They did like to be beside the seaside!

West Midland Young Athletes Cross Country League

Aldersley Stadium, Wolverhampton 

8th February 2026

Final Junior League match 

Report – Paul Hawkins

The final junior league match of the season was held at Wolverhampton on a very wet and muddy course, although the athletes were  fortunate to have mostly dry weather.

A strong team from Stratford AC were hoping for a good end to the season and were led by the under 17 women in the first race.

Marijke Tear -Verweij saved her best league race to last and battled with Wolverhampton’s Grace Henry for most of the race to eventually finish in second place and third over the season.

In 17th, Annie Silvers is returning to form while close behind in 19th, Brooke Rossney was delighted with her best ever performance.

The Stratford team were 4th showing what was possible with a full team.

The usual big team of under 11 boys were next, led by Rafe White, 4th, Lucas Shephard 7th and Simon Zawada 18th.  Next and making his league debut was Elliot Rowlands, 44th, then Jamie Cassells, 57th, with another newcomer, Thomas Forde running strongly in 63th and Max Loom completing the team in 108th. This meant the boys team was 4th on the day and 5th for the season and Rafe was 6th in the league. 

Next were the under 17 men with several of the team making their farewells to this age group. Sam Lambert had a slow race by his standards coming 4th but closely followed by the in form Tom Fisher (7th), Will Hovell (13th), Joel Ledgard (27th), Josh Davies (48th) and Aran Cooper (53rd) with Josh struggling with injury and Aran returning after a long layoff. The team were second both at this match and for the season.

There were more medal winners in the bronze medal winning under 11 girls team, the first of whom was Saskia Atkins (12th) on her return from injury followed by Olivia Hunt (15th), Marnie Short (23rd), Florence Andrews (25th), Indigo Ogilvie-Putt (52nd), Quinn Lancaster (63rd) and Imogen Jolly (67th). Saskia was 10th in the league, Nell Wheeler 11, who missed this match, and Olivia 13th.

The future is looking bright with the strength of the two under 11 teams.

The next race was the under 15 boys where Stratford have been weak all season due to low numbers but there were good runs from all three boys, led by Harry Coulson (36th), Toby Wilkinson (43rd) and the improving Max Rossney (57th)

Following on were the under 13 girls who were in 5th team place. First was Maggie Silvers (5th)  with her best run of the season then Eliza McLeod (28th), the very consistent Emily Lambert (34th), Amelie Marshall (37th), Poppy West (43rd), Annabel Ryan-Gill (52nd), Lara Ryan-Gill (59th), Florence Rowlands (80th) and Layla Sparrow (88th). For Annabel, Lara and Florence it’s been a tough first season but they have all progressed well. The team finished a very strong 5th place and should all be proud of their performances. 

In the under 13 boys Charlie Cassells has been the break through performer of the season, coming 5th on the day and 8th in the league. He was well supported by Dexter Sharpe (45th) and Toby Ledgard (52nd). Unfortunately this was the other team where we were low on numbers but still managed 12th

Finally it was the under 15 girls who had mixed fortunes – first for Stratford was Eve Ashley (24th) who paced her race well. Lucia Ogilvie-Putt (28th) was below par but finished for the team. Jasmine Mothershaw (39th) continues to improve. Rachel Sparrow (59th) had a strong run despite losing a shoe in the mud with 600m remaining.

Midlands Cross Country 

Saturday 7 February

Redditch

Report – Becks Parker

The final ladies race of a cross country season that has been a truncated one due to the loss of race 3 at Burton Dassett. 

First, however, the race report from a very soggy and muddy final event just outside of Redditch, at Ipsley Meadows. We had lost some of the younger runners (Georgie, Niamh) to travel and other commitments, so it was all about those who were tough enough to venture out on what was a pretty soggy day.

For such a small club, we fielded 10 athletes (this was only bettered by BRAT and Bromsgrove and Redditch!), maintaining our reputation as being a hardcore, committed group of runners.

Donna Allen was first home for the Stratford ladies (49^th, 28:22), continuing to demonstrate what a fantastic season she has had. Bronwen Mansel (76^th, 30:16) has shown her continued development as a cross country runner and I am delighted to see her finish in the top four Stratford ladies.

Ceri Shepherd (84^th, 30:47) is always a welcome addition to the squad, and even though she claims she isn’t a fan, she always pulls a great result out of the bag!  Closely followed by Emma Bexson (87^th, 31:03) who seems to run strong even when she has been on firefighting duty, worked a morning of her day job and then juggles her triathlon training.

Simply put, these ladies did the team proud.

Angela Williamson has had a great first season, coming home to finish in the top 100 runners (96^th, 32:29). Sarah Gillard, a fantastic team runner who also had a busy morning prior to the race, going to Heathrow and back, and still bringing home the results (118^th, 35:33). Beth Swain had a few concerns as she had forgotten her team vest, and still smiled her way around the brutal mud and puddles (125^th, 37:12). Clare Goodwin was hot on her heels finishing just behind Beth in 127^th (37:47).

Finally, the determination and grit of Sue Mothershaw (132, 39:48) pulled out a fantastic finish to beat me (133^rd, 40:00) to the line.

How proud I am of the team in frankly depressing conditions!

The team finished 17^th on the day, demonstrating that it’s the younger legs which are keeping us in Division One. However, we have such a strength in the Master’s team, that we finished fifth (out of 10), and one which should be celebrated.

Results: Midland Womens XC League DIVISION ONE

Becks’ season summary

A mixed season for the ladies really. We started off with high hopes of fielding new runners but the high competitiveness of being in Division One has understandably tempered the enthusiasm. In the Redditch race, there were 136 runners, of which just under half (65) were classed as Masters (over 35s). 

Stratford Ladies is a team heavily focused on the Masters, with only Bronwen being our Senior racer on Saturday. Next season will bring more juniors stepping up into the league, so Bronwen will not be on her own!

I want to celebrate every single runner who has competed in the league this year. From the speedsters of Georgie to the defiant determination of Jill Wilson, I congratulate you. You are totally awesome, you went out there and you did it. You may choose not to run again but you can say ‘I ran in Division One in the Midland’s Ladies XC League’ and, frankly, that is badass*!

Special thanks to Nick Campbell for being our Tent Manager. Without him, this would have been a very challenging season for us all and we all really appreciate your support, your photography and your wry smiles as we drag ourselves to the start line.

Barry Island parkrun

14th February 2026.

Report – Lisa Stevens

A shared love of Gavin and Stacey, Valentines Day and a parkrun day. 

Rather than getting all lovey dovey, a group of ladies from Stratford upon Avon Athletics Club (and friends) decided, at very short notice, to board a mini-bus “Dave’s Coaches ” at 5.45 am to travel to the home of Gavin and Stacey, Barry Island aka Barrybados!

With Stratford parkrun cancelled yet again due to flooding and ice we were delighted to arrive to glorious sunshine and a very friendly core team.

Race Director Ian gave the briefing and we cheered the 50 parkrun milestones for James Hope and Alice Nidd. We’d also got some arbitrary milestones in our gang – 350 for Kate Sergent (aka Nessa) and 200 for friend Emily Adams (aka Smithy). 

Setting off in the sunshine was a treat – a 2 looper with some cheeky hills and with shouts of encouragement from the volunteers.

Lots of cheers for our team in fancy dress, Orville the duck lost her nappy within the first section and Mario was supporting the rest of the team. Nessa (after the weight loss jabs) managed to complete the course with cigarette and wig intact with her beloved Smithy.

Breakfast was at Whitmore and Jackson who were fantastic, looking after us before a trip to the Arcade, some sea swimming and then the mini bus home.

We had a wonderful warm welcome and the laughter lasted all day-we’ll be back!

Nick Beer 10k  

Llandudno

Report – Jill Wilson

Graham and I lucked out this weekend with the weather – after two weeks of sleet and heavy rain being forecast – we had sunshine for this scenic 10k race. In North Wales of all places, while everyone else who was in action further south on Sunday suffered torrential rain! 

I’d booked this event to make sure I kept running through January when we were skiing in France and I thought it looked interesting. Something that I was regretting as the day approached. 

It’s a closed road race, all on tarmac starting on the promenade in Llandudno then heading clockwise around the headland known as the Great Orme before finishing back at the start on the prom and it’s hilly – over 200m of climb, mostly in the first 5km plus a bit of undulation in between the hills. 

I was going to ‘jeff’ it, but that soon turned into ‘run on the flat and anything that looks vaguely level’ and ‘walk briskly’ up the hills.

Then after passing the aptly named ‘Rest and Be Thankful’ cafe (closed for refurbishment), the route heads down, down and more down for 3km which was a fabulous recovery after the hills. I’ve never run so far downhill – it was wonderful.

The route takes in views of Anglesey, Puffin Island and the surrounding North Wales coastline. 

I realised that I haven’t run a 10k for many months and so was pleased with my time of 1:09 and finishing 10/24 in my age category.

A nice friendly event, goodies included a chocolate bar, a pair of running socks and a bespoke Welsh slate coaster. What’s not to like?

If anyone fancies it – it’ll be back next year but in the meantime, there’s the Conwy half marathon in November which starts at Conwy Castle, out to Llandudno, around the Great Orme and back, to Conwy. Apparently one the UK’s most scenic halves. Not sold out yet!