Meet the President (2024-25)

Our President for this year is Martin Ludford, below is a brief profile that Martin has provided.

It was a massive surprise when Carolyn phoned me to ask if I would consider taking on the role of President, which I was very happy to do, although I did feel rather unworthy as I hadn't, until now, really done anything to directly assist the organising of League, though I was often a volunteer at the Reebok Cross events in Senneleys Park a couple of decades ago, and Noel would remember me as a regular volunteer at Cofton Park in the days when he was organising the Inter Counties races there for a good number of years.

Obviously is a huge honour for me and for the BRAT Club to be asked to be President for the next year of the League which is a remarkable and very historic institution. The BXCL has been very important to me, along with the Rowheath / BRAT athletics clubs; they have all been like threads running through my adult life, and I've often said the Cross Country is what gets me through the winter. I've had some wonderful times, and met some great people, I've enjoyed some tough XC courses and some great camaraderie.

However, now with Daniel Jordan stepping down, I was also happy to offer my services as Treasurer, having worked most of my life in accounts for a number of local Companies, and having been Treasurer of a number of local clubs and voluntary organisations in the past. I was Treasurer of Birmingham Rowheath AC for over 10 years leading up to and following the merger which formed BRAT. I hope I can contribute to the continued success of the League, especially as we approach the 100th anniversary of the League's inception.

Quite a few of you will know me from League races either as a runner or as a Team Manager over the last 41 years. I was in my mid 20's when I first ran in the BXCL on 5 Nov 1983 for Rowheath Harriers, as our Club was called then, in Division 3 at Tamworth finishing 161st out of 276, so distinctly mediocre! I've attended pretty much every league fixture since then in one or other of the divisions either as a runner or as Team Manager. I took on the role of TM in 2000 for Birmingham Rowheath AC as our club had become by then. In 2010 we merged with the local triathlon club to become BRAT club and I continued as TM until last season.

Personal highlights or successes for me as a XC runner were fairly scarce, though I did once (only once !) score in the A team when we were particularly depleted on one occasion. My highlights and memorable moments have mainly come as TM especially in recent years as our Club has become stronger.

With all the talk of centurions recently, I decided to go back through all my training diaries to find out how many League races that I had actually run. The answer turns out to be 78, as I inevitably missed a number through injury and then when I became TM, I often didn't run so that I could encourage from the sidelines and also be ready at the finish to collect the discs which had to be dealt with in those days. So it will be a few more years before I trouble the scorers in the Century book!

Over the years I have seen many changes of people and systems; when I first became team manager it was a question of organising teams by asking everyone in person at training or by phoning them on a landline, then along came mobile phones and emails which I used until last year and now there are all sorts of apps and communication channels being used to organise teams. One of the other big changes since 1983 has been in the publication of results; in those days the team results were available on the day from the good old disc system but the full results with times for the whole field could be several days away being typed up, and were then often difficult to track down in the days before electronic communications. If you were really keen you would buy Athletics Weekly the following week in the hope that your name would feature. I also remember the Birmingham Evening Mail reporting on Birmingham XC League races on the Monday following races on Saturday. For better or for worse, those are all things of the past now, but I think we should all appreciate the work that the Race Secretaries have done over the years, and the way that recently the results have been brought into the digital age and are often available almost instantly. So the league has moved on while at the same time maintaining many old traditions.

In closing I would like to note that we have been very lucky to have the services of many committed volunteer Officers, Officials and helpers, past and present. Thanks to all the outgoing officers who have all made great contributions to the running of the League during their time in office. Many thanks also to the continuing Officers and Officials of course !

Finally I look forward to seeing and meeting you all as I visit the season's races.

Martin Ludford