby…See how it works?
I know it wasn`t the Marathon des sables..but it was a big milestone. So big, some of us turned up last night wearing our ickle medals and stuff…you know, sniff, and then…nothing. That`s all…And you lot are so fab, and clever and fast, and talented..
Really we didn`t want or mean to rock the boat..time constraints and all that, duly noted. That`s why I offered up a little suggestion in my last posting?
Chris had a very good idea also..to let him know if we did anything pb, new race, or whatever, that we would appreciate him giving some air time to…
I don`t know…? It felt like someone told us there was no….sob, sniff….Santa? Which by the way, I now know is total and utter poppycock!
Well, I`m off to self medicate now. (Joke…its a JOKE!) Love you all..lots x
I have been debating whether or not to post here, however, here goes… First off congratulations to everyone who ran on Sunday. 80 plus BVHers on the startline let alone finishing is an incredible achievement for the club.
I would like to say that this club is by far the most inclusive club that I have ever run for. It caters for all abilities, ages and genders. I would challenge anyone to find one of a similar standard in the Midlands. I was disheartened to read that a few of you were upset that you didn’t get a mention last night. The committee members are trying their best and in my opinion do an excellent job.
As has already been addressed, the omission was due to time constraints and has nothing to do with a preference towards “elitism.” I imagine it is extremely tasking to filter through all the performances and establish who has run personal bests and by how much and whether this was their 1st half marathon etc. (especially after a full day of work and on a purely voluntary basis).
I admire the way the club is run and would love to get more involved if it wasn’t for my antisocial and ever evolving shift pattern. The committee members are doing just that and giving back to the sport that has given so much to them. Please cut them some slack.
Anyhow, it’s great to see the club progressing on all levels. See you at the xmas party.
Gary.
I think you should all be given gold stars and an extra half hour of telly tonight.
I have followed this exchange with interest as I also completed the Birmingham half-marathon this week-end alongside Linda and several other newer runners (some of us Virgin half –marathoners!). I completely understand Linda’s point of view – and I happen to agree. If we are to continue to grow as a fully inclusive, all abilities club then we need to acknowledge the significant achievements of all our members. Whilst I of course appreciate all the very kind support of my fellow club members on a personal level, here is a little suggestion that might be of help? If there is insufficient time for all club announcements on a Monday evening then perhaps there could be an alternative way of making the acknowledgement. In the case of last night, where it was a very high profile event, with a prolific amount of our lovely Harrier bods taking part, maybe a simple show of hands of all those who had taken part and maybe a round of applause to acknowledge their efforts would almost certainly have been sufficient for us all to feel valued by the club? That way, everyone would have their personal and club efforts acknowledged, and it would take maybe 2 minutes? I understand the time pressures but I also understand how deflating it can feel to have achievements under-valued. I guess there are ways to deal with both? We all did bloomin fab! That`s the bottom line..
Lastly, thank you so very much to all the amazing supporters on the way round the Bham Half. I apologise if I didn`t see you or hear you….I`m just waiting for an appointment from Specsavers! (Other opticians are also available, lol!)
I have read all the comments below, and maybe should have perhaps expressed my opinion via email rather than postings 🙂
I have spent the last year and a half telling everyone I come across, how wonderful Bournville Harriers are, that opinion hasn’t changed. I am very proud to be a member and very proud of the great results this club produces. I have personally encouraged individuals to join BvH and also encouraged others to join in with club events.
I love being a part of BvH and am often out in my BvH Jacket/Coat/ Vest, walking very proudly around with…. ‘Bournville Harriers’ across my back!!!
We are massively impressed by the fantastic times and achievements of others within this club. But while we are still fairly new to running, and might not be running fantastic times (just yet …. watch this space ! ) …… we are really proud of our achievements as beginners. We appreciate the growing numbers of club members, and the amount of announcements there must be. Whereas we might not have expected an announcement for every Park run.. etc ..etc. , but a mention of our (local) half marathon (a very first for some!) would have been very encouraging. We hopefully will partake in more events, where we fully expect.. banners… podiums… and bouquets!! Lol x…. just a mention will do x
… and just for the record.. I am very proud of myself, after never having run before joining the beginners course last year, now having completed my second half marathon, and I have beat my previous time by nearly 10 mins …and obtaining a new PB!!….
And a special… fab! And well done!!! to my other friends/warriors…… Minnie, Kay, Anne Marie & Sharon….. and Jude ‘the pocket rocket’…..Alan and Jo.. … xx…. some of which have never endured the ‘delights’ of running a gruelling 13.1 miles… finished off with 3 miles of hills!!!!!!oops!…… but we are all very proud of ourselves!!!!! xx
Linda Goley – Hi, additionally, perhaps write a race report for everyone to read, with your view of the race and what it meant to you.
No one has ever asked me to write one but following the lead of other longer standing club members, such as Lesley Pymm and Barrie Roberts, I have wrote a few.
We all have different viewpoints, observations and writing styles and this is a great medium by which to share them.
I would love to read about your thoughts and achievements. Well done on your first HM.
Some fantastic and well deserved results.Anyone from the beginners doing the half for the first time – well done. Some great improvements – Jude Glynn who goes from strength to strength. Special mention for Wayne (Fullilove) who was a beginner last year and ran 1.34 – incredible. Thank you all for your concern at not being able to find my time in the results – I am grateful that you eventually managed to discover one of my worst performances ever. My excuses are: –
– I was waiting behind for Orlando to catch up – not realising he’d snubbed me to run with the elite runners.
– My race number was given to a pantomime horse caled Dobbin who was disappointed with his time.
– I was lacking fitness and adequate training – usual stuff.
Great support from Bournville colleagues around the course (who should have been running). A good day overall.
Hi Linda,
I am sorry that last night’s announcements were a bit of a let-down for you. My preference would always be to read out everyone’s results, but as our club is growing rapidly in size that is becoming less and less possible. I have received a number of complaints about how long Monday night announcements are getting, and last night had the potential to be a new record for length, so I decided to focus on people who had set new age category records and just mention a couple of others who I knew off the top of my head had run considerable PBs.
I would like to take this opportunity to encourage you and all others who have felt similarly missed out in the past to take another look at the “tell us your race results” form (link below and under ‘announcements’).
I currently spend upwards of an hour every Monday prior to club trying to get everyone’s results together and I rarely have any clue who actually wants their times read and who doesn’t. If you have completed a run that you are particularly pleased about, please use this form to call my attention to it and I promise I will announce it. That will help make me aware of the achievements that people are most proud of and ensure I acknowledge them during announcements.
Further to the point, I don’t get notified automatically when our members race, so by using the form, you would actually be making my Monday’s a lot less stressful! 🙂
I hope that explanation helps a bit, but please feel free to talk to me on Thursday if it doesn’t or to email me at bvhchairperson@bournvilleharriers.org.uk
-Chris
Here’s the form I mentioned:
http://bournvilleharriers.org.uk/race-reports/tell-us-your-race-results/
Hearty Congratulations to ALL those members of BvH who successfully completed the BUPA Great Birmingham Half-Marathon 2012.Some great performances from all ages and abilities.(There was also the Amsterdam Race as well on the weekend).A large number of names to read out on any one night.Perhaps next year `we` can have the Results up on a board so that everyone can feel affirmed.However,I personally wouldn`t want all the names read out prior to going for a Club run,and fully concur with Steve J`s comments on the matter.That having been said I feel very proud of the achievements of my fellow runners at BvH.
Barrie Roberts
PS.The Annual Awards Night will be another opportunity to acknowledge and celebrate the tremendous efforts and endeavours of all BvH participants.
Hearty Congratulations to ALL those members of B
Linda – Many congratulations on running the half marathon again and running a new personal best performance by almost 6 minutes!
I am sorry you feel disappointed with Chris for not reading out all the names of the members who took part in the half marathon.
I hope you can appreciate, with almost 90 members taking part, it is not always practical or sensible to read out everyone’s name but that doesn’t take anything away from your great run or the tremendous achievements by this year’s beginners group or indeed anyone else from BvH who took part.
I know that last year I did not read out everyone’s name for the very same reason and I encouraged Chris to do the same by attempting to highlight some of the most improved or newer members and I know we’ve also had 20 members who have recently joined us.
I’m sorry if you felt there were members who missed out on a mention but with the evenings drawing in, you become very conscious about keeping people for too long, getting cold before they set off on the run.
I am sure Chris will probably want to respond to you directly but I hope you can understand and all I can do is to apologise but also say well done on a great run..
to sort out (add to previous posting in logical place)
Linda, my understanding is the names will/could be read out in shifts, as there is 80odd names to get through, yours could be lost in the machine gun blur of results, so chances are, your name will come up on thursday… or next monday… so give Chris a break… He’ got the bleeping GP.
As some way of compensation… I hope you enjoyed your race.
Really dissappointed with the club tonight. 13.1 miles, 2-3 hours of running and months of training and we didn’t even get a mention. I understand there were a lot of names to read out, but it isn’t every day you run a half marathon. We went to the club tonight full of pride after such a wonderful achievement, and stood waiting in anticipation to hear our names read out, only to find out it wasn’t worth the few minutes it would have taken. I am very proud of the club and the brilliant athletes it has within its members, and although we might not be running a half maraton in 1hr + , the fact that some of us who have never ran in our lives before, only joining the beginners club last year, and are now to the level of running half marathons, was really worth a mention. I/we were left feeling very difflated and dissappointed.
BvH is clearly building up `strength in depth`, which ogres well for the future. As well as encouraging performances,there has also been good levels of participation by all ages and abilities within the Club. Not everyone ran well on the day,but in general the BUPA Birmingham Half Marathon was a `good day at the office`for Bournville Harriers;the results speak for themselves.
Barrie Roberts
Re Mick James http://www.greatrun.org/Results/NameSearch.aspx?r=274&surname=James
Hmm…not convinced that’ll work! If you search under surname on results page he’s there on the second page 🙂
Congratulations to everyone who took part on their fantastic results. I signed up for the race months ago and didn’t get round to joining the club until a couple of weeks ago so my time isn’t logged (1.30.08), but it was heartening to get so much support from people who didn’t know me on account of wearing the vest! It was also great to see so many of the club’s leading runners so close to the elite athlete as out paths crosses on Pershore Road and to be able to offer some encouragement in their direction.
As a supporter of BVH it was a pleasure to be there what a turn out of BVHs i was quite hoarse when i got home did not realise so many had entered. Well done to Orlando and to all those finishers. Izzy and myself say well done
Spreadsheet updated (though I’ve still not found Mick James’s result – anyone got the link?)
– dave harte
We re new to BvH and so in the Birmingham Half results we aren’t listed as harriers. I promise we are fully paid up members so is it ok to add our times to the list?! Simon Dix completed in 1:31:48 and I did it in 1:54:40 – over the moon with our times, shows the impact of only a few weeks of those speed reps! I took 12 minutes off last year! Huge thank you!
Well done to everyone who took part, amazing achievements all round!! Loved cheering everyone on, very proud, as always, to be part of BvH 🙂
@Brian Smith – thanks for that Brian, we’ll check it out! 🙂
Thankyou for adding my time 🙂
Also thankyou Sharon I am quite shocked myself that ive got faster,i think it may have something to do with joining an amazing club,made loads of friends and the support from other bvh around the route was amazing.Also I enjoyed cheering all bvh that i went past 🙂
Thanks Orlando. That is indeed the praise of the praiseworthy. I really want to say a big thank you to everyone who was supporting us on the course. I tried to give everyone the thumbs up but sorry if I missed anyone. I can only plead extreme physical effort, and promise that I left it all out on the road.
Well done all supporters and runners – we were all representing the club at the biggest race in the area, and that is a pretty good way of showcasing what a great club we are.
I did the Birmingham Half last year, spotted the teal vests, heard the epic support, and that’s one of the reasons I joined BvH. I’m very glad I did!
Hi Guys, tried to take all Bournville runners and am at the moment uploading them, will take a couple of days to do them all.
http://www.westmidlandsrunningscene.co.uk but I guess you all know that
All the best
Brian
Really pleased to set a new best for myself and the club. It was tougher than ever towards the end I can tell you. The support was outstanding and almost overwhelming, esp around Bournville and Cannon Hill. Support was even regularly coming from other BvH runners on the Pershore Road as I went back into the city. What a team!!
Managed to run with some of the elite runners and held on to their pace to the very end.
Of all the amazing personal bests and efforts I must single out Jon Hammond. 19 minutes faster than last year, to run 86mins.
Well done to everyone who ran yesterday. I can hardly walk today but have finally got under the magical 2hours on my third attempt. Wonderful support from BVH as usual (other runners and spectators). A big thank you to Martin Foster who gave me a much needed pat on the back to get me up those hills at the end!
Fantastic results- well done EVERYONE 🙂 (found Mick in the official results and can confirm Aine ran too 😉 ) A huge thank you to everyone who turned out to support-it really helped:) Brilliant race!
I’ve added the missing results although I can’t find Mick James on the official results (even though I saw him with my own eyes). Maybe running under someone else’s name?
mick james is missing from these results??
well done everyone, amazing times there. suz, how fast you have got!!! – can i just say that i knew you would from the first time i saw you run. you have that determination in your stride 🙂
and for those of you who ran listening to music – you missed all the amazing support the others got from the BvH crew as you ran round
Well done all! An ocean of teal maybe? Brilliant run by Orlando… is that the club record broken within a week or so of Gary’s new record? I was pleased with my run – a pb by almost 4mins. Felt good (apart from my right knee) most of the run and found the hill at the end a lot of fun! Thanks for all the shouts of ‘Bournville’ around the course. Hope everyone else enjoyed the event too.
Well done all of you. I was looking at the photos on Brian Smith’s website last night and there was Orlando running with the guys with their names instead of numbers! WOW. Great time for Mel as well as first BvH woman. You all did so well and there are some fantastic times there.
Hi guys when i enetered i had not joined the club,but i did run in my bournville top so glad i did. I got pb 1.42.42 🙂
Amazing results BvHs! I forgot my chip, but I did run the race, honest! It got 2.02 which was a PB and just a few minutes behind Orlando