Southern 6 Stage Road Relay 2016
After several problems in getting our guys out we arrived at this new venue to be greeted with strong blustery winds on this exposed venue but we had two full teams and expectations were high that we could accomplish our aim of getting two teams in the top 25 teams and therefore both would qualify for the National 6 Stage Road Relays.
We were led off by Chris Greenwood who had only just come back after several months off but he used his experience and worked his way through the field of 55 teams to come home in 16th place in a good time of 18’ 10”. James Bowler was next up and was making his debut in this event and he had a solid run holding off several big names and holding 16th place in a time of 18’ 40”. New boy to these relays was Jonathan Tipper, who responded well to the pressure, and who was rewarded with an excellent time of 18’ 51” as he took one place.
Lawrence Avery, who had only just come to the end of a block of marathon training as he prepared for an autumn marathon, then took 2 places which got us up to 13th place as he ran a time of 19’ 12”. Another new boy, Adrian Lowther, then ran well for us as the race got lonely and came home in a time of 19’ 04”. Last man was one of our regulars, Neil Phillips, who then had a good contest with the C & C guy and despite just losing out to him had the satisfaction of gaining 2 paces in a time of 18’ 42” to seal our final position of 11th.
Our B team was led off by another of our new boys, Rowan Crichton, who responded well to a highly competitive leg by running well to secure 39th place with a time of 18’ 53”. Then another new guy, Daniel Stauber, stormed through the field to gain 8 places as he ran a time of 19’ 24”. Next up was Matthew Moroney, who was also making his debut, and he performed well by gaining 2 places to secure 29th place with a time of 19’ 54”.
Another new recruit, Joe Hartley, a late recruit to the team, then had a solid run as he held his position as he ran a time of 20’ 19.Then Calum Fraser, despite being the youngest in the team was an old hand in relays, then had a good run as he ran a time of 19’ 47” which got us up to the key position of 25th place. Then our trump card of Pete Lighting sealed a good performance from the guys as he ran 19’ 43” to gain 2 places and seal our position in the National 6 Stage as he came home in 23rd position.
A Team
Chris Greenwood 18′ 10″ 16th
James Bowler 18′ 40″ 16th
Jonathan Tipper 18′ 51″ 15th
Lawrence Avery 19′ 12″ 13th
Adrian Lowther 19′ 04″ 13th
Neil Phillips 18′ 42″ 11th
1hr 52 mins 39 sec Team: 11th place out of 55 teams
B Team
Rowan Crichton 18′ 53″ 39th
Daniel Stauber 19′ 24″ 31th
Matthew Moroney 19′ 54″ 29th
Joe Hartley 20′ 19″ 29th
Calumn Fraser 19′ 47″ 25th
Pete Lighting 19′ 43″ 23rd
1 hr 58 mins 0 sec Team: 23rd out of 55 teams