6 and 4 stage relays

Riley, Brown, Bowden, Mays, Mcclean, Nicholls Travelling reserve Glen Comish

well u say no northern's in the top ten but i am sure mark warmby comes from the north, just because he doesn't run for a northern team doesn't mean he isn't northern

Going back to Dave Anderson's insights on inner city enduro recruitment, he's put it v well and it's something rarely acknowledged. The location of largely suburban based clubs like SBH, E+H, and thus their recruiting patches and the local demographic, I think a fair bit different from HHH and others closer to the centre, incl my not-so-elite club. Won't say more or it'll get politically incorrect.

Personally I think that enduro standards would be raised if there were a lot more mergers of small/medium clubs - there are still plenty of clubs getting relatively good local/county results mainly from modest level club runners mostly in their mid to late 30s, with very few in their 20s apart from those who are still pushing towards national level. I generalise but most enduro results show a 'missing generation',ditto the xsection of clubs featured in recent AW Club Focus, that's why I think that those who get stuck in at Uni age need every encouragement they can get, there's evidence that most of those who are competitive at age 23ish tend to stay in the sport for the long haul.

Is that a joke?

what makes you think it might be a joke ?

try to guess the womens team and see how close you can get.

nah nah nah wrote:

Is that a joke?

What makes you think it's a joke ?

Lets see your prediction then.

GB announce marathon relay teams

Brown finished fourth in the last two Olympic marathons

UK Athletics have announced the Great Britain and Northern Ireland teams for the Chiba Ekiden Relays on 23 November.

Jon Brown, Peter Riley and teenager Sian Edwards had already been selected for the men's and women's marathon races, which are split into six stages.

Jermaine Mays, Adam Bowden, Michael East, Phil Nicholls, Helen Clitheroe, Laura Kenney, Jenny Blizzard, Wendy Jones and Jo Wilkinson now join them.

Distance legend Liz McColgan and Mike Johnston will coach the teams in Japan.

Alan Storey, UK Athletics' senior performance manager for endurance events, said: Liz's vast experience will certainly help the team.

"She is a very well respected figure in the athletics world, especially in Japan because of her endurance running exploits.

"The younger members of the team in particular will undoubtedly benefit from her presence.?

rubbish mate wrote:

Ok then, no club should have two teams of 'recently aquired' shall we say athletes in the top 20. I fail to see how having 10 clubs with 2 teams in the top 20 would make things better than having 20 teams with the talent more evenly spread, his would create opportunities for more athletes to sample good level competition and possibly, heaven forbid, allow them to run for a club local to them. If the top 6 guys in the country joined one club it would make a mockery of inter club comps, and we are not that far away from that happening.

Have to disagree.

Firstly the Beagles are not all 'recently aquired' athletes. But more importantly as a less recently aquired athlete who was knocked out the B team by the faster newer arrivals I can only see it as a good thing. You can't sit back and expect to be in any of our teams unless you are in shape. See what Nic Bideau has to say on the benefits of a strong squad with competition for places in this article.

The fact there are a lot of top athletes in a few clubs sharpens the competition. One of my 'recently aquired' mates who was 36th at the last Met League (so not a big star( wanted to jon for several reasons (coach is a Beagle, trains with a Beagle, loves the fact loads of Beagles are Hammers fans). But a big reason was the fact the large squad of distance runners at Newham opens out a whole range of competitive opportunities and a list of events at which we have a team. He can find the right level competition and not get hassled to do either Mickey Mouse events or stuff where he's out of his depth as we have the numbers to cover the bases.

This leads to loads of talented youngsters getting screwed over as they're used as point fodder.

I agree with the post that there are two many little clubs and too many little competitions.

It's a shame athletics is now so parochial and it's why I believe 2012 will be the moment the public realises athletics has fallen apart in the UK.

Lots of people criticise NEB and Belgrave without looking at what has gone into the success eg team managers who work dog hard to get athletes out (I've no idea how many miles Bob has driven round the M25 picking up & dropping off athletes - not the stars etc), great team spirit and athletes who are willing to work dog hard to make a team rather than run for a club where they can walk into the team and be the star.

rubbish mate wrote:

Ok then, no club should have two teams of 'recently aquired' shall we say athletes in the top 20. I fail to see how having 10 clubs with 2 teams in the top 20 would make things better than having 20 teams with the talent more evenly spread, his would create opportunities for more athletes to sample good level competition and possibly, heaven forbid, allow them to run for a club local to them. If the top 6 guys in the country joined one club it would make a mockery of inter club comps, and we are not that far away from that happening.

Have to disagree.

Firstly the Beagles are not all 'recently aquired' athletes. But more importantly as a less recently aquired athlete who was knocked out the B team by the faster newer arrivals I can only see it as a good thing. You can't sit back and expect to be in any of our teams unless you are in shape. See what Nic Bideau has to say on the benefits of a strong squad with competition for places in this article.

The fact there are a lot of top athletes in a few clubs sharpens the competition. One of my 'recently aquired' mates who was 36th at the last Met League (so not a big star( wanted to jon for several reasons (coach is a Beagle, trains with a Beagle, loves the fact loads of Beagles are Hammers fans). But a big reason was the fact the large squad of distance runners at Newham opens out a whole range of competitive opportunities and a list of events at which we have a team. He can find the right level competition and not get hassled to do either Mickey Mouse events or stuff where he's out of his depth as we have the numbers to cover the bases.

This leads to loads of talented youngsters getting screwed over as they're used as point fodder.

I agree with the post that there are two many little clubs and too many little competitions.

It's a shame athletics is now so parochial and it's why I believe 2012 will be the moment the public realises athletics has fallen apart in the UK.

Lots of people criticise NEB and Belgrave without looking at what has gone into the success eg team managers who work dog hard to get athletes out (I've no idea how many miles Bob has driven round the M25 picking up & dropping off athletes - not the stars etc), great team spirit and athletes who are willing to work dog hard to make a team rather than run for a club where they can walk into the team and be the star.

Original Message

Author: Angels of the North

Subject: RE: 6 and 4 stage relays

Message:

Bedford's team used to be solid but recently they have seemed to field weaker teams. Bedford just don't have any really quick runners. I think Bedford have had there best days. They did well for a small town.

3rd Southern title in a row, 2nd at the National, best ever finish in the XC relays, 7th in the 6 stage, romped the local league.

Cheers!