North of England and British Masters cross-country champs cancelled due to adverse weather and flooding that has hit parts of country

After the cancellation of the North of England Cross-Country Relay Championship at Graves Park in Sheffield last weekend, the British Masters Athletics Federation (BMAF) has cancelled its own cross-country relay championships on October 28 due to the severe weather sweeping much of Britain.

BMAF cross-country secretary Mel James said: "It is with a heavy heart that I have to send out the news that the Long Eaton club have had to cancel next Saturday’s BMAF Cross-Country Relay Championships. They have made the early decision to enable the participating clubs to inform their members in order to hopefully ease their committed travel arrangements etc."

Flooding from Storm Babet has caused travel chaos on the roads and rail networks around the UK with at least four people having died since the storm hit the country last week.

James continued: "Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire are still bearing the brunt of Storm Babet, and West Park, the race venue, is currently being used as a reservoir for the river Trent by the Environment Agency to relieve the excessive flooding and is currently under 3ft of water. There is no indication of when this temporary reservoir will be reduced."

The BMAF wanted to make an early decision on the cancellation rather than having to gamble on making a hurried decision later in the week that would have more of an impact for the travelling arrangements of the teams.

The late decision on October 20 to cancel the Northern Athletics event on October 21 meant some officials and competitors were inconvenienced and the BMAF wanted to avoid a similar situation. 

Northern Athletics explained the decision: "After a site visit and communication from Sheffield Council all events in Sheffield parks are cancelled this weekend (Oct 21-22). Although the forecast for tomorrow (Oct 21) was all right, the roads to and around Sheffield are dire. We apologise for the lateness."

English area cross-country relays at Wormwood Scrubs in London and Wolverhampton did manage to go ahead.

Among the other events called off is the Start Fitness North Eastern Harrier League at Lambton Estate on October 28 due to storm damage to the land and parking area.

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