Articles

Club of the Month – Pudsey and Bramley AC

Rachel Atherton

Club Information 

Pups – Aged 7 years to 9/10 years.

Juniors – Aged 9/10 years to 17 years.

Seniors – Aged 18 years to “mind your own business!”

We meet at Priesthorpe School, Pudsey every Tuesday and Thursday evenings. 

We also organise off road weekend meets at either park runs or a pre-arranged venue (quite often Fulneck Valley).

 

How the club started

Our Club was established in 1910.   We are a small Club but with a big reputation and compete in all disciplines – road, cross country, track, field, trail and fell.  

People who run for Pudsey & Bramley probably get lost, fall over or fail to reach the start line more than most other clubs; but people who run for Pudsey & Bramley make up for that by competing at the highest level. Not that competitiveness is the only way success is measured at P&B: there are other things to take into consideration – commitment, camaraderie, fun and loyalty.  

We have a history of fell running champions and international athletes that stretches back several decades: Pete Watson, Jack Maitland, Sarah Rowell, Gary Devine, Anne Buckley and Rob Hope, to name a few.

Pudsey & Bramley is a club for athletes and enthusiasts who want to be part of a small and friendly group that is focussed on success, teamwork and, above all, enjoyment of sport.

 

Major milestones/ success stories

Our President, Sarah Rowell, competed at the 1984 LA Olympics, has held the British marathon time record (2:28:06) as well as having held the record for the Yorkshire Three Peaks Race.   

Pudsey and Bramley members such as Gary Devine and Rob Hope – have, multiple times, been English and British Fell Champions.   Boff Whalley is an Author and the Guitarist of the Band “Chumbawamba”.

We had a very strong junior section in the 80’s with Pudsey and Bramley winning the Boys title in the Yorkshire Cross Country Championships in 1987, the Youths team title in 1988 and the Junior English and Fell Running Championship Title in 1989.

Our most recent “Star” is Alexandra Bell, who started in our Juniors section and is now an International 800m track athlete who competed for GB in last years Commonwealth Games in Australia but still finds time to visit our current Pup and Junior Athletes giving them advice and encouragement

How the Club has responded to Covid 19

Our Senior section has kept active with various long distance challenges, taking advantage of local routes such as the Leeds Country Way, Nidderdale Way and Bradford Millenium Way.

As Coaches, we wanted to ensure our young athletes remained happy, healthy and motivated – not just as individuals, but families as a whole.We therefore adapted our Facebook page accordingly and began our “Covid Virtual Challenges”.   Athletes competed as individuals and/or family teams in a range of activities such as:

A virtual relay – our athletes and family members were put into teams.   Each team member (young & old) had to complete a set task such as a distance challenge, I spy, explore Streets, sprints, hills, splashing over a stream, running in fancy dress, to name but a few.  Some were indoor challenges so that those isolating weren’t left out.   Once they had completed their “leg”, they put their evidence and photos on our facebook page and passed the “virtual” baton to their next team member.   The photographs were amazing, hilarious and kept everyone motivated.

Elevation gain challenge – all our members and their families recorded the height they gained on any activity and we recorded it over a set number of days finally completing a massive 154,927 ft overall.

Pudsey and Bramopoly – this was an adaptation of the game Monopoly.   Families competed against each other and, as they landed on a particular square, they had to complete that challenge and send in photographic evidence.   Again, the photographs were fantastic.

15 minute challenge – an individual challenge whereby each athlete had to run non stop for 15 minutes (12 minutes for our younger athletes) and record the distance travelled.    Our athletes enjoyed it so much that we challenged other local Leeds Clubs and it has now become a recognised virtual challenge by England Athletics.

To recognise all the hard work our members put in over a very trying period, we produced a “Virtual Challenges 2020” badge for them to sew to their Club hoodies/vests.

 

 

 

 

Our members, despite the pandemic, have remained motivated, happy and healthy and, as Coaches, we have been very proud of every single one of them staying so positive.

We are a lovely, friendly, family orientated Club that is run by volunteers. To be named “Club of the Month” would be recognition of the collective hard work put in by our all our young athletes & coaches.

Five words to describe our Club

Small Club with Big Reputation