It should have been a massive weekend for young and old as the National Cross Country Championships were due to be staged up the road at Weston Park on Saturday and with age group races starting early and going through the day until the Senior Mens race brought things to a close at 3.00 there were plenty of athletes from Wolverhampton & Bilston AC on the start lists. Unfortunately, that was as far as they got because the plug was pulled on the event 24 hours earlier due to the field designated for car parking being underwater. This left us with another unexpected quiet weekend again.
At the time of writing there is talk of the National being rescheduled but not until September with the actual date still to be decided.
This left only a handful pulling on the vest, whether literally or metaphorically. Greg Asbury was in action at the weekend as he was called up to represent the Midlands in the England Masters Athletics Association Indoors Inter Area Challenge at Lea Valley. Not one to shy away from a challenge Greg placed 2nd in the M50 400 in 57.92, he placed 3rd in the triple jump with a leap of 9.35 metres and ran the first leg in a 4 x 200 relay with the team placing 2nd in an overall time of 1.50.99.
Holly Baddeley took part in the Brighton Half Marathon coming home in 1.28.39 despite sickness placing 332nd and Mark Judge finished in 1.40.21 to take 1007th place.
And Jack Pickett took the win in the RAF Shawbury 10k crossing the line in 30.46, over three minutes clear of the runner up. Jack is listed on the results as still being a Wolves & Bilston athlete, Power of 10 still says he’s one of ours, but the England Athletics portal has no record of him as a club member. Rather than leave him out due to the confusion, it’s best to acknowledge him and try to sort out what’s going one behind the scenes.
Dave Norman