The club had both mens and ladies V45 teams competing in the prestigious masters road relays yesterday .
Ladies V45 Teams
1. Bristol & West 59.55
2. Arena 80 1h 00 43s
3. Windsor Slough & Eton 1h 01 39s
4. Les Croupiers 1h 02 58s
5. Wilmslow 1h 03 57s
Jane Mulryan 21.06 Christine Geraghty 21.21 Clare Hawkes 21.30
14 teams completed
After the 2009 escapade with the M6 delays I gave Christine a 7.30am deadline for setting off and she met it without a hitch.
No jams this time so we arrived even before the registration desk had opened and were asked to come back in half an hour. Time for a nice cup of tea and a wander round to settle us down.
Jane and Martin soon joined us and we persuaded Jane it really was just the one lap she had to run. We took at look at the first and 'worst' hill and got a few comments on the warm up about our luminous summer series shirts before cheering Jane off for the first leg.
Forgetting her nagging piriformis issues for 21 minutes she looked like the stylish runner we knew and ran a superb leg passing over to Christine. With the help of her pink compression socks as Christine bounded up the final hill it didn't go unnoticed by the official - 'look she's pumping hard with her arms and really sprinting in well for you!' Clearly hadn't been on the sharp end of a Christine sprint finish before.
I got off to a nice start with a bit of momentum coming off the downhill to take a couple of runners on the first hill, then spent the next 2 miles ever so gradually reeling in the lady about 100m in front of me and having to put in a fair effort on the home straight to make sure she didn't come back.
Support and marshalling out on the course was fabulous. Relays are such a great event and Sutton Park is the spiritual home for them. This was the first time I'd done the Masters and as a lower key, but no less competitive version, it had a very special feel. The lady next to me in the changeover pen summed it up nicely: it's like being in a time warp, we've gone back 20 years but everybody's aged.
The men had Bill Heaton , Malcolm , Trevor Morris , Tom , Graham MacNeill and Rob.
Official results are not yet out but the men finished sixth.
More detail will be uploaded once available , but two fantastic results from our club teams in a NATIONAL event .
Well done all.
Nick.
M45 Teams Team Results
1 Leicester Coritanian AC 1h39.54m
2 Oxford City AC 1h40.25m
3 Telford AC 1h42.31m
4 Tipton Harriers 1h42.47m
5 Redhill Road Runners 1h43.13m
6 Wilmslow RC 1h43.14m
Bill Heaton 18.39m 63rd
Malcolm Fowler 16.39m +27
Trevor Morris 16.59m +14
Graham MacNeil 17.06m +1
Tom McGaff 17.23m +3
Rob Downs 16.28m +1
A great performance and after 18 miles only 43s off a national bronze medal. Well run all and let's do it again next year.
Rob
Malcolm charges through the field gaining 27 places!
Thats a great effort from both teams ......for maximum effect you really need to click on the picture of Malcolm(aka the Rhino)in full flight to see where his "race name" comes from !! Its beast V the boys for the poor guy behind ! Go Malcolm go !!
Nick.
Posted by: Nick Bishop | May 25, 2011 at 12:40