National Schools Cross-Country

With the end of March fast approaching, the only remaining the final remaining cross-country for any LBAC members was the National Schools Championships that took place this year in Heaton Park, Manchester on a very wet and miserable Saturday. (Some might say that it's always wet and miserable in Manchester, but not me!)

The National Schools is often considered to be the highest level of competition for the junior age groups because it pulls in kids from all the sports who may not run on a regular basis. With that in mind, simply qualifying is a great acheivement and one that two LBAC athletes can be proud of. Over the course of this season Billy Mead and Bryan Foulger have done an excellent job of being the stalwarts of the U15 team in all of the cross-countries, but with a school year between them and the schools agegroups being split differently, Bryan qualified as a top year Junior and Billy did particularly well to get into the Inter boys team a year young. read more

Round Ireland with some Spikes

Gail Duckworth went off travelling last weekend to take in the sites of Belfast and run in the British Masters Athletic Federation cross-country at Stormont. Very importantly Gail took the time to bond with the locals by visiting numerous bars and restaurants around the city and introducing herself to ian Paisley after she had been mentioned in the local paper in the build up to the event. She even took the time to visit the areas where the troubles have been and take in the site of the dockyard where the Titanic was built. read more

UK Inter-Counties

Leighton Buzzard had four representatives at the Inter County championships in at Cofton park in Birmingham at the weekend. For those who are unfamiliar, the event is a selection event where the best runners from each county are picked to represent the county as a team with a certain number making up the scorers, but this varies for each race. In short, you have to be a pretty good runner just to get selected.

In the incredible U13 boys race Jordan Clay and Joe McGarry were both making their debuts at the event. The first person home for Bedfordshire ran 11.06 and came 44th. Jordan and Joe were both within 45 seconds of him, yet finished 173rd and 175th respectively and were 4th and 5th out of eight for the county, such was the mass of quality runners crossing the line. The boys helped the team come 22nd out of the 39 counties, which is pretty good for the smallest one in the country. This was a great finish to what has been an excellent season for both lads and long may it continue. read more

A day out in Leeds!

National XC Championships Roundhay Park Leeds 27th Feb 10

The majority of the team made the long journey north to Leeds in their rattling minibus shaken but not stirred by the big event the U15’s of Billy Mead and Brian Foulger were quickly into their race where a few minutes more warm up would have assisted in this fast paced race. They battled well to finish 216 and 247 respectively of a 387 finishing field. The determination on both the lads faces coming up the notorious hill 66 was great. We think Billy was thinking of his Bargain Bucket KFC that focussed his mind. These two have had a great season fighting injury and hunger! And it isn’t over yet they both represent Bedfordshire schools in the schools championships in Manchester on 20th Mar. read more

Trophies Flow at the County Championships

LBAC secured a whole host of awards at the County Cross-country Championships in Luton this weekend. The championships, which were postponed in January due to the snow making the course inaccessible, suffered somewhat with attendance but LBAC's commitment to the event proved very worthwhile.

The first award came in the U13 boys where Jordan Clay managed too pip Joe McGarry for the first time this season as they led the team home to 3rd place with Jake Irvine and Lloyd Milliken helping them score the vital points. In the U13 girls Beth Tipitte ran well but the results are yet to be posted on the website, so the details will be updated next weekend. read more

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