Week Starting 19th October NEXT 4 Weeks
TRX WOLVES AC – WEEKLY ROUND-UP & TRAINING
What a week and what a weekend!
Great efforts in all our training sessions across the week. Then the Midland Cross Country Relays came around!
Three complete teams took part, making history and establishing TRX Wolves AC in our first championship cross country event. Ben Foster captained the men's squad, with Paul Tabor managing the teams.
The day kicked off with a visit from a past master! Tony Milovsorov came along to catch up on the progress of the club. A former GB international, 2:10 marathoner and top-10 finisher at the London Marathon in the 1980s. It was brilliant to see him and have him take an interest in what we're building at TRX.
It was a lovely sunny day and a fast, technical course consisting of two laps. A couple of lumps rather than hills, four switchbacks and plenty of uneven grass underfoot made it great fun!
Our tent and kit certainly stood out amongst the more traditional club attire, with a number of other clubs coming over to enquire about TRX and admire the kit! Our friends and fellow runners from Wolverhampton & Bilston AC came over for a chat too, which was great to see.
A huge congratulations to their first team on a well-deserved gold medal. What was particularly lovely was seeing the youngsters coming through from Ross Jones's group (and what a job he's doing!) competing alongside the old 'uns, including Jon Hart and Jonny Morris.
We did ourselves proud too!
Lots of debuts on the course and, in fact, plenty of first-time cross country runners in our squad. As Chair, I found it a genuinely proud moment to see everyone lace up and run their hearts out.
David Alldis, Adam Rickhuss, Richard Breakwell, Matt Blair and Andrew Baker all made their club cross country debuts and did us proud. Adam Bodin also made a superb debut, absolutely ripping up the course!
Our three teams were led out by Men's Cross Country Captain Ben Foster (Masters), Road Captain Alex Kelly (A Team) and Serge Guy (B Team).
Alex Kelly got the A Team off to a flying start, bringing us home in 15th on the opening leg with a superb 21:33, getting ahead of some big names in a fierce battle. Adam Bodin followed with an outstanding 20:37, the fastest TRX leg of the day! Richard Breakwell (25:39) and Adam Rickhuss (24:21) completed the team, bringing us home in 1:32:10.
Ben Foster stormed around the course in 22:27, putting the Masters in a superb 7th place after the opening leg, just shy of 30 seconds off the medals! Paul Marson then produced a cracking 21:55, followed by Derrick Milligan (23:31) and Andrew Baker (23:08). A really strong, consistent team performance, finishing in 1:31:01, our fastest overall team time of the day!
And then there was our B Team. Serge Guy had the honour of leading the team out and handing over to his dad! A lovely moment for both of them and something that makes club running so special. Serge ran 27:36 before Adam Guy took over with an excellent 25:09. David Alldis followed in 27:22, with Matt Blair bringing the team home in 32:09 for a combined time of 1:52:16.
And a big shout-out to our friends at Tipton Harriers!
Some of our second-claim runners were representing Tipton and putting in some cracking performances too.
James Nielson ran a fantastic leg and narrowly missed out on a medal. Dylan Illidge also produced a brilliant run, helping Tipton's B Team to a top-20 finish. Although, Dylan, we can't help thinking you'd look much better in black!
And a huge congratulations to Beth Tabor, who helped Tipton's women's team to a brilliant bronze medal. Another fantastic performance. Although, Beth, we're pretty sure you'd look better in black too!
Cheryl Graham also had a fantastic run for Tipton, helping their women's B Team to a top-10 finish. Another brilliant performance and great to see her doing so well!
Great to see our friends doing so well, whatever vest they're wearing!
So, how did we get on?
Our Men's Masters, on their championship debut, finished in an outstanding 5th place! A fantastic achievement and one that makes me feel we can now move forward with real confidence and start aiming for medals. We've shown that we can compete at this level, and there's no reason why we can't build on it.
Our Senior Men finished a very respectable 16th place. Again, a brilliant effort from a squad that is still developing, with several runners experiencing championship cross country for the first time. There's so much more to come from this group, and I'm really excited to see how we progress.
And having looked through the results, I'm convinced that the ladies we have at TRX could have medalled in the Senior Women's race. That's how much potential there is in our women's squad, and I'd love to see us putting a team out at these championships in the future.
One other thing that really stood out was the support from those who weren't running. Whether you were there on the day cheering everyone on or following the action and sending messages of encouragement in our online groups, it was fantastic. It's always ace to see and says so much about the kind of club we're building. You don't have to be racing to be part of the team, and that support genuinely means a lot.
TRX Wolves AC – Midland Cross Country Relays
Masters Men – 5th place – 1:31:01
Ben Foster – 22:27
Paul Marson – 21:55
Derrick Milligan – 23:31
Andrew Baker – 23:08
Senior Men A – 16th place – 1:32:10
Alex Kelly – 21:33
Adam Bodin – 20:37
Richard Breakwell – 25:39
Adam Rickhuss – 24:21
Senior Men B – 1:52:16
Serge Guy – 27:36
Adam Guy – 25:09
David Alldis – 27:22
Matt Blair – 32:09
What's our focus for the next few weeks?
The immediate priority for the men is, of course, the Birmingham Cross Country League. We have four fixtures to target, and I'd really like us to make a proper commitment to getting strong teams out at every race. We've made a great start to championship cross country, and now it's about building on that momentum.
Birmingham League – Division 3
Saturday 14 November 2026 – Aldridge Airport – 11:00 am (time to be confirmed)
Saturday 5 December 2026 – Aldersley, Wolverhampton – 2:30 pm
Saturday 16 January 2027 – Cofton Park, Birmingham – 2:30 pm
Saturday 13 February 2027 – Coombe Abbey, Coventry – 11:00 am
The 5th December fixture is particularly important because TRX Wolves will be hosting at Aldersley! A great opportunity to show what our club is all about, both on and off the course.
Looking a little further ahead, I'd love to see our men's and women's teams competing together at the same championship.
The Midland Cross Country Championships take place on Saturday 30 January 2027, with the venue still to be confirmed. This is a separate event from the Midlands 5/7 races and could be a brilliant opportunity to get both squads representing TRX on the same day.
Another race worth targeting is the Staffordshire Cross Country Championships, traditionally held around the beginning of January. Again, a great opportunity for both our men and women to compete and gain more championship experience.
We've shown what we can do with three teams at the relays. Now let's build on that, get more runners involved and see just how far we can take this club.
FOUR-WEEK TRAINING BLOCK 19 October – 14 November 2026
Four weeks of structured training, building towards our first Birmingham Cross Country League fixture on Saturday 14 November, while also developing the speed endurance needed for 10k+ road racing.
Week 1 – Starting 19 October
Tuesday 20 October – 6:50 pm
Location: Cranmere Avenue - Warmed up and ready to go at 6:50 pm.
6 minutes of tempo running.
10 × 600m efforts with 100m jog-forward recoveries.
Saturday 24 October – 9:30 am - Location: Aldersley Stadium
Warmed up and ready to go at 9:30 am.
4 × 1-mile off-road efforts.
Followed by hill work.
Week 2 – Starting 26 October
Tuesday 27 October – 6:50 pm
Location: Billy Wright Statue, Molineux Stadium - Warmed up and ready to go at 6:50 pm.
6 × 1km efforts.
Followed by 8 × 15-second hill sprints.
Saturday 31 October – 9:30 am - Location: Cupcake Lane
Up to 10 miles of fartlek running.
We'll set off together as one group before splitting into smaller groups. Some runners will complete 6 miles, others 8 miles and some the full 10 miles.
Once in your smaller groups, you can mix up the efforts as you feel, using 30 seconds, 45 seconds, 2 minutes and 3 minutes as suggested durations. Vary the length and order of the efforts throughout the run, with easier running between them.
These should be controlled accelerations, not sprints. The aim is to vary your pace while keeping the session continuous and working together as a group.
Week 3 – Starting 2 November
Tuesday 3 November – 6:50 pm Location: Sabrina Road - Warmed up and ready to go at 6:50 pm.
4 sets of:
1km at 10k pace.
75 seconds recovery.
500m at 5k pace.
90 seconds recovery between sets.
Finish with 8 × 10-second strides. These are important, so don't skip them!
Saturday 7 November – 9:30 am - Location: Compton Park
Warmed up and ready to go at 9:30 am.
5 minutes of tempo running on the top field.
Followed by 2 × 12 minutes of continuous hill running.
Week 4 – Starting 9 November
Tuesday 10 November – 6:50 pm Location: Cranmere Avenue Warmed up and ready to go at 6:50 pm.
20–25 minutes of tempo running or three-quarter pace to get the legs going.
Followed by drills and strides.
A controlled session ahead of Saturday's racing.
Saturday 14 November – Birmingham Cross Country League, Race 1
Location: Aldridge Airport
The first Birmingham League fixture of the season.
Enough said!
Ladies, if you're not coming along to support, consider doing a parkrun followed by 6 × 1-minute efforts.
A final thought...
Twelve runners. Three complete teams. A fifth-place Masters finish and a top-20 Senior Men's finish in our first championship cross country event as TRX Wolves AC.
What I loved most was seeing experienced runners, newcomers to cross country, fathers and sons, and people of different abilities all representing the same club and supporting one another.
That's exactly what we set out to create when we started TRX Wolves.
A massive thank you to Ben Foster for captaining the squad, Paul Tabor for managing the teams, and everyone who came along to run, support and be part of the day.
We've made a little bit more club history this weekend, and there's plenty more to come.
Proud of every single one of you.
TRX WOLVES AC 🐺
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