14 October 2013

ERRA National Road Relay Championships, Birmingham, October 12/13

On a wet weekend in Birmingham, Sale Harriers won the men’s 6 stage road relays title for the first time in their history, holding off Belgrave Harriers by 28 seconds. Tipton Harriers took the bronze medal and it was their man Ryan Mcleod (John Nuttall) who ran the fastest leg of the day, clocking 16:55, one of the top 10 fastest times in history.

In the women’s race, the title went the way of Aldershot, Farnham & District once more, as they were victorious for the seventh time. Three of Aldershot’s quartet, Emelia Gorecka, Steph Twell and Lily Partridge (all Mick Woods) clocked between 14:04 – 14:07 to take the second to fourth fastest legs respectively, however it was Charnwood AC’s Gemma Steel (Nuttall) who ran the quickest leg of the day. Steel powered her way round the 4315m course in 13.49, pulling her team into bronze medal position and almost catching runners up Birchfield Harriers.

In the young athlete’s races the next day, Shaftesbury Barnet Harriers won both the under-17 and under-13 men’s events, with Tonbridge Athletics Club taking the under-15 boys title. In the older age group, Trafford AC’s Zak Miller ran the fastest leg of the day with 11:33, with Ben Dijkstra of Leicester and Rory Howarth of Bath taking the accolades in the younger races.

In the women’s events, there were wins for Lincoln Wellington AC in the under-17 category, whilst Herne Hill Harriers won both the under-15 and under-13 events. Warrington’s Harriet Knowles-Jones (Russell Tart) achieved the fastest under-17 leg of the day, with Charnwood’s Lucy Jones (Patrick Magee) and Portsmouth’s Josie Czura (Gerry North) achieving the same feats in the under-15 and under-13 races respectively.

Men’s results: http://www.race-results.co.uk/results/2013/nat613.htm
Women’s results: http://www.race-results.co.uk/results/2013/natw413.htm
Young athlete’s results: http://www.race-results.co.uk/results/2013/natyarel13.htm

4 Miles of Groningen, Netherlands, October 13

Overseas, Andy Vernon (Nic Bideau) & Lauren Howarth (Pete Riley) had impressive runs in this international four mile road race. Vernon was just six seconds behind the great Haile Gebrselassie, clocking a time of 17.37 to finish fourth in a race won by Yenew Alamirew in 17.30.

In the women’s race, Howarth clocked an impressive 20:01 to finish seventh and like Vernon, she was the first European athlete home.

Men’s results: http://4mijluitslagen.exception.nl/2013/Uitslag_categorie.asp?catId=2
Women’s results: http://4mijluitslagen.exception.nl/2013/Uitslag_categorie.asp?catId=8