Even snow and ice at the weekend couldn’t stop athletes from Wolverhampton & Bilston AC from getting out and getting competitive over the country, on the roads and on the trials.
The big event of the weekend was the British Athletics Cross Challenge at Liverpool’s Sefton Park, this included the European Trails giving the elite a chance to qualify for the European Cross Country Championships in Dublin in a fortnights time. Amelia Samuels, already with a GB vest to her name, was looking to qualify in the U23 category racing in the senior women’s race over 8.12k. Having trained specifically with this race in mind she ran well to finish in 15th overall and 7th in the U23 category in 27.36 but just missed out on a ticket to Dublin by just a handful of seconds. Louie Lambeth continued his progression in his first season in the senior ranks placing 90th in the U20s over 6.9k. And Jamie Ward crossed the line in 161st in 33.35 and Harry Dyall was 186th in 34/12 over 9.8k in a stellar fielding the Senior Mens race.
A group travelled to Spain leaving the freezing weather behind to take part in the Benidorm Half Marathon and 10k, a race boasting a Saturday evening sea front finish under lights and the opportunity for a few days away. Over the 13.1 mile distance Kate Elliott placed 780th in 1.57.33 and Vanessa Landreau was 783rd in 1.57.35. There some quick times over the 10k distance where finishing positions were based on gun times but chip times where recorded. Greg Asbury brought the club home in 102nd place in 39.04, Rich Amor-Wilkes was 124th in 39.52, Dave Newport was 128th in 39.57, Lucy Calrow was 133rd in 40.17, Luke Yeates 141st in 40.42, Fran Villacampa Diaz was 163rd in 41.40, Sarah Thurley was 263rd in 44.02, Darren Edwards, despite saying he wasn’t fit enough to run round a muddy field in the Birmingham Cross Country League managed 44.20 in the Spanish autumn sun to take 230th place, Russ Newman was 342nd in 47.21, Emily Simmonds placed 445th in 49.36 and Holly Baddeley was 478th in 49.07. There may have been others but with over 100 pages of results to scroll through and no club filter with many being classified as “independiente”, their equivalent of unattached, it was a difficult job to trace people, apologies if any were missed.
Closer to home a small group travelled to Weston Park for a multi terrain 10k, Pravesh Patel did the club proud to take the runners up spot in 35.31, Oliver Evans was not far behind in 5th place in 37.38, Lionel Spittle placed 55th and took 1st place in his age category crossing the line in 47.44 and Liz Lister was 221st in 1.08.00.
