Hacking Out of the Deep Rough

When we step back and reflect, that was actually a pretty stunning effort from the lads. For much of the race we were down and out in no-man’s land, so to finish just 82 seconds outside the bling in a stacked field is great fighting spirit.Losing as many as five guys in the week leading up, including master-blasters Wicks and Goolab meant we were playing no-mistake snooker. We kicked off with Polly, a man who has given us so much over eight long years of service. He was a little off his A-game here, but we had nearly 4 hours to get back on terms.Your correspondent pretty much shut off power in the last fortnight when he saw he had no chance of getting into the team. How naïve! A trip to Oz and a recent nasty lurgy meant I was way short of match fit, but what one had, one gave. The long road back started with ACM who was in fine fettle, and his signal to Leo that three had been claimed was 25% bashful.Ed is a wonderful find, who will hopefully give us many years of cracking service. His fastest club short stage of the day was a bolt from the blue, and his style has been compared to 3:59 man Kris Gauson. 5 more spots claimed… nibble nibble. It was on this stage that Serpies hit trouble, with Daniel de Palol going off course and taking 64:16 to put it right.Ed set up Craig a treat who looked fantastic out there and was not fazed by the large gaps. Inside the top 10 now. Status quo maintained by Sharpy, an all-time great in British road-relay history. His medal haul in ‘the big ones’ is 24 golds, 6 silvers and 5 bronze.Poor Gus has been lurgified for a while and all but switched to short with Nick, before finally resolving to give it a go. His run was laudable – 7^th fastest on a stage full of the heavy mob – and how typical of the heavens to open again to give him a sodden run.Nick had a highly amusing entanglement with Emelia Gorecka next. You can forgive him for thinking when he set off and saw her leggy frame 50 yards up the way, “Chick…exterminate.” This he did in little time, but you don’t win the Southern, the Inter-Counties and the National seven times each in a row without being able to go some, and EG promptly overtook him back. What the?! Thus started one of the bloodiest duels in Belgrave-Aldershot history – and there have been a few – which led to super times for both. Finally, coming into the stadium, Nick had prized a 50 yard gap to the good, but still Emelia wouldn’t go away. She writes to us: “I've been trying to work on my finish but didn't realise after the first 100m on the track that we hit a gust of wind coming into the finish! Was great to find some guys to run with though, as usually my leg gets very lonely!”Over to KG then, better suited to a short stage but taking on his senior statesmen responsibilities well. It will be a decade in September since his first senior relay for us, and he’s still only 27. Goodness this was hard work, as all Kris could do was get us closer to the top 7. Adrius followed suit, and the field concertinaed even more. Good running by AJ albeit having to let Woodford’s Mariani by.PO was in no mood for messing, and produced one of his finest ever runs for us, after a splendid early duel with our old friend Joe Morwood (who could forget their magnificent denouement to the 2012 National 6-stage?). Up to 6^th now, and amazingly, having been 3-mins down on 5^th before the leg, both Bedford and Tonbridge were now within credible range. Taras chased boldly, but the gap was just too big, especially as both clubs finished well.So there it is – 6^th was unthinkable a few days ago, but if this was easy we wouldn’t bother. The standard was terrific, certainly the best Southern 12 stage of the Century depth-wise, and it all bodes well for much more entertainment on April 11^th for the Big One.A huge thanks to all our supporters, and to Leo for his brilliant photography, see the gallery for more.Mens: 1 Shaftesbury Barnet H 4:05:27; 2 Kent AC 4:07:33; 3 Newham &EB 4:08:54; 4 Tonbridge AC 4:09:15; 5 Bedford and C 4:09:24; 6 Belgrave H 4:10:16; 39 teams closed in, 50 started.M Pollard (24) 26:27; W Cockerell (24) 17:30; A Miller (20) 25:36; E Auden (15) 16:12; C Ruddy (9) 24:09; S Sharp (9) 16:40; G Upton (9) 25:24; N Bundle (8) 16:17; K Gauson (8) 25:11; A Jaksevicius (9) 16:38; P Owor (6) 23:46; T Telkovsky (6) 16:26.Fastest long stages (7664m): J McDonnell (Luton) 23:18; R Goodman (SBH) 23:19; M Draper (Bedford) 23:31.Fastest short stages (5053m): J Beattie (NEB) 14:57; 2 F Baddick (NEB) 15:19; A Clarke (AFD) 15:31.[gallery_bank type="individual" format="thumbnail" title="true" desc="false" responsive="true" animation_effect="bounce" album_title="true" album_id="12"]