January 25th, 2012
Seven Athletes and five parents, coach and supporters travelled to Antrim Northern Ireland for the IAAF International Cross Country event which incorporated the forth McCain Cross Challenge Series for 2011/2012.
Flying from Newcastle Airport to Belfast International Airport, it was an early start on the Saturday morning (21st Jan) for a 7:15am flight to Northern Ireland. Arriving at Belfast Airport for 8:15am there was plenty of time to collect the hire cars and find a café for breakfast, as the first race our athletes were involved in wasn’t until 11:15am.
The event was held at the Greenmount Campus, just outside of Antrim and was only a few minutes drive from the airport. Facilities were first class and all registration, changing areas and café were in the same building right next to the start and finish lines. This was even better due to the cold blustery windy conditions and the occasional driving rain. The girls decided that they still wanted to have the small tent put up, so standing back & watching them fighting with the wind & what to do with the poles was one of the many highlights of the weekend. The U15 girls were the first race we had athletes competing, and what a fantastic start to proceedings. Their race was over a distance of 3.6k and 2 laps of the course, which at first glance from the start area and the map looked to be over grassland and flat. When we walked the course it became very different, as it was very boggy in places and lots of camber and small clicks up & down, a very testing course. There were 4 girls lining up from our party (Lydia Turner, Anna Fawcett, Sophie Burnett and Sophie Montgomery of Blaydon Harriers). Towards the end of the 1st lap we were being asked constantly by other spectators where Birtley AC was from, due to Lydia being in 1st place and Anna beginning to make her way from 4th to 3rd position. The announcer on the public address system did his best to mention all athletes and their Clubs and report from around the course on positions, therefore Lydia and Anna and Birtley AC were constantly being mentioned. The final positions were Lydia 1st, Anna 3rd, Sophie B 11th and Sophie M 14th. With Lydia, Anna and Sophie taking the 1st team prize!
Next up to race was Tom Goulding (U15) with what was his first race in a Birtley vest, and was competing over the same course and distance as the U15 girls. Tom worked through the field and finished a very creditable 7th position, just one place from the prizes, well done Tom and here’s to a good future with Birtley AC.
Our final two athletes to race were Adrian Bailes and Chris Peverley in the U17 Mens race, which was over 3 laps of the course and 5.4k, their race also incorporated the U20 mens event, so there was a good size field and a chance to compete against older athletes. Three laps around that course must have been very tiring and both lads stuck in and gave a good competitive performance against a strong field. Adrian finished 14th with Chris coming in 20th position out of 47 finishers.
The International Senior Women and Senior Men races were the last races of the day, then it was into the cars to find our hotel.
We stayed at the Hilton Templepatrick near the airport and made good use of the pool and sauna in the leisure facilities.
Up bright & early on the Sunday morning for breakfast and to the airport for the 9:15am flight back to Newcastle.
Well done to all athletes who competed and have gained good experience racing in a different environment and against different competition to the normal local races.
A big thank you to Sophie & Paige who although injured and unable to compete still travelled to support their training squad. Also thanks to Tony and Brian for their help and support throughout the weekend.
It is always a pleasure to take Birtley AC athletes to events and competitions, and the Antrim weekend was no exception. Many thanks to the young travellers, you are all a credit to yourselves, parents and Club.
Results
Under 15 Girls
1st Lydia Turner 14:47
3rd Anna Fawcett 15:04
11th Sophie Burnett 16:14
14th Sophie Montgomery Blaydon Harriers 16:25
Under 15 Boys
7th Thomas Goulding 13:55
Under 17 Boys
14th Adrian Bailes 20:58
20th Chris Peverley 21:34
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January 24th, 2012
Today, Saturday 21st January, the runners Macey Bradshaw, Josh Harvey, Lea Brown, Matthew Cleugh, Louis Gill and Danielle Coulson set off on their journey to Essex for the NACYP cross country championships. Although it was a long ride we all had great fun on the bus and when we eventually arrrived at the Holliday Inn we were shown into our lovely rooms. After a good nights sleep it was the big day for the cross country run. I could feel the tension in the room even I was nervous. It was about an hour and a half before we arrived at our destination. It was extremely exciting for us kids because we knew that once we had finished the run there was a huge adventure park awaiting us. The horn went off and the race started. Now the managers told us it was 1.7k but it was really much further so that was a big shock to us. For Danielle it was even further because she is in the under 15′s. Good races by everyone and here are the results: 1st. Lea Brown (National Champion) & team gold. 3rd Macey Bradshaw & team gold. 1st. Matthew Cleugh (National Champion) 2nd Louis Gill. 7th Josh Harvey. 1st. Danielle Coulson (National Champion)
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Tags: cross country
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January 20th, 2012
This weekend sees Birtley’s young athletes travel far and wide to compete in two tough cross country events. First off on Saturday morning a group of 9 athletes and 3 parents/coaches fly out from Newcastle airport destined for Antrim in Ireland to compete in the McCains cross challenge event. A few hours later 7 Birtley athletes and parents will join the DACYP county squad to travel by coach to Essex to compete in the NACYP national cross country championships. We wish all our athletes/parents/coaches/team managers an enjoyable and sucessful weekend. Birtley AC would also like to thank Hays travel in Birtley who’s kind sponsorship has helped to offset some of the costs of both trips.
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Tags: cross country
Posted in Uncategorized
January 2nd, 2012
The 2nd Indoor Grand Prix for Under 9, 10 & 11 athletes took place at Monkton on 4th December 2011, with events from 60m through to 600m. Once again the meeting was well attended by Birtley AC athletes. These events are a great starting point for the younger age group Club members and a good introduction to competition and hopefully a long association with athletics. The atmosphere inside the hall is terrific with both athletes and parents cheering for Club members. Well done to all athletes who competed and see you all at the next meetings Sunday 5th February 2012 and Sunday 4th March 2012.
Results:
U9 Girls 60m
Molly Elliot 9.8 sec
Tess Graham 10.4 sec
Caitlin Millmore 10.6 sec
Naomi Sheauills 11.4 sec
U9 Boys 60m
Matthew Cleugh 9.6 sec
Michael Graham 9.8 sec
Chris Coulson 11.4 sec
U10 Girls 60m
Abbie Sheauills 11.8 sec
U10 Boys 60m
James Tulip 9.5 sec + 10.00 sec for 3rd place in final
Louis Gill 10.00 sec
Ryan Smailes 11.8 sec
U11 Girls 60m
Sophie Ward 9.5 sec + 9.7 sec in final
Emily Gibson 9.6 sec
Amelia Bateman 9.8 sec + 9.6 for 3rd place in final
Macey Bradshaw 9.9 sec
Lea Brown 9.9 sec
U9 Girls 300m
Molly Elliot 1:04.2 and 3rd place
Tess Graham 1:14
Caitlin Millmore 1:16.2
Naomi Sheauills 1:18.9
U9 Boys 300m
Michael Graham 1:03.6
Chris Coulson 1:14.6
U10 Girls 450m
Abbie Sheauills 2:09.8
U10 Boys 450m
Ryan Smailes 1:52.2
Louis Gill 1:52.4
U11 Girls 600m
Lea Brown 2:11.7 for 2nd place
Amelia Bateman 2:23.1
Macey Bradshaw 2:36.3
Sophie Ward 2:42.7
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Tags: Events, Indoors, mini athletics
Posted in races
December 18th, 2011
The following training sessions are available during the Christmas and New Year break. All sessions will be endurance based. Meet at the car park next to the Athletics Track, Riverside, Chester le Street, unless it states different. Some sessions may be on grass so therefore spikes or studs could be worn. For further information email/text or phone Tommy Millmore.
Monday 19th December 6:30pm Chester le St
Tuesday 20th December 6:30pm Chester le St
Thursday 22nd December 6:30pm Chester le St
Saturday 24th December 11:00am Beach Training Session South Shields (by special request) – meet at car park next to Marsden Rattler Pub (Ginger Giraffe) on the sea front at South Shields for a beach training session. Wear old trainers and bring a towel and a change of warm clothes & dry shoes!! You will get wet. If you’ve done one of these sessions before you know what to expect!!
Monday 26th December 10:30am Aurora Boxing Day Run – Every year the Club has an invite from Aurora for their run which is approx 5 mile at whatever pace you want. Meet in the car park at Beamish (turn off the main Chester le St to Stanley road at the roundabout to Beamish Museum entrance then into the car park entrance on the left). The run is a social event and everyone meets in the Shepherd & Shepherdess afterwards (there is a raffle afterwards and prizes are greatly accepted).
Wednesday 28th December 10:00am Chester le St
Friday 30th December 10:00am Chester le St
Saturday 31st December 10:00am Shepherd & Shepherdess car park
Monday 2nd January 10:00am Shepherd & Shepherdess car park
Tuesday 3rd January 6:30pm Chester le St
Thursday 5th January 6:45pm Club night Lord Lawson School
Have a great Christmas & New Year. Read more… »
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Tags: beach, schedules, Training
Posted in training
November 30th, 2011
Coverage of the second McCain challenge. By Sophie Forster
After a very early start both the Goulding/Bailes car and the Forster/Fawcett/Gilhespy set off down to Liverpool for the second race of the Mccain challenge series. We were all tired but looking forward to the race. After the 3 hour journey we were looking forward to racing, whereas mammy and daddy Forster were pleased that they didnt have to endure more of our nattering!! We had a look around the suprisingly flat course planning our races. Tom Goulding was the first to put his toe on the line. Tom worked hard around the fast 3k course pushing himself the whole way and finishing in a fantastic 32nd out of a field of 112, the first good run of the day! The next race off, over 3k, was the under 15 girls, including both Anna Fawcett and Sophie Burnett. The girls set off around the course. Both had a good strong start and continued their good form, Anna finished strongly in 35th and Sophie Burnett finished soon after in 54th out of a huge field of 98! Both girls really worked hard! The next race was the under 17 and under 20 girl’s combined over a 4.4 km course including both Sophie Forster and Paige Gilhespy. The girls were not just racing in the Mccain Challenge, but were part of the IAAF european championships qualifiers as the under 20′s in the race were competing for selection to run for England, making the 126 strong field very tough! In the under 17 competition Sophie, full of cold, finished in 20th place and Paige followed in in 38th place very respectively even though she was suffering from knee pain throughout, making it a very gutsy run from Paige! Adrian Bailes was the final Birtley athlete to compete in the under 17 men’s race. Adrian raced very strongly around the 5.5km course constantly working through the field and finishing really strongly in 65th out of the biggest field of the day 117 athletes! It was a good day full of good results all round!! It made the tiring 3 hour journey and the hard training worth it!
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Tags: cross country, U15, XC
Posted in races
November 22nd, 2011
Our latest senior recruit Keith Robertshaw had his first race wearing a Birtley vest in the Leeds Abbey Dash.
For a fast competitive 10k, the Abbey Dash has grown a reputation of being amongst the best in the country.
Keith is an experienced all round runner who races in distance from 5k to marathon. Despite just getting back from injury Keith wanted to do the Birtley vest proud and ran a time of 36.31.
Another of our Senior athletes, Ronnie Eilles made his trip to Leeds worthwhile by running 38.39, smashing 30 seconds of his personal best.
Well done
For further Leeds Abbey Dash info and full results click here
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Tags: 10K, Senior
Posted in races
November 22nd, 2011
For the third weekend in a row it was on the road again for the Club’s young endurance and middle distance athletes. Five Birtley athletes, Adrian Bailes, Sophie Forster, Lydia Turner, Anna Fawcett and Sophie Burnett, travelled to Sheffield for the first of the winter open indoor meetings along with two other athletes from the Monday night training group, Tom Goulding and Sophie Montgomery.
From the seven, only two had raced indoors before, so it was a new experience for most of them.
The chosen events were the rare race distances of 1000m and 600m, all but Sophie M going for the 1000m.
Travelling down it was fog and poor visibility all the way, until we got near Sheffield and the sky was clear, but it could have been raining or even snowing for all we knew, due to being inside the fantastic sporting facility at the English Institute of Sport Sheffield.
All the athletes enjoyed the experience with one or two now being more aware that, indoors, the race tactics can be very different to racing on a 400m outdoor track. This will surely be shown in the times of the next races indoors when we travel to the next available meeting in the new year.
Well done to everyone, back to good old cross country during the next few weeks, and once again thanks to parents for their support and transport.
1000m
2 Anna Fawcett U15 F Birtley AC 03:10.31
5 Sophie Burnett U15 F Birtley AC 03:22.84
5 Lydia Turner U15 F Birtley AC 03:12.65
2 Adrian Bailes U17 M Birtley AC 02:42.04
4 Sophie Forster U17 F Birtley AC 03:08.66
To see the races on youtube click here
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Tags: Indoors, U15
Posted in races
November 15th, 2011
The McCain UK Cross Challenge is back for 2011 – 2012, taking in 5 key cross country fixtures across the UK throughout the autumn/winter season.
With the support of UKA’s principle partner, McCain, there are 5 high quality competitive opportunities for athletes.
The McCain UK Cross Challenge gives up and coming athletes the opportunity to match themselves against established cross country stars, competitive fields catering for all age-groups, Senior, Under 20, Under 17, Under 15 and Under 13 will be contested at the McCain UK Cross Challenge events to be hosted at Bristol, Liverpool, Cardiff, Antrim, with the series final to be hosted once again in Birmingham.
Athletes from the Club will be competing in all the Challenge events except for Cardiff due to that fixture falling on the same weekend as the Schools County Cross Country Championships.
Due to the over 600 mile round trip a number of cars travelled down on the Saturday to stay just north of Bristol to race the following day.
The weather was perfect with the course being very testing and gave the athletes some great experience competing against other athletes from around Britain.
Results
2nd Lydia Turner 00:16:08
9th Anna Fawcett 00:17:30
16th Sophie Burnett 00:18:59
8th Sophie Forster 00:20:24
13th Paige Gilhespy 00:21:43
21st Adrian Bailes 00:24:57
25th Chris Peverley 00:26:02
Also travelling with the Club was Thomas Goulding who competed in the U15 Boys and came 8th.
Next fixture for the McCain Challenge is Liverpool 26th November.
For local press review click here
For full results click here
For McCain Challenge new click here
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Tags: cross country, England Athletics, U15, XC
Posted in races
November 15th, 2011
Once again the National Cross Country Relays were held at Mansfield.
Eight athletes from the Club competed over the testing course, Under 15 Girls and Under 17 Girls teams and an incomplete Under 17 Boys team.
Conditions weren’t too bad when we first arrived but the weather got progressively worse through the day and the course and surrounding areas became very slippery.
The Under 15 Girls finished in 11th position and the Under 17 Girls in 30th position. This is the first time that the Club has been able to have a complete U17 Girls team, and the future of this age group and through to senior level is looking good.
Despite not having a full team Adrian and Chris still decided to travel and compete.
U15 Girls 11th 0:23:36.60 Birtley AC 0:07:45.15 (16) Anna Fawcett 0:08:21.65 (18) Sophie Burnett 0:07:29.80 (11) Lydia Turner
U17 Girls 30th 0:30:59.75 Birtley AC 0:09:57.30 (34) Paige Gilhespy 0:11:37.60 (48) Bethan Oakes 0:09:24.85 (30) Sophie Forster
U17 Boys 0:20:40.60 Birtley AC 0:10:34.20 (67) Chris Peverley 0:10:06.40 (47) Adrian Bailes
Well done to all athletes on what was the first of many trips away during the winter season.
Many thanks to the parents who travelled to support the athletes and also provide transport.
See The Evening Chronicle coverage here
Click here for full results
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Tags: cross country, England Athletics, Relays, U15, XC
Posted in races
