The National Road Relay Championships at Sutton Coldfield are a highlight of the British racing scene and it was fantastic to see real team events return at this level some two years after Leeds won in 2019. It was a mild October day with perfect conditions for fast running. We were ready to face the strongest teams in the country – and never have the strongest teams been so strong. 

The Belles

An excellent day at Sutton Park, reports Charlie Dickinson, with two strong Belgrave women's teams. The A team finished in the top 10 for only the third ever time, only a minute behind third palace. The B team finished 30th out of 63 teams who completed the four stages.

Both teams got off to a very strong start on the first frantic leg. New recruit Sarah Astin and Alice Reed both wisely held back out of trouble as the first leg runners rushed off on the initial downhill section, then used the hills on this tough course to work their way through the field. Sarah, who comes from the Isle of Man, has been living and training in Twickenham for a couple of years and was looking for a London club. Luckily for us she chose Belgrave.

It was a brilliant run from Sarah who finished in 4th place on the first leg with the overall 5th fastest of the day (four of the first five ran in the first leg). Alice also had a cracking run coming home in 30th in the second fastest time of all the Belles.

Steph Hewitt had the unenviable job of taking over from Sarah. She found the hills very demanding but paced her run very well only dropping four places. Katie-Ellen French had a very long and demanding track season and then took a couple of weeks off in the Autumn. Hills are not her favourite but she ran a very steady leg keeping the B team well in the frame.

Grace Richardson contacted the club before she came over the England from Ireland just a few weeks ago. She has fitted very well into the training group and has strengthened the team. By this time the gaps were long but Grace managed to pull the A team up one place to finish in 7th at the end of her leg. Samantha Amend was in the unaccustomed position of being asked to run in the B team. Despite tired legs from her bruising training regime Sam ran her usual strong leg moving the B team up several places.

Liv Papaioannou also ran a well-judged final leg for the A team against some very fast runners from other teams. She dropped just two places for an excellent 9th place finish. Another new member, Sarah Dewhirst agreed to make up the B team at very short notice. Sarah is getting fitter and faster all the time and ran a good solid leg. She brought the B team home in 30th place.

It was so good to see Jess Reed with her mother who came to watch sister Alice. Jess caught Coronavirus in March 2020 and is still suffering from the effects of Long Covid. We miss her in the team and wish her speedy recovery.

Abdulla Elsadig (AJ) also made the trip up from London to support his training colleagues and be there as a reserve. Many thanks to all of them for their very welcome support.

Results

1. AFD 'A' 59:03, 2. AFD 'B' 60:14, 3. Lincoln Wellington 60;29, .... 9. Belgrave 'A' 61:28, (S. Astin 14:12, S. Hewitt 15:38, G. Richardson 15:42, O. Papaioannou 15 :56), ... 30. Belgrave 'B', (A. Reed 15:23, K-E. French 16:31, S. Amend 15:59, S. Dewhirst 17:23). 63 teams completed the race.

Photo gallery by Trevor Hunter

The Bels

Neil Wilson had proven his relay prowess at the Surrey Championships in Wimbledon a month earlier where he anchored our six men to a beautiful bronze medal, holding off a storming assault behind him in a rock solid solo TT effort. This time, the TM tried Neil in the exact opposite position – the first leg tumble dryer. As he crossed the line in 18:47 for 58th place, he was frustrated at what he saw as losing too much ground. But then he realised just who had taken all those spots out of him, and it all made sense. We realised just how stiff the front of the race was going to be, and he accepted that this was, in fact, further improvement from a Belgravian in fine form and on and exciting trajectory.

Tommy Taylor was originally due the anchor leg, but specifically requested the chaos of leg 2, declaring himself ready for a high-speed scrap. How right he was! In his Sutton Coldfield debut, Tommy struggled slightly for rhythm on the twisty, undulating course but still reeled back seven spots in 18:52 to bring us into 51st place. What a return from injury and what a promising look at what Tommy could do for this team over the coming years. There are even a few seconds to be gained once he’s lost the Grealish barnet.

On leg 3 was this team’s ace – Sam Gebreselassie. We knew he would shine in this sort of competition, and he knew he was up for a real belter. But even we weren’t quite prepared for what was about to unfold. Sam not only clocked the 4th fastest leg 3 run in a whopping 17:24 (scalping huge names like Jonny Escalante-Phillips and Alex Teuten, by the way) but he actually brought the Belgrave colours forward by no less than 21 spots! We were now just a stone’s throw from the top 30. Morale was high and Sam didn’t even look tired. 

The 4th leg was reserved for rookie Ewan Somerville. We still don’t know a whole lot about this converted sprinter, except that he surprised us all with a brilliant third leg at the Southerns a fortnight ago. There was no telling how he would cope with Sutton Park’s ups and downs, so we would just have to wait and find out: when he came back to the tent, he said he found it really bloody tough (what else is new?) but it quickly became clear that he had actually pieced together a very solid run for someone who didn’t know what to expect. Ewan only bled the 2 spots and kept us right where we wanted to be. We were right to bring him along! 

Tension was rising as we got to the final two legs of the competition. Gaps were wide, and positions were starting to solidify. Were we going to remain locked out of the top 30 or could we pull something out of the bag? The TM had been warned, solo TT runs were not Conall McNally’s forte. He will have found leg 5 rough going, but he did himself and the club proud by hanging tough and wringing every second he could out of himself. Having recently run a PB in Charlie’s infamous park TT just on Tuesday night, there was no doubt he was in shape. He would certainly have run faster in some company, so he will have that next time. This was 19 painful minutes he took for the team, is all. He threw the Bels into the last leg in 34th place.

The anchor leg always has tremendous potential for disappointment, but also for glory. What is almost certain is that, when you’re competing for a spot in the top 30, the difference between the two will come down to a solo grind. TM Arne Dumez had volunteered for the lonely anchor leg and set off with determination. It wasn’t long before he caught the leg 1 leaders, Derby, and made up ground to Vale Royal and Liverpool. Rotherham found the Belgian on his shoulder with only half a mile to go but couldn’t catch on. Arne will be annoyed that he didn’t have a particularly speedy day, but the Cockerpillar was looking for “strong, dependable, no frills” so mission accomplished.

With all but Sam of the first-choice starting six unavailable for selection, this was always going to be a run “for the experience” but that doesn’t take away from a fantastic effort from our lads. If anything, it adds to it. In Sutton Coldfield they found incredibly strong competition, a tough course and a steep learning curve. They faced all three with maturity, strength and real grit. Great work, men!

Photo gallery by Trevor Hunter

Results

1. Aldershot, Farnham & District (1:42:44 [course record]), 2. Leeds City AC (1:43:47), 3. Shaftesbury Barnet Harriers (1:44:06), …, 30. Belgrave Harriers (1:52:50)

Neil Wilson (18:47), Tommy Taylor (18:52), Sam Gebreselassie (17:24), Ewan Somerville (19:33), Conall McNally (19:12), Arne Dumez (18:52)