As the national period of mourning continued, the Beagles also had a quieter week – well done to those that did fit in a run. Today however, we wanted to take the opportunity to announce a new face at the club.
Reflections on Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II
It was difficult not to see the impact the Queen had on the UK during her 70-year reign. The athletics community itself in the UK benefited greatly from her patronage and support and this was echoed by Lord Coe himself, who said, “I can say with some confidence that the Queen was a huge champion of British sport. Over her long reign, she worked in her quiet and diligent way behind the scenes to promote the prospects of generations of athletes”.
He continued, “My association with Her Majesty goes back to when she and the Duke of Edinburgh hosted those of us who set world records in British vests, and I can attest to the fact that she took the keenest possible interest in what we were all doing”.
So it was with the greatest sympathy that we joined the nation in mourning the loss of the Queen but we would urge all to recall the humour with which she supported the opening of the London 2012 Olympics and remember her support for our sport was a shining example for how we can all help each other.
Honorary Club President
We are really pleased to announce that Bob McLintock has accepted the position as honorary president of Brentwood Beagles.
Bob has over 50 years’ experience in Sport and Physical activity across a range of roles – participant, parent, supporter, teacher, coach, official, administrator and trustee. Previously a Board member at Active Essex, Bob has held a number of key roles across sports clubs in our community including the Essex Cricket Foundation.
Bob is a former chief executive of Brentwood Borough council and has long championed the importance of community values and activities. Bob is also a governor at Brentwood School and we believe his appointment will continue to enhance our existing strong relationship.
Bob recently came over to visit the club on one of our training nights and said “I have been impressed by all that has been achieved by Brentwood Beagles since their launch in May. The number of participating athletes, the span of their ages and abilities and the way the club organises its sessions is incredibly professional. I am thrilled to be part of a club offering this new, invaluable service to our community”.
We are really excited about working with Bob going forwards and look forward to welcoming him back to the club again soon.
Oxon & Bucks Midweek Open
Back from his summer break, we are pleased to see that Qi Wei has returned to the track for some final outdoor races of the season. On Wednesday night he travelled to Horspath in Oxford to take part in their open event. Running over 200m, Qi ran a wind assisted 25.75 seconds finishing second in his race.
Parkrun and junior parkrun
As always, a number of our members made good use of parkun and junior parkun over the weekend to get a timed endurance run in. Despite the (very) challenging nature of the Brentwood parkrun winter course, Mattie Delea still managed an amazing course PB taking 1 minute and 36 seconds off his previous best to finish is 22:16. Stuart Crowther just missed his PB with a finishing time of 21:26 and Jasper Jaycock ran 24:22. Olivia Forrest attempted the course for the first time finishing as first woman in 19:55. Congratulations to one of our newest members, George Ashton, who ran at Raphael’s park finishing eighth in a new PB of 18:51.
On Sunday, Madison and Oliver Kindler travelled to Lake Meadows junior parkrun with Madison managing a new course PB of 8:12 and Oliver running 11:36. Back at Beagles favourite, Harrow Lodge, we were pleased to see Hudson Jeffery achieve a new PB of 11:30 and Owen Cottee with a new PB of 12:02. Congratulations as well to Olivia Forrest (6:57), Isabel Forrest (7:41), Matthew Cottee (8:38), Nathan Cottee (11:50), Alice Jones (11:50), Zoe Jones (12:18) and Henley Jeffery (12:48) who also ran well. Ollie Trevor, away for the weekend, still fitted in his weekly junior parkrun getting a course PB of 9:16 at Longrun Meadow junior parkrun.
Coming Up
Next weekend sees the start of the cross-country season with the Essex XC Championship relays taking place on Saturday at Weald Park. The Beagles have three teams representing the club and we wish them all luck. On Sunday more than ten of our athletes are competing at the Havering Open Championships across a range of track and field events – fingers crossed for new PB’s!