Birmingham & District Invitation Cross Country League 2022-2023 Season
Race Result Division 3 Race 4
Hosted by Sphinx AC & Massey Ferguson RC
Yesterday saw the curtain close for another year on the Birmingham & District Invitation cross country League. This season in division 3, the finale fixture took place at the picturesque Coombe Abbey Country Park.
The 22/23 season has already been a successful one for the men’s team after we saw a positive increase in numbers, with members old and new lining up to don the maroon vest at all four races! However, this race had the potential to make it an even better year for the club ….
The historical house provided the perfect backdrop, and the dry and mild weather provided the perfect conditions for a team of 10 Harriers to make one more push to move another place up the league table, and that’s exactly what they did! The senior men’s teams finished an impressive 7th on the day, and 6th overall in the league table, a huge improvement of 11 places from the previous year when they finished 17th! Finishing times were as follows –
Ryan Deakin: 30:36, Oli Moore: 31:50, Benjamin Stanaway: 34:21, Karl Moore: 36:14, Daniel Anderson 37:14, Thomas Heyes: 37:49, Ashish Patel: 42:11, Daniel Floyd: 43:30, Dominic Ashton: 44:26, Chris Davis: 44:54
The course was mainly flat and runners from all teams went off hard and fast at the klaxon to make the most of the downhill start! West Bromwich Harrier Ryan Deakin led the race from start and was able to hang on for his best position of the season with a 4th place finish. The remaining scoring six came in strong at 16th [Oli Moore] 51st [Benjamin Stanaway] 93rd [Karl Moore] 122nd [Daniel Anderson] 124 [Thomas Heyes]
Congratulations to Stratford Upon Avon AC, Nuneaton Harriers and Sphinx AC on earning their deserved promotions to division 2 and a warm thank you to all the Marshalls and league representatives who made the racing possible.
We now look forward to the soon approaching lighter evenings where we will return to the valley to train, recruit and ensure we come back next season even stronger.
Heart ‘n’ sole!
Race report by Ben
Men’s results.
Woman’s Race Report by Lexi.
As we ran the fourth and final race of the season, it was hard not to reflect on the progress we have made as a club in the last 12 months. Earlier in the week we had our AGM, which was another stark reminder of how at risk the club was last year, and how it has gone from strength to strength through the year.
Each XC we have managed to field a full ladies team of four, something which we couldn’t achieve last year. On Saturday, we had our strongest team in some time, with 7 ladies all turning up to race, and Lexi and Laura W taking up voluntary positions for the men’s race. Lexi was the first WBH over the line, in 89th position with a time of 28:07. Lena was next in 129th position in a time of 30.18, Laura W in 132nd with 30.28, 162nd was Leah, ran in 32.50, 219th and 220th places went to Tara and Laura D respectively, Tara in a time of 38.22 and Laura in 38.56 and finally Shelly in 222nd with a time if 39.27.
Once again we were very lucky with the weather, and it was a fairly mild day for February. The course wasn’t too muddy and spikes were a good show to run in, however some members did wear trail shoes. The course was nice and flat, making it a quick and fairly easy course to run, as long as you were wary of the rabbit holes around the fields… Some of them were definitely big enough to trip up a runner!
Now we look forward to the nationals in two weeks before hanging up our spikes for the Summer months. At the AGM we did vote to stay in the XC league, so I for one am looking forward to seeing the ladies team grow both in numbers and strength! This will be my last report as Ladies team captain, as I pass the baton on the capable hands of Laura D. It has been an honour seeing the club grown into what it is today, and I am pleased we now have enthusiastic members who are willing to take up the necessary roles in the club and continue to drive West Bromwich Harriers forward.
Well done Girls! We did it!!
West Bromwich Harriers 