A total of 18 athletes from the middle distance squad turned out to run at the MC Road relays in the usual settings of Sutton Park on a wet and blustery day, and all athletes performed well over the 3.8km course with some outstanding individual and team performances.
First off was the U13 girls ‘A’ & ‘B’ teams, all of whom were running the race for the first time. Tabatha Walford and Beth Gordon were the first leg runners with Tabs finishing an excellent 5th in 15.57 getting the A team off to a flyer; Beth finished a very respectable 18th in 17.16. Tabs handed over to Izzy Cara who ran a solid second leg in 17.19 to finish in 9th position, with Beth handing over to Emily Manson who made +1 position with 18.52. Final leg runner for the A team was Hannah Winstone (18.04) who held on well to bring theposition, the B team final leg was completed by Rebecca Hughes (20.05) to bring the team home in 22nd position.
The U15 Girls A team with Fran Ashworth/ Abigail Coleman/ Maisie Green all having previously competed had high hopes of a strong finish and they didn’t disappoint securing a top 10 finish, with the incomplete B team of Gemma Vaughan (16.41) and Lauran Mehmet (17.39) both running well in the first two legs and lying in 22nd position after 2 legs. The A team 1st leg runner, Fran Ashworth, set off in heavy rain and ran strongly to record a PB over the course and finish an excellent 10th in the first leg recording a time of 15.42, handing over to Abz who capitalised on the good start to make up +2 positions recording 16.04, Maisie ran the final leg (16.09) and ran well to make a further +1 position bringing the team in 7th position, a fine result. Local rivals R&N finished in 20th position.
The U15 boys consisting of Josh Cara/ Jack Hope/ Edward Cannell produced the result of the day with a top 5 finish, with some outstanding individual performances; Josh Cara leading the team off maintained his incredible record of a top 3 position in all the relays he has competed in, on a course he clearly excels in, set a blistering new PB of 13.05 (30 seconds faster than 2010) to finish first in the lead leg. He also set the second fastest time of the day for the U15 boys. Josh handed over to 2nd leg runner Jack Hope, who also set a blistering new PB of 13.38 (46 seconds faster than 2010) to bring the team home in second position after 2 legs, Jack handed over to new recruit Edward Cannell who was only running his second race ever, but showing little sign of nerves Edward ran a fine leg (15.10) to secure an excellent top 5 team finish.
The U17 girls’ team unfortunately consisted of a sole runner, Kayli Walford, who was running the first leg as an individual race and looking to ensure younger sister Tabbs did not outshine her! Kayli ran an excellent and determined race to come home in 8th position in the first leg, recording a big new PB time of 15.27 (36 seconds faster than 2010), and beating local rivals from R&N.
Last off was the U17 men’s team consisting of Matt Stewart/ Liam Kirk/ Josh Coles who ran strongly as a team to finish just outside the top 10. Matt set off on the first leg and recorded a time 13.25 and finished in 16th position, Liam kirk rallied in the second leg and recorded a new PB of 13.57 making up +2 places, Josh Coles competing at the road relays for the first time ran well in the final leg to make up a further +2 places just setting the fastest time of the trio of 13.24, and bringing the team home in a very respectable 12th position.
Well done to all who competed.