Relay Fast In Sutton Park
English clubs battle for national titles in Birmingham...
Leeds City (men) and Herne Hill Harriers (women) were the senior team winners in the English National Road Relay Championships at Sutton Park, Birmingham on Saturday 5 October 2024.
The hilly, scenic Sutton Park venue was looking at its autumnal best as 67 men's teams set off for six legs of just under 6 kilometres each to decide the strongest clubs in the country. Even the weather played its part as there was warm sunshine and no rain throughout the day.
Finn McNally (Brighton Phoenix) led the initial rush – see photo above #A13 – including Graham Rush (Leeds City AC) and the pair were to finish two seconds apart in 12th and 13th respectively.
As Brighton faded to finish 18th, Leeds City AC powered through the field to win in 1:43:36 from Shaftesbury Barnet Harriers (1:44:19) and Cambridge & Coleridge AC (1:44:51).
Of course, it helps if you can call upon the services of a couple of Olympians and that was the happy circumstance for the Leeds City team manager. Emile Cairess – fourth in the Paris Olympic Marathon two months ago – was the fastest runner overall (16:38) and his Team GB colleague Phil Sesemann was 20 seconds slower for eighth overall.
The women raced over a shorter 4.3K lap and required just four team members. Their race followed a similar pattern as Herne Hill Harriers recovered from 20th position after the first leg to win in 58:12 from Vale Royal AC (58:36) and Thames Valley Harriers (58:42).
The star of the race was Herne Hill's Georgie Grgec who ran the third fastest female time ever seen on this course (13:39) – only headed by Paula Radcliffe (13:26) and Amelia Quirk (13:35). The New Zealand athlete moved Herne Hill from 11th into the lead on the third stage.
The full results of all eight races, including young athletes events, are at SportSoft here.
Photo of men's relay start courtesy of Mark Hookway (Tonbridge AC) on Flickr here