Bristol & West’s Jack delighted with ‘best cross country season’
WITH the cross country season now drawing to an end, Bristol & West AC’s Jack Millar can happily reflect on a winter which has arguably established him as the best in the West.
Millar’s seventh place in the Inter-Counties Championships at Loughborough saw him secure second place and a £1,000 cheque in the British Athletics Cross Challenge which started at Cardiff back in October.
It was a nice way to end a campaign that saw him crowned South West champion, win bronze in the Midlands, then seal a career-best fifth place in the Saucony English National Cross Country Championships.
Indeed, Millar was only beaten by two other West runners all season – Devonian and GB international Jake Smith and Cornishman Dan Nash – and both of them now live in Wales and represent Cardiff AC!
“It has definitely been my best cross country season, for sure,” said Millar. “I have raced a lot, probably once every two weeks over the past six months and I even came down with Covid, which clearly I didn’t want but actually in hindsight may have helped me as I was forced to take a rest until I was better.
“Probably the most exciting thing about the season was that I was able to feature at the front of races and in some, like the South West Championships and to a lesser extent the Midland, dictate them.”
In addition, Millar also led Bristol & West AC to their first team gold at the Midlands in the club’s 140-year
history, a landmark achievement, and led from the front as they retained the South West team title, which the club has never lost.
“The ‘National’ was always the main target for me and I was delighted with my fifth there, and to finish the season with another top ten last weekend was very pleasing,” added Millar.
“Now I feel like I need a little break so I am off to Majorca for a few days before coming back to focus on the road relays and sit down with my coach (Dave Bedwell) to discuss my plans for the summer.”
Bristol & West AC will look to wrap up the overall team titles for both senior men and women at the final fixture of the Gwent Cross Country League at Swansea tomorrow.
The men hold a huge 418 points lead over Parc Bryn Bach Runners, while the women are 318 points ahead of their own B team, who are joint second with Chepstow Harriers.
In his first race since the Valencia marathon in December 2019, B&W’s GB international Dan Studley won the Milton Keynes Festival of Running 10k with some ease, clocking 32mins 30secs to finish three minutes ahead of his nearest rival.
On the indoor scene, B&W’s Harry Petyt improved his personal best three times at the Vault Cardiff meeting, ending up with 4.31m.
Nyree Perry cleared a PB of 3.51m and Caroline Walder jumped 3.21m for a successful day for the club’s pole vaulters, who are all coached by Martin Davies.