Category: Cross Country

Inter-counties

By Sadie Towell (U13’s)

It was a 6am start for the Inter-Counties X-Country on Saturday.

The coach arrived at Tiddenfoot at 6.15am before it went to Luton and Bedford. We were all really excited and nervous on the coach journey which was really long. As a team we all really enjoyed being on the coach together.

I was really happy to be running in the Inter-counties and the whole experience was amazing fun; I got especially excited when I found out that the whole event was televised! There were also famous people running like Rebecca Murray. read more

Record Numbers at the National

The skies were blue overhead and there was little wind blowing across Hampstead Heath on Saturday, but a layer of overnight snow was still present on the ground for the early risers to see around the North London park. It didn't last long, and for the 5000 athletes making their way to London it was just that little bit more water to add to the quagmire like conditions that were developing on the heath.

There was a decent contingent of runners and supporters from Leighton who travelled by various means for the iconic race around the fields of Parliament Hill. It has been noted by cross-country officials that the last couple of years has seen a resurgence in cross-country running with leagues and big championship races getting record numbers and this combined with the good weather on the day meant that over 5000 people took part all told. read more

What a season finale!

The Glowing Bit i.e. Leaving out most of the plethora of stats

The final league fixture, more than ever before showed what an exceptional club LBAC is. We have less than 50 senior members and a similar number of juniors but have just hosted the biggest and best fixture of the season while still giving everyone the opportunity to run and coming up with probably our best set of results ever.

On a day when it would be easy to get carried away with the fantastic running there are some very important things that should be remembered. Firstly the league itself is only the size and quality it is due the hard work put in by Dennis Orme who sadly lost his life to cancer a few weeks ago but would have been delighted to see the recognition given today by hosting the UK cross challenge.

Secondly, every year LBAC takes on the hosting of a fixture but the reality is that 95% of us only get involved on the day because Richard does all the work in the months beforehand. Now don't get me wrong he loves it really, but you wouldn't have thought that at 10:30 this morning! We've tried to get involved with helping him, and at some point (he's 70 next year) there will be a change of guard but as it stands we (and the rest of the league) should just be grateful that he continues to plan and deliver excellent events.

Thirdly, the reason we can deliver excellent events is because every year we have a fantastic response to our appeal for volunteers to come and stand in the cold/rain/snow all day for nothing more than a few words of thanks. For these people it isn't a short day with some being there at 8am and even the late arrivals turning up at 10:30 to put in a six hour shift on their weekend. Without these volunteers giving up their day it would make life much more complicated for all concerned. I therefore think that I speak for all of us that ran when I say we owe a huge thank you to Dennis, Richard and the thirty or so people who did that today.

We come on to the running. There is a huge amount of detail that can be gone into in terms of how people have performed today and across the season, and believe me I can't resist entirely but will cover it later so those not interested can stop reading at the appropriate moment, so in more general terms these are the facts of the season.

  • We have now been in division one for five consecutive years. Two was our previous record!
  • The U11 girls achieved their highest ever team position
  • The senior women achieved their highest ever team position
  • The U20 men took a bronze medal in achieving their highest ever team position
  • The senior men took a bronze medal in achieving their highest ever team position
  • And more cakes have been baked this season than the infamous 1983 season when we recruited Mary Berry as ladies captain!

For those that want to stop now there is just one more thing. We didn't make a big deal out of our overall club position as the men were focused on the team competition and we looked pretty set in 8th place but the amazing running by the whole club meant on the day we overhauled a 300 point deficit on Luton and took 7th place out of 14 overall in the division, our best ever and the first time we've ever beaten our two near rivals of Luton and Aylesbury. 

The Mountains of Brighton

For those who don’t know much about the event, the Southern Cross Country Championships (SXCC) is a prestigious event in the cross country calendar attracting runners from all over the south of England to compete over a gruelling cross country course.  Most years the SXCC are held at the dreaded Parliament Hill Fields, reputed to be one of the tougher cross country courses around, however this year Parliament Hill hosts the National Championships, so Stanmer Park in Brighton stepped up to the role.  Many might have naively thought that the move away from Parliament Hill would be a treat, with a shorter, kinder course…..oh how wrong we were! read more

Buzzard Athletes Represent Beds/England

LBAC is a small club with limited facilities and therefore it’s particularly noteworthy when athletes gain county or national selection. Various club athletes have recently achieved such recognition and their achievements are detailed below. Congratulations to each of you, be proud of your achievements. County Badges Each year, Beds AAA (Bedfordshire Amateur Athletics Association) awards county badges to athletes that have been selected to represent the county on at least two occasions over two or more seasons. In recent years, badges have been awarded to Jordan Clay, Billy Mead, Brian Foulger and Rebecca Davis. For 2014, two further LBAC athletes have received county badges: Shea Minty – receives his badge having represented the county in the 1500m in the 2013 Southern Inter-Counties, and at cross country in the 2013-14 National Inter-Counties, where he was a very creditable 61st out of 301 finishers. Sarah Plummer receives her badge having represented the county three times in cross country over the last two seasons, emphasising her great consistency over the period. The events she was selected for were the National Inter-Counties in 2012-13 and both the Southern and National events in 2013-14. Southern Inter-Counties Selection On Saturday 13th December, the 2014 Southern Inter-Counties are being held at Oxford, and we are pleased to report that two LBAC athletes have been selected for Bedfordshire, with a third on the reserve list: Dominic Grimshaw has been in great form in the Chiltern League U11 races this season and this has been recognised with him being selected to compete at the older U13 age group. All being well, this could be the first of many county selections for Dom. Ellie Rabbitts has been selected to compete for the U13 girls, a recognition of her consistent finishes in the Chiltern League over the last year. Sadie Towell has been selected on the reserve list for the U13 girls. Selection would be a deserved reward for someone that competes regularly for the club. We wish them all well. Masters Home Countries Cross Country Last, but by no means least, Gail Duckworth travelled to Nottingham on 22nd November to represent England in the Masters Home Countries Cross Country International. This prestigious event sees masters athletes selected to represent their home country in this annual England vs Scotland vs Wales vs Northern Ireland vs Republic of Ireland fixture – it is the pinnacle for most Masters endurance athletes. Gail has been a world champion, set British records, and been selected for the Home Countries previously. However after experiencing serious injury problems in recent years, most of us are surprised to see her running at all, never mind at national standard! This is great testament to Gail’s ability and dedication, and we’re proud to have her as Club President. Gail was the third English scorer in the race, finishing 9th out of 19 competitors in the 55 to 59 age group, which helped England secure silver medals behind the Republic of Ireland. Despite this brilliant achievement, Gail will probably tell you that she still isn’t back to full fitness!
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