B&I International Cross Country 2017 – “A W60 Report”

Gail Duckworth (EMAC) has taken the trouble to provide us with an insight to the Womens’ (and older chaps) Cross Country :

“To gain selection to represent England is truly an honour.  I was especially happy this year to receive my selection letter as I wasn’t confident that I had posted enough good races.  Having run well in the Counties in January I thought 2017 might be a good year however injuries and timing of races meant things didn’t quite go to plan.

I travelled to Derry on the Friday before the race taking a lot of waterproof kit, which as it turned out was not needed. On race day the weather was good, dry and not too cold.  However, walking the course before you could see it was very boggy in places from the previous week’s rainfall.

As usual at this event they have laps to make the race spectator friendly and it is great having support from people you don’t know but cheering you on as an English runner.  All women run 6K with the over 65 men which this year included Nick Rose however I don’t think the start affected him like it did me!  Despite standing on the line in a positive mood GO seemed to happen too quickly and suddenly I found myself about 8th W60.  Although the start was quite firm you hit the mud on the bend for the first time soon after.  Somehow I had to get my footing and run faster which luckily I did and I started to work my way through the field.  This is when you appreciate numbers on backs, the team medal is always tight between us and the Irish, even your team mates give you encouragement as you go pass them, knowing that every point matters.

On the final lap I could see the last two W60’s in front, both Irish, by now it is hard to pick any pace up and I started to settle for 3rd individual position.  However turning the last corner you then see the finish and have about 150 metres to go, like most I started to ‘sprint’ (I do use this term loosely) for home hoping I would catch 2nd place and passing her I suddenly realise I am actually catching 1st place and couldn’t believe it as we crossed the line together.

Following the after race Team Managers meeting, the gold was awarded to the Irish runner although our chip timing showed exactly the same time.

Despite this I am still proud to have another silver individual medal and lead the English W60’s to team gold.

And Nick Rose, no problems for him easily 1st M65 and team gold!

W60 Points

England 13 points

Ireland 14 points

Scotland 27 points

 

 

B&I International Cross Country : EAMA Team

The athletes selected for the EAMA team to compete in the B&I International Cross Country  at Derry on 18 November 2017 have been announced.

The reserves will compete in the Open races if they are not needed as replacements and any other BMAF member is welcome to compete in those races which take place at 14:00hrs after the international races.  For more information on the race day itself click here or go to the NIMAA Facebook page.

The England Team, after the application, selection and offer process is listed below :

2017 Final Selection

 

EAMA Cross Country Inter-Area Challenge

EAMA is hosting an Inter-Area XC Challenge on Sat 25 November 2017 near Bournemouth.  Entry is as ever via Opentrack.

The Cross-Country team scoring is the sum of position points, based on times converted to age-graded percentages, of first 10 men and 10 women for each club.   It will be on a 4.5 mile course with all starts at 13:30hrs.  Athletes are asked to wear the Area Club Vests if possible but First Claim Vests may be worn.

The event is at Kings Park Athletics Centre, Kings Park Drive, Boscombe, Bournemouth BH7 6JD and a course map is available.

Entries must close Sunday 19 November 2017.

BMAF 10k Open Road Race Championships

Well done to the BMAF team (largely I think SCVAC but not exclusively) that managed today’s BMAF 10k Road Race Championships held on the Gravesend Cyclopark in Kent.  Glorious weather (a tad warm for most of us) and a warm welcome from the staff made for a good race.  With representatives from eight area clubs we saw 108 finishers.

The results have been published and are available at :

EAMA Indoor Inter-Area T&F Challenge 2017

The results for the Indoor Inter-Area T&F Challenge held at Lee Valley Athletics Centre on Sunday 26 Feb 2017 have been published and are available below.  Apologies for the delay but there have been some queries to resolve.  These results are now winging their way to Po10.

Congratulations to SCVAC on their sweep of the board and we hope that you will all come to Solihull in July to enjoy further competition.

2017-indoor-inter-area-results