AAA Men’s 12-Stage Road Relay Championship, Sutton Coldfield

The Bels are back

“There was nothing [so] dramatic in the Men’s race. Belgrave Harriers hit the front on the fifth stage and thereafter never looked in danger of claiming their third victory in four years.”

“Belgrave’s was the fourth-slowest winning time in the Men’s 12 Stage in the past 30 years.”

The above were a couple of published comments after the race.

Well, if you didn’t see the contest, you’d be forgiven for thinking that you didn’t miss anything – but as far as this writer is concerned there was enough excitement to tide him over the twelve months before he gets his next fix of AAA 12-Stage exhilaration.

Having fielded a below par team in 2004 and suffered a beating at the feet of the men from Aldershot, we vowed, “We’ll be back,” and in true Terminator style we were – twelve men totally committed to getting back onto the victory rostrum. The pre-race message boards tipped a Birchfield-Belgrave duel, with the Midlanders boosted by their African members. For our part we felt Morpeth might get in on the act, while Salford and Newham & Essex could also be dangerous even though they both were missing men who had raced the streets of London the previous week.

Stage 1

Last man into the “dozen”, Will Cockerell has been reserve more times than he cares to remember. Last year he was left out of the squad as it was felt that his efforts in the London Marathon might have affected him more than he expected; but he reigned in his disappointment (after a good natured expletive was hurled at the Team Manager), bided his time and made the cut in 2005.

Will’s target was a finishing position of somewhere around 20 and although his time was a little slower than hoped for, his placing was fine. The show was on the road and having sent “Wardy” on his way and spent a few minutes slumped on the ground sucking oxygen back into his lungs, “Skip” could enjoy the rest of the race.

Ominously, Birchfield had already taken the lead through Zak Kihara and we were a minute and a half down.

1 Birchfield 26:30; 2 Leicester 26:34; 3 Shaftesbury B 26:34; 4 Altrincham 26:45; 5 Derby 26:46; 6 Newham &EB 26:46; 23 Belgrave 27:59.

Fastest 1 Z Kihara (Birchfield) 26:30; =2 M Geece (Leicester) and K Kyereme (Shaftesbury B) 26:34; 4 A Norman (Altrincham) 26:45; =5 J Gilby (Derby) and A Robinson (Newham &EB) 26:46; 23 W Cockerell (Belgrave) 27:59.

Stage 2

Glandular fever hit Richard Ward for six last summer. After a break, he worked his way back this winter until it looked as if he’d soon be back at his sparkling best. Track races in the ‘States had sharpened his speed and we hoped for his normal trick of tearing up the tarmac on stage two. It wasn’t to be. Deep down Rich still doesn’t feel quite right and although he gained a place it was an uncharacteristically subdued “Wardy” who announced that he’d now take another break to get himself sorted out.

1 Derby (+4) 41:08; 2 Altrincham (+2) 41:15; 3 Morpeth (+8) 41:21; 4 Owls (+9) 41:44; 5 Birchfield (-4) 41:49; 6 Shaftesbury B (-3) 41:55; 22 Belgrave (+1) 43:18.

Fastest: 1 E Malloch (Woodford GwEL) 14:20; 2 L Gunn (Derby) 14:22; =3 G Blackman (Harrow) and D Samuels (Morpeth 14:23; 5 J Macdonald (Trafford) 14:26; 6 J Ward (Altrincham) 14:30; =21 R Ward (Belgrave) 15:19.

Stage 3

So, two stages gone and we were two minutes down. We’d not expected to be near the front at this point so it was a matter of reminding ourselves of that fact and steeling the nerves; and just the guy to keep things rock solid was Erwin McRae. Somehow one just knew that this man was going to keep the Belgrave ship on course and soon he was calmly easing through the traffic. Disregarding the whirlwind that was Keith Cullen, pulling back 19 places for Highgate as he went sub-26, Erwin kept calm and moved the Bels up eight places to set things up nicely for Tim Watson.

1 Morpeth (+2) 1:08:04; 2 Woodford GwEL (+5) 1:08:47; 3 Shaftesbury B (+3) 1:09:02; 4 Aldershot F&D (+8) 1:09:10; 5 Highgate (+19) 1:09:22; 6 Tipton (+4) 1:09:26; 14 Belgrave (+8) 1:10:24.

Fastest: 1 K Cullen (Highgate) 25:53; 2 P Riley (Leigh) 26:08; 3 N Talbot (Notts) 26:10; 4 M Skinner (Blackheath) 26:27; 5 F Thompson (Aldershot F&D) 26:35; 6 M Scaife (Morpeth) 26:43; 10 E McRae (Belgrave) 27:06.

Stage 4

Twelve months earlier an unfit Tim Watson had filled the breech as our team crumbled during the week before the race. It had not been an enjoyable experience for him then, but what a difference this time around. A logical long stage man, it was felt that on this tough course we could utilize Tim’s strength and encourage him to let rip on the short lap. The young man duly obliged! It was a hot stage all round but another eight clubs fell by the wayside as Tim pressed the Belgrave cause.

1 Morpeth (0) 1:23:30; 2 Tipton (+4) 1:23:47; 3 Aldershot F&D (+1) 1:24:31; 4 Owls (+4) 1:24:49; 5 Hallamshire (+5) 1:24:57; 6 Belgrave (+8) 1:24:59.

Fastest: 1 S Hepples (Newham &EB) 14:15; 2 A Bowden (Harrow) 14:16; 3 P Nicholls (Tipton) 14:21; =4 N Pollock (Kent) 14:26 and G Taylor (Trafford) 14:26; 6 T Watson (Belgrave) 14:35.

Stage 5

Pre-race plans were that we would go ahead on stage 5 and in spite of the fact that we were a little behind schedule on times, Phil Wicks wasn’t having it any other way. One of the most exciting things about this guy’s running is the fact that it is all, still, comparatively new to him. He didn’t start running until he was eighteen and began with a couple of marathons. Three years later and he’s causing raised eyebrows, as, with a focus that totally belies his youth, he shows absolutely no fear of the toughest of courses. The opposition fell away to Phil’s stride until it was just Morpeth’s blue and white colours ahead – and then they too were gone as claret and gold hit the front right on cue and then pulled away by 12 seconds.

1 Belgrave (+5) 1:51:50; 2 Morpeth (-1) 1:52:02; 3 Tipton (-1) 1:52:10; 4 Leeds C (+4) 1:52:17; 5 Bristol &W (+7) 1:52:51; 6 Aldershot F&D (-3) 1:52:52.

Fastest: 1 N Jones (Salford) 26:27; 2 B Tickner (Wells C) 26:31; 3 P Wicks (Belgrave) 26:51; 4 S Deakin (Leeds C) 27:09; 5 M Dalkins (Birchfield) 27:20; 6 J Ward (Bristol &W) 27:25.

Stage 6

As our old coach Tom Carter used to say, “Don’t hit the front, old son, until you know you’re going to stay there!” And my goodness, didn’t we just intend to keep that lead now. Still the youngest man on the team at 20 (and with Phil Wicks, bringing the average age of the squad down to 26) Jonathan Blackledge must have more AAA senior road running medals than any athlete of his age ever. It’s a strange fact that in all of his races in Sutton Park he has never yet seen another athlete while out on his lap – and this year it was no different. Unbeaten over 1500m during the recent Achilles vs. American Universities he had returned to the UK just over a week earlier, fitted in a geography field trip which ended the previous day, and now raced the Sutton Park circuit before tackling an examination on the Sunday. The “Kid” didn’t disappoint, opening the gap to second placed Tipton to a minute.

1 Belgrave (0) 2:06:28; 2 Tipton (+1) 2:07:24; 3 Leeds C (+1) 2:07:44; 4 Birchfield (+3) 2:07:48; 5 Salford (+3) 2:07:53; 6 Morpeth (-4) 2:08:05.

Fastest: 1 F Tickner (Wells C) 14:21; 2 J Blackledge (Belgrave) 14:38; 3 M Openshaw (Birchfield) 14:50; 4 C Winward (Salford) 14:54; 5 K Farrow (Derby) 15:00; 6 H Jama (Ealing S&M) 15:05.

Stage 7

Getting ever fitter but surely still a minute short of his potential for this course, David Anderson faced some of the race’s hard men, among them Birchfield’s Kenyan, Wilf Taragon; and there was home grown talent too in the shape of short stage record holder Chris Davies (Telford) and Bristol & West’s Rob Whalley, but DA’s as tough as any of them and he was well psyched up for the challenge.

Only sketchy mid-lap information was being announced but phone calls to Belgrave fans out on the course told us that Taragon was into second place and bringing down the gap. The Birchfield Team Manager introduced himself to his Belgrave counterpart at this point and informed us that although they’d lose a minute to us on stage eight, they could match us man for man over the last four legs. A bit optimistic on his part, we thought, but: “Come on Dave. Hold that lead.”

Our lead did indeed come down but what a superb run by the Belgrave man, and hasn’t he come on in the three weeks since Milton Keynes.

1 Belgrave (0) 2:33:02; 2 Birchfield (+2) 2:33:24; 3 Bristol &W (+8) 2:35:00; 4 Morpeth (+2) 2:35:08; 5 Leeds C (-2) 2:35:21; 6 Aldershot F&D (+1) 2:35:27.

Fastest: 1 C Davies (Telford) 25:21; 2 W Taragon (Birchfield) 25:36; 3 R Whalley (Bristol &W) 26:09; 4 D Anderson (Belgrave) 26:34; 5 W Levett (Bedford &C) 26:46; 6 M Hudspith (Morpeth) 27:03.

Stage 8

Another man usually seen on the long stages, “Nasher” took off with the pressure of knowing that it was now a two-horse race and he had just 22 seconds in hand over our black-vested rivals. Never satisfied with his performance, and always looking for something faster, Kevin ran a “stormer”. In spite of the knowledge that the Birchfield man had him in his sights on the straights, our man opened the lead out to a huge two and a half minutes. Surely now it was all over.

1 Belgrave (0) 2:47:02; 2 Birchfield (0) 2:49:30; 3 Bristol &W (0) 2:49:51; 4 Leeds C (+1) 2:50:35; 5 Aldershot F&D (+1) 2:50:36; 6 Bedford &C (+3) 2:50:58.

Fastest: 1 K Nash (Belgrave) 14:40; 2 O Matthews (Bedford &C) 14:48; 3 J Willis (Bristol &W) 14:51; 4 A Murphy (Shaftesbury B) 15:07; 5 K Quinn (Aldershot F&D) 15:09; 6 A Osborne (Leeds C) 15:14.

Stage 9

With a third of the race to go we’d gained a substantial lead – yet hadn’t got a single man in the top ten times over long or short stages. All that was about to change. The Stags match us man for man? I don’t think so as the first of our awesome tail-end foursome were unleashed.

In fact Mark Miles is as unassuming a character as you could wish to meet; and to see him chatting with the official in charge of the takeover you’d think he was about to trundle off on a training run. But flick that switch and he’s a mean a racing machine. In great form, having run a blistering 10k in Ireland a couple of weeks earlier, “Milesey” took another minute out of Birchfield. Down the field the Beagles’ Mo Farah had the advantage of athletes to chase as he also set one of the day’s best times – but out on his own Mark’s 25:50 stood up as fourth best of the day. He has now run an amazing string of 25:45, 25:48, 25:50 and 25:51. What consistency; and what would he do if on stage one or three?

1 Belgrave (0) 3:13:32; 2 Birchfield (0) 3:16:28; 3 Bristol &W (0) 3:17:42; 4 Bedford &C (+2) 3:17:51; 5 Leeds C (-1) 3:18:00; 6 Aldershot F&D (-1) 3:18:49.

Fastest: 1 M Farah (Newham &EB) 25:33; 2 M Miles (Belgrave) 25:50; 3 D Deed (Bedford &C) 26:53; 4 J Moorhouse (Birchfield) 26:58; 5 B Hilton (Leeds C) 27:25; 6 M Steinle (Blackheath) 27:34.

Stage 10

With six national road relay gold medals to his name – and another two on the country – Stephen Sharp’s hunger for more is unabated. Like Mark before him and “Spenny” to follow, he’d gone way down the order to provide a “killer” finish but one day we must put him on stage two where surely he’ll go sub-14 in a big way. The only thing is, with these guys it doesn’t matter which one goes early, ‘cos all those that follow will still have to run from the front!

“Sharpy” was our fastest short stager and ended up in the top ten of the day – again in spite of making his own pace at the front. More importantly, another half minute had been stolen from Birchfield.

1 Belgrave (0) 3:27:56; 2 Birchfield (0) 3:31:22; 3 Bedford &C (+1) 3:32:30; 4 Bristol &W (-1) 3:33:23; 5 Leeds C (0) 3:33:34; 6 Aldershot F&D (0) 3:34:33.

Fastest: 1 S Sharp (Belgrave) 14:24; 2 L Cadman (Bedford &C) 14:39; 3 M Whitehouse (Birchfield) 14:54; 4 J Bailey (Sale) 15:14; 5 G Turner (Hallamshire) 15:26; 6 A Henderson (Wells C) 15:28.

Stage 11

“Spenny” was away … and as seconds became a minute, and that minute was joined by a couple of friends … the Sudanese athlete Mohammed Yacqub looked down the road in vain for his clubmate. This man was third fastest of the day over the same course in the Midland Relays – and he improved again here, but he was no match for Spencer Barden who went seven seconds faster still and became our second long-stager in the top ten. Also in action was Al Stewart - coming back to fitness and prepared to be on hand all day should an emergency occur. He managed to find a run for his old club Redhill Road Runners and proved that he'd made great progress with his fitness levels.

1 Belgrave (0) 3:54:01; 2 Birchfield (0) 3:57:34; 3 Leeds C (+2) 4:00:39; 4 Bedford &C (-1) 4:00:54; 5 Bristol &W (-1) 4:01:53; 6 Newham &EB (+2) 4:03:02.

Fastest: 1 S Barden (Belgrave) 26:05; 2 M Yacqub (Birchfield) 26:12; 3 D Agustus (Sale) 26:56; 4 D Bilton (Leeds C) 27:05; 5 K Stone (Newham &EB) 27:20; 6 M Blunden (Notts) 27:35; 9 A Stewart (Redhill) 28:04.

Stage 12

The last seven stages had seen all of our runners in the top three on their laps – three of them being stage winners – but there was another one to come yet as our smiling international 800 metre runner Chris Moss toured the circuit enjoying the applause – even joking with our supporters – and still ran 14:35. If it had been tight we’d have had every faith in his tactical ability but as it turned out, he was able to enjoy the occasion.

When we set out on this journey together some six or seven years ago our dream had been to emulate some of the great teams of the day – Tipton, Bingley, Gateshead and others. We’ve certainly got close to their achievements now with win number three and a fifth consecutive year of medalling. But, “fourth-slowest winning time in the Men’s 12 Stage in the past 30 years …” We all know about the “good old days” but surely there must have been some change in the course since Bristol’s 4:00:37 of 1980 when Tipton placed second in 4:01:51. And in those days the runners touched hands at the take over, adding another twelve times ten metres – 120m in all – to the overall length of the race. Is it possible for us, or some other club for that matter, to get near those times again?

1 Belgrave (0) 4:08:36; 2 Birchfield (0) 4:12:13; 3 Leeds C (0) 4:15:59; 4 Bedford &C (0) 4:16:20; 5 Bristol &W (0) 4:16:32; 6 Salford (+1) 4:19:03.

Fastest: 1 C Moss (Belgrave) 14:35; =2 R Bugden (Bristol &W) and T Payn (Birchfield) 14:39; 4 J Mills (Blackheath) 14:49; 5 A Dyson (Hallamshire) 15:03; 6 P Richards (Swansea) 15:13.

Fastest overall:

Long stages – 1 C Davies (Telford) 25:21; 2 M Farah (Newham &EB) 25:33; 3 W Taragon (Birchfield) 25:36; 4 M Miles 25:50; 5 K Cullen (Highgate) 25:53; 6 S Barden (Belgrave) 26:05.

Short stages – 1 S Hepples (Newham &EB) 14:15; 2 A Bowden (Harrow) 14:16; 3 E Malloch (Woodford GwEL) 14:20; =4 F Tickner (Wells C) and P Nicholls (Tipton) 14:21; 9 S Sharp (Belgrave) 14:24.

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