On Saturday 26 September, Hart Road Runners made the short trip to Rushmoor Arena in Aldershot for the South of England Road Relay Championships.
Hosted by Aldershot, Farnham & District AC, the Southern Relays are one of the biggest dates in the regional distance-running calendar, attracting clubs from across southern England. Depending on their category, teams tackle three, four or six stages, with each runner completing two laps of a fast but undulating 3km circuit. The top 25 senior men’s teams also earn qualification for the National Road Relays at Sutton Park.
At the sharp end of the senior men’s race, Tonbridge AC took the title in 1:48:15, ahead of Cambridge & Coleridge AC in 1:49:01 and hosts Aldershot, Farnham & District AC in 1:49:17.
Aldershot, Farnham & District claimed the senior women’s title in 1:24:42. Guildford & Godalming AC finished second in 1:25:23, with Herne Hill Harriers completing the podium just six seconds later in 1:25:29.
W40 women win silver!
The highlight for Hart Road Runners was an excellent silver medal for our W40 women’s team.
Alexa King got HRR off to a strong start, completing the opening leg in 23:14 and handing over in second place. Sarah Cleland followed with 25:17, keeping the team firmly in podium contention in third.
Ruth Briggs then produced an amazing 25:04 final leg, the second-fastest time of the stage, to move HRR back into second place.
The trio finished in a combined time of 1:13:36, behind winners Aldershot, Farnham & District and ahead of third-placed South London Harriers.
M40 quartet complete a solid run
HRR’s M40 quartet completed their four stages in a combined time of 1:41:50.
Chris Boddy opened with 26:27 before Tariq Hawa produced the team’s fastest leg in 24:39. Stephen Gumbrill followed in 25:38, with Stephen Murray completing the anchor leg in 25:06.
The published results currently look like they’re still sorting out the overall team results – so we’ll have to wait to see how they did overall.
Strong M50 performance
HRR’s M50 team finished 11th overall in 1:38:55.
Osama Baldo led the team out with an excellent 23:12, placing HRR eighth after the opening stage and recording the fastest published HRR leg of the day.
Dominic Wake completed the second leg in 25:13, followed by Neil Bellamy in 26:17. Nicholas Terry then ran 24:12 on the anchor leg, gaining two places and bringing the team home in 11th.
The full team was:
- Osama Baldo — 23:12
- Dominic Wake — 25:13
- Neil Bellamy — 26:17
- Nicholas Terry — 24:12
Aldershot, Farnham & District won the M50 title, with Winchester Running Club second and Southampton AC third.
HRR also had a team entered in the M40 competition. At the time of publication, however, the official results table had not been populated with times or positions for any of the M40 teams.
Congratulations to everyone who raced, particularly Alexa, Sarah and Ruth on bringing home Southern silver. Thank you as well to everyone who supported the teams, particularly Chris for putting up the club gazebo and flags, and generally helping with team management! And finally a thanks to Aldershot, Farnham & District AC for hosting another superb event.
