AAA 12-Stage Road Relay, Sutton Park, Sutton Coldfield

We'll be back!

This race had everything – everything, that is, except the gold medals going to Belgrave!

The pre-race hype included the strongest ever tip for winners from Athletics Weekly:

“So who will take the silver medals in the men’s 12-stage this weekend? You won’t catch defending champions Belgrave Harriers admitting it, but the question is surely not if they will win, but by how much? …”

That certainly set alarm bells jangling in the Belgrave camp; and there definitely would not be any such admission, especially as the publication of this statement coincided with the slow disintegration of our original line-up. And as the gaps in the team appeared, to be filled with men returning from injury or periods of unfitness, there was the question, “Should we pull in marathon man Will Cockerell, still with London’s 26.2 miles only six days old in his legs, or should we go for fresher but untested limbs? It was long stage men that we were short of. In hindsight it may have been better to have let Will off the leash – but we’ll never know – and most likely we’d still have placed second and spent the following days telling ourselves, “If only we’d gone for a fresher man”. In the end we had no fewer than seven changes from the 2003 line-up.

We said the race had everything – and it included glorious weather, the out and out favourites facing a terrible start, the announcer declaring the medals won with the race not half over, another semi-miraculous recovery by the Bels; an injury scare that could have had us out of the race; and underlying it all, the constantly recurring thought that poor Sam Haughian of Windsor Slough Eton & Hounslow, a friend and training partner to so many of the racers, had tragically lost his life in South Africa not 24 hours earlier.

In the face of all this, “only” winning silver is a long way from being a disaster. As one of our supporters from the other side of the globe chipped in by email, “Although I dearly wanted us to win, I think that this result will rejuvenate the competitive atmosphere in future contests. Furthermore, it does one good sometimes to be reminded that no one is invincible. We have had an excellent run and I am sure it will resume next season.”

To paraphrase Arnold Schwarzenegger in The Terminator – We’ll be back!”

61 teams started and 52 teams finished.

Above: the start of the 2004 AAA 12-Stage Road Relay

Stage 1

Adam Leane has a wealth of experience over a wide range of distances from 3k to marathon and over all terrains. His early showing in the SEAA 6-stage gave a glimpse of what he would do when he got fitter and this was swiftly followed by a 30:19 10k in Ireland. Intervening months saw him lose fitness, crash on his bike and break his wrist, but then a run out over 10k, the previous weekend, clocking 31:30 in poor conditions, was enough to get him into a troubled team. Whilst not in top form, Adam was expected to give us a reasonable start but by the top of the hill he was in trouble. In his own words “he fell apart” and found himself vomiting – maybe it was something he ate. Anyway, it was 30th for the Bels with some of the favourites already in the top six. Adam will be itching to get back into the line-up to show what he really can do.

1 Hallamshire 26:00; 2 Tipton 26:34; 3 Bedford &C 26:37; 4 Morpeth 26:39; 5 Salford 26:43; 6 Wells City 26:50; 30 Belgrave 28:17.

Fastest: 1 J.Ward (Hallamshire) 26:00; 2 M.Shaw (Tipton) 26:34; 3 M.Janes (Bedford &C) 26:37; 4 Hollingsworth (Morpeth) 26:39; 5 A.Morgan-Lee (Salford) 26:43; 6 A.Hennessy (Wells City) 26:50; 30 A.Leane (Belgrave) 28:17.

Stage 2

A difficult couple of years had seen Charles Herrington hovering just outside the team and trying hard to get back in. His chance came after a solid long stage at Milton Keynes and initially he was chosen to cover a long leg at Sutton Park, but with Tim Watson gaining in strength, Charlie was switched to his more favoured short stage and he did all that was asked of him, gaining five places as the climb back began.

Morpeth’s Team Manager Jim Alder was ecstatic about his man McCormick’s fine run, taking his team into a one minute lead with one of the day’s fastest stages. “Don’t you worry though man,” he said to our own TM, “We’re front loaded.” More worrying was the sight of Aldershot moving into fourth spot. With Tipton, Morpeth, Bedford and others weakened by the marathon, we had rated AFD as the team to beat all along.

1 Morpeth (+3) 40:32; 2 Bedford &C (+1) 41:33; 3 Blackheath &B (+14) 41:40; 4 Aldershot F&D (+7) 41:45; 5 Kent (+16) 41:53; 6 Sale (+9) 42:01; 25 Belgrave (+5) 43:25.

Fastest: 1 N.McCormick (Morpeth) 13:53; 2 J.Mays (Kent) 14:09; 3 M.Skinner (Blackheath &B) 14:12; 4 C.Davenport (Bristol) 14:26; 5 E.Jackson (Aldershot F&D) 14:30; 6 M.Buckingham (Holmfirth) 14:36; 20 C.Herrington (Belgrave) 15:08.

Stage 3

Now it was up to Tim Watson to keep things moving along as the first quarter of the race drew to a conclusion. Poor old Tim. He had felt confident enough to tackle a long stage after coming back from the shin splints that had hit him after his 24:21 5 miler at Portsmouth in mid-winter. But it was hot, the course is tough and things just didn’t go right. We moved up another four places but the gap to the front had reached nearly four minutes. Tipton had gone ahead but did not expect to stay there as the more fancied Salford and AFD vests maintained station close behind. A despondent Tim ran considerably slower than we expected and now faced the additional task of picking himself up in time for the track season.

1 Tipton (+9) 1:08:22; 2 Morpeth (-1) 1:08:40; 3 Salford (+4) 1:08:49; 4 Aldershot F&D (0) 1:08:58; 5 Bedford &C (-3) 1:09:00; 6 Coventry Godiva (+9) 1:09:01; 21 Belgrave (+4) 1:12:08.

Fastest: 1 K.Cullen (Highgate) 25:47; 2 I.Mitchell (Tipton) 26:03; 3 M.Lole (Coventry Godiva) 26:11; 4 C.Winward (Salford) 26:47; 5 J.McFarlane (Thames H&H) 26:54; 6 A.Hains (Cardiff) 27:12; 24 T.Watson (Belgrave) 28:43.

Stage 4

It was as late as dinner time in The Bull’s Head the previous evening that the running order was finally established; also agreed at that time was the fact that we needed to stay cool while facing the early onslaught, knowing that we would come on strong as the race progressed. Now was the time to start pushing through. Richard Ward likes having runners to chase and this time he had two score of them ahead of him; but the gaps were large and although Rich reduced his personal record for the short lap by 17 seconds, he could only make up three actual places. We were now just under three minutes behind AFD.

For Telford Chris Davies set an astounding mark of 13:23 to break Rob Denmark’s course record.

1 Tipton (0) 1:22:43; 2 Morpeth (0) 1:23:16; 3 Bedford &C (+2) 1:23:32; 4 Aldershot F&D (0) 1:23:48; 5 Kent (+3) 1:24:05; 6 Cardiff (+1) 1:24:13; 18 Belgrave (+3) 1:26:34.

Fastest: 1 C.Davies (Telford) 13:23; 2 R.Jeffries (Derby &C) 13:51; 3 N.Pollock (Kent) 14:13; 4 J.Moorhouse (Birchfield) 14:16; 5 P.Nicholls (Tipton) 14:21; 6 D.Webb (Leeds) 14:22; 7 R.Ward (Belgrave) 14:26.

Stage 5

Paul Freary has enjoyed one of his finest ever winter seasons and a low 26-minute run was on the cards here. Not far ahead of him Blackheath’s Dave Taylor was going well but Paul was not giving an inch – and now, heading up to the far end of the course he was wading through the pack with man after man slipping into his wake. But the jinx was about to strike again. As Paul turned for home and went up onto his toes again, a calf muscle twanged. It was not now a matter of pulling back more men – it was a matter of gritting his teeth, running flatfooted to avoid further damage and get home as best he could. The chance of pulling back perhaps another 30 seconds was lost here.

1 Tipton (0) 1:50:22; 2 Morpeth (0) 1:50:50; 3 Bedford &C (0) 1:51:11; 4 Aldershot F&D (0) 1:51:14; 5 Salford (+2) 1:51:37; 6 Blackheath &B (+7) 1:52:33; 9 Belgrave (+9) 1:53:28.

Fastest: 1 D.Taylor (Blackheath &B) 26:22; 2 I.Boneham (Notts) 26:38; 3 M.Vaux-Harvey (Kidderminster &S) 26:48; 4 P.Freary (Belgrave) 26:54; 5 T.Abyu (Salford) 26:58; 6 P.Jackson (Birchfield) 27:22.

Stage 6

Aldershot turned out recent signing Chris Bolt to take them to the halfway point and for the first time they moved to the head of the field as the challenge from Tipton and Morpeth faded. Our own ever-reliable Stephen Sharp gave us the day’s first fastest stage by a Belgravian as he took the claret and gold up three more places. But while Steve was fastest, Bolt and Salford’s Cryer were second and third fastest so the gap to AFD was still just over two minutes.

1 Aldershot F&D (+3) 2:05:36; 2 Salford (+3) 2:06:08; 3 Tipton (-2) 2:06:09; 4 Morpeth (-2) 2:06:20; 5 Bedford &C (-2) 2:06:45; 6 Belgrave (+3) 2:07:42.

Fastest: 1 S.Sharp (Belgrave) 14:14; 2 C.Bolt (Aldershot F&D) 14:22; 3 M.Cryer (Salford) 14:31; 4 R.Kay (Notts) 15:01; 5 C.Rimmer (Telford) 15:13; 6 R.Weir (Derby &C) 15:19.

Stage 7

Twice previously Mark Miles has blitzed the long stage for us, setting our second and fifth best runs of all time – 25:45 and 25:51. Only a vintage Paul Evans has ever gone better. Mark had been unable to run the SEAA race due to a badly twisted and swollen ankle and obviously there had been fears as to whether he’d be able to recover for this race. No worries though as this quiet, powerful runner, who seems tailor made for road racing, ripped into the opposition to give us a 25:48 to set up his all-time average as – 25:48. Mark was a minute and a quarter faster than any other man on the stage; we were over a minute into the medals now with Salford no more than 10 seconds ahead and Aldershot a further 38 seconds up the road. Five stages remained and this race wasn’t over yet.

1 Aldershot F&D (0) 2:32:42; 2 Salford (0) 2:33:20; 3 Belgrave (+3) 2:33:30; 4 Morpeth (0) 2:34:43; 5 Tipton (-2) 2:35:13; 6 Bedford &C (-1) 2:35:27.

Fastest: 1 M.Miles (Belgrave) 25:48; 2 S.Deakin (Leeds City) 27:01; =3 A.Jones (Cardiff) & 4 E.Robinson (Aldershot F&D) 27:06; 5 A.Norman (Altrincham) 27:08; 6 P.Green (Sale) 27:09.

Stage 8

Simon Marwood had leapt at the chance of a run in the “12”. A GB international modern pentathlete, Simon had decided that he could not find enough time to train for five disciplines but as his running was good, maybe athletics could offer him the chance of alternate sporting glory. Impressive in his first season of steeplechasing last summer, Simon has proved useful on the roads as well. Running third fastest of the stage he sailed past Salford but the AFD man was going even faster and the gap to the lead went up to over a minute again.

1 Aldershot F&D (0) 2:47:16; 2 Belgrave (+1) 2:48:32; 3 Salford (-1) 2:49:17; 4 Morpeth (0) 2:50:05; 5 Bedford &C (+1) 2:50:53; 6 Cardiff (+1) 2:51:05.

Fastest: 1 S.Ablitt (Aldershot F&D) 14:34; 2 L.Gunn (Derby &C) 14:57; 3 S.Marwood (Belgrave) 15:02; 4 M.Sawrey (Trafford) 15:08; 5 T.Bedford (Shaftesbury B) 15:14; 6 S.Lewis (Cardiff) 15:21.

Stage 9

If we were going to pull this off, stage 9 was going to be crucial. It was a big ask, but we needed Kevin Nash to run the long stage of his life. Unfortunately Nasher had not really been geared up for a long’un at all, his training slanted more towards the shorter track races just around the corner. In spite of this, it was his own choice to offer himself for the five-mile stage, knowing that we were struggling to find men to fill long slots; he’s a team man and no mistake. But once again the gods turned their backs on us and smiled on our rivals. Salford’s Andy Jones took half a minute out of AFD and brought his team’s red vest back past the Bels to boot. Kevin gave everything and could not have run any harder. If only he could have run the short stage he originally wanted we’ve no doubt he’d have ended the day on a high with a sub 14:30 run. As it was, he was another frustrated Belgravian.

1 Aldershot F&D (0) 3:14:09; 2 Salford (+1) 3:15:37; 3 Belgrave (-1) 3:15:44; 4 Bedford &C (+1) 3:17:42; 5 Morpeth (-1) 3:18:13; 6 Cardiff (0) 3:18:20.

Fastest: A.Jones (Salford) 26:20; 2 D.Deed (Bedford &C) 26:49; 3 N.Anderson (Aldershot F&D) 26:53; 4 K.Nash (Belgrave) 27:12; 5 J.Phillips (Cardiff) 27:15; 6 K.Kyereme (Shaftesbury B) 27:50.

Stage 10

“I’ll not get in a Belgrave National relay team again.” So said our Captain and team silver medallist from 2001 when he found himself reserve during the golden years of 2002 and 2003. Well, Roger Alsop was wrong on that score but by now there was an awful feeling that it was going to be silver again. This time it really was his last race as Captain, his span in that post reaching back to the days when we were delighted to come away from the winter season with silver medals from the South of Thames “Junior”. If only he could pull out a 14:40 à la 1993 there might still be hope. But no such luck as ex-Belgravian Kevin Quinn stretched the lead out by another eight seconds.

1 Aldershot F&D (0) 3:29:13; 2 Salford (0) 3:30:44; 3 Belgrave (0) 3:30:59; 4 Bedford &C (0) 3:33:52; 5 Morpeth (0) 3:34:05; 6 Cardiff (0) 3:34:58.

Fastest: 1 K.Quinn (Aldershot F&D) 15:07; 2 D.Mason (Salford) 15:12; 3 R.Alsop (Belgrave) 15:15; 4 A.Pitcher (Derby &C) 15:23; 5 M.Hatch (Sale) 15:42; 6 T.Egerton (Trafford) 15:45.

Stage 11

There can never have been a more emotionally charged relay stage than this one. Chris Thompson of Aldershot is one of the brightest young runners in the country. Spencer Barden for Belgrave is no slouch – but if the leg went to form, Spen could surely do no more than hold the gap, which was now a minute and three quarters. But it went far deeper than that. Only the day before “Thommo” had left his training partner Sam Haughian in South Africa. For four weeks they had trained together, peers in their chosen pursuit of middle-distance running. But while the Aldershot man had returned home to the UK and Sutton Park, Sam had tragically been killed in a car crash. This run was obviously going to be for Sam and while Spen pulled back past Salford to run the second best time of the stage, an ashen-faced and dark-eyed “Thommo” was recording the day’s fastest.

1 Aldershot F&D (0) 3:54:40; 2 Belgrave (+1) 3:57:14; 3 Salford (-1) 3:58:04; 4 Bedford &C (0) 4:02:58; 5 Cardiff (+1) 4:04:07; 6 Morpeth (-1) 4:04:40.

Fastest: 1 C.Thompson (Aldershot F&D) 25:27; 2 S.Barden (Belgrave) 26:15; 3 N.Jones (Salford) 27:20; 4 N.Altmann (Thames H&H) 27:41; 5 A.Thake (Hallamshire) 28:26; 6 G.Hull (Leeds) 28:29.

Stage 12

The previous two relays had seen Jonathan Blackledge handling the last leg with assurance and we had every confidence that had things been closer our man would have done all in his power to pull us back to the front. As it was, we were two and a half minutes adrift with no sight of the quarry. Far from going through the motions, though, Jonathan finished Belgrave’s race in style, giving us another fastest stage and pulling back over a minute. At nineteen, and already a gold medallist from 2003 surely there will be many other road relay medals ahead of him.

1 Aldershot F&D (0) 4:10:15; 2 Belgrave (0) 4:11:47; 3 Salford (0) 4:13:09; 4 Bedford &C (0) 4:18:44; 5 Cardiff (0) 4:21:00; 6 Morpeth (0) 4:21:04

Fastest: 1 J.Blackledge (Belgrave) 14:33; 2 J.Brown (Salford) 15:05; 3 D.Hiscox (Bridgend) 15:17; 4 A.Renfree (Shaftesbury B) 15:19; 5 M.Hilton (Leeds) 15:21; 6 N.Obrahim (Kent) 15:31.

Fastest short stages:

1 C.Davies (Telford) 13:23; 2 N.McCormick (Morpeth) 13:53; 3 J.Mays (Kent) 14:09; 4 M.Skinner (Blackheath) 14:12; 5 N.Pollock (Kent) 14:13; 6 S.Sharp (Belgrave) 14:14; 7 J.Moorhouse (Birchfield) 14:16; 8 P.Nicholls (Tipton) 14:21; =9 C.Bolt (Aldershot F&D) and D.Webb (Leeds) 14:22.

Fastest long stages:

1 C.Thompson (Aldershot F&D) 25:27; 2 K.Cullen (Highgate) 25:47; 3 M.Miles (Belgrave) 25:48; 4 J.Ward (Hallamshire) 26:00; 5 I.Mitchell (Tipton) 26:03; 6 M.Lole (Coventry Godiva) 26:11; 7 S.Barden (Belgrave) 26:15; 8 A.Jones (Salford) 26:20; 9 D.Taylor (Blackheath) 26:22; 10 M.Shaw (Tipton) 26:34.

Restored from the club's earlier website, belgraveharriers.com, and published here as originally written.