Earning the right to win

ERRA Men's National 12-Stage Road Relay, Sutton Coldfield, 5 April 2014.

Although missing quite a few of our battle-hardened 12-Stage warriors, the gaps in our regular line-up gave a few likely lads a chance to show their mettle – and they didn’t disappoint. The dream of a top ten place proved to be a bit unrealistic but our aim over the last decade or so, alongside the paramount objective of attempting to win titles, was to always turn out and take part in these classic races, even when not among the favourites.  In that respect we more than did ourselves proud but make no mistake, the talent is still there, bubbling under the surface and there surely will be future wins over six and twelve stages.It was so good to see 'Sharpy' back in the squad, gingerly trying out his damaged Achilles tendons, and Wardy too, injured and unfit, but willing to put himself through the mill to ensure that we had a dozen.  There’s no way that James Kelly would miss out on the National Road Relay, even though he had to overcome the little inconvenience of now living and working in New York.A sick Will Cockerell was on the start line at noon. We had tried hard to find an alternative way of dealing with this set-back but late night phone calls for a reserve were unsuccessful and on the day, with those that were running arriving on a rolling schedule to suit their slated stints, a mass upheaval of the running order wasn’t on.  We went with what we had and Will courageously set off to keep the team alive. He was probably about three minutes down on where we’d have expected to be … and by the end of the day, after a four hour battle to work through the field, we ended up only a few spots down on where we should have been. Well done the Cockerpillar! It did mean that some large gaps had to be bridged on the way but all worked so hard to restore our fortunes.Amusingly, Will set our inaugural Club Record for the long stage – it being an amended route that will be used from now on due to Health & Safety issues; don’t us ‘stattos’ hate that! Richard Ward, hampered as already mentioned, did likewise for the short stage before unleashing JK who wasn’t enthralled with his 26:07 – although everyone else seemed to think he’d gone pretty well, especially bearing in mind his Atlantic-hopping for ‘a day at the races’.Stephen Sharp gave us our fastest short run on four, not put off beforehand by daughter Leah’s question, “Mummy, why is the ambulance here?” Followed by Maria’s response, “It’s in case Daddy doesn’t feel well while he’s running.” Powerful running came from Paskar Owor and Craig Ruddy on the middle long stages, both clocking times that would have been worthy sub-27 runs on the old course, and in between these two Nick Bundle clocked a speedy 14:15. Due to race over 26.2 miles the following week Roy Maddams showed he could turn his legs over in nifty style by giving us our second best short‘un.  Mark Pollard and Stephen Trainer maintained our long stage strength through to the end (great to see Stephen make his debut in Belgrave colours) with Fraser Logan and evergreen Mike Trees taking care of the final short runs.  Fraser has worked hard to take his running to another level and impressed with another battling performance, while 52 year-old Mike’s never-ending quest for age group records received a fillip when he clocked a mere 14:15 to finish off our team.We've picked up some good wins in this race over the last decade or so; this was a day where we earned the right to win again.1 Leeds City AC 3:50:41; 2 Morpeth H&AC 3:51:38; 3 Aldershot F&DAC 3:51:57; 4 Central AC 3:53:37; 5 Notts AC 3:54:00; 6 Tipton H 3:54:16; … 19 Belgrave H 4:06:53; 55 teams finished, a further two were disqualified, 62 teams started.Belgrave: W Cockerell (61) 30:13; R Ward (58) 14:33; J Kelly (50) 26:07; S Sharp (46) 13:56; P Owor (33) 25:26; N Bundle (32) 14:15; C Ruddy (23) 25:19; R Maddams (22) 14:07; M Pollard (22) 27:19; F Logan (23) 14:50; S Trainer (20) 26:32; M Trees (19) 14:15.Fastest long stages (5.08 miles) 1= A Butchart (Central AC) & I Thomas (Cardiff) 24:20; 3 J Wilkinson (Leeds City AC) 24:27; 4 S Mitchell (Notts AC) 24:29; 5 A Sanchez (Derby AC) 24:37; 6 J Lilly (Tipton H) 24:40.Fastest short stages  (2.69 miles) 1 N Brooks (Sale H) 12:39; 2 D Davies (Leeds City AC) 12:41; 3 G Benson (Leeds City AC) 12:42; 4 C Bannon (Coventry GH) 12:43; 5 P Pinheiro (Morpeth H) 12:44; 6 M Bergin (Bedford &C AC) 12:46.