National 12 Stage Road Relay race

Birmingham: April 17^th 2010

Last Saturday the Wells City Harriers senior men’s squad were able to take part in the top road running event for athletics clubs – the national 12 stage relay. The event consists of alternating long (just under 5.5 miles) and short legs (3 miles), held this year in a sun drenched Sutton Park in Birmingham. Injuries, illness, holidays and marathon preparations all reduced availability for the team and unfortunately on the day only 11 runners were able to participate after some final withdrawals from the squad in the previous week.. This meant some last minute juggling of runners and team manager, Jon James, was grateful for the flexibility and good humour shown by all the Wells athletes.

First off for Wells, on the notoriously competitive first leg, was Jon Gilling and though finishing 62^nd out of just over 70 starting teams, his time (30.49) showed this to be a solid run. Pete Darton on leg 2 also showed good form in running 17.45 on this short leg, though again it was very competitive and he dropped 4 places. Andrew Hennessy, having surprised the team by showing up at least half an hour before his leg was due off, ran well on the 3^rd leg to record 28.39 and move the team up 15 places. Next out was Frank Tickner, returning to competitive action after a year out, and he showed that he still a real force to be reckoned with by running 14.26 – equal 4^th quickest short leg time of the day. The team were now in 37^th place and Ben Tickner then continued the good work, moving the team up a further 3 places. He is also returning from injury and his 28.05 was a solid run. Jon Rowe held things together well on leg 6, running 18-16 and losing just one place. Jon James then gained 4 places on leg 7 with a time of 28.27, before Simon Prior showed similar form to Jon Rowe in running 18.19. The team were now in 37^th position and Jack Bancroft then moved them up to their highest position, gaining 5 places and ducking under the half hour by running 29.59.

Rex Whitcombe, standing in at very short notice, enjoyed his first national 12 stage and ran 21.05 for 10^th leg. Andrew Deamer then ran 32.01 on the final leg to leave the team in 38^th position. A big gain on where the club started, but again it was a case of “what have might have been” given the quality of runners that the club potentially has at its disposal.