AAA Men's 6 Stage Road Relay, Sutton Park, Sutton Coldfield

It's a AAA 6 stage hat trick!

Wonderful! Our team are making history. As a squad they were probably never in any doubt themselves of being able to pull off a third successive win to match the achievements of past treble winners Liverpool, Gateshead and Bingley - and now they can start dreaming of a sequence to match that set by City of Stoke AC who won on each of the first four occasions this championship was held, 1969-1972.

Stage 1

Such was the strength of the team that we had the luxury of giving Paul Freary an outing on the opening leg. It was joked that he should leave second stage runner Dave Anderson at least one man to chase but actually we hoped for a first leg place of 6th to 8th - which would be our best ever. But that man Freary knows how to punish himself and as the stage unwound he was edging into the lead and later admitted to considering trying a breakaway. With half a mile to go he was clearly in third and he crossed the line a mere 7 seconds down on the leaders in a personal record for the circuit. What a man and what a start!

1 Charnwood 17:18; 2 Preston 17:21; 3 Belgrave 17:25; 4 Harrow 17:30; 5 Morpeth 17:31; 6 Birchfield 17:32.

Fastest: 1 P.Richardson (Charnwood) 17:18; 2 C.Livesey (Preston) 17:21; 3 P.Freary (Belgrave) 17:26; 4 A.Bowden (Harrow) 17:30; 5 T.Ranger (Morpeth); 6 M.Whitehouse (Birchfield) 17:32.

Stage 2

The man in form, great things were expected from David Anderson, and before the stage was more than a minute or two old he was away from the pack and taking the Bels into a lead that would not be lost. The announcer reminded spectators that Telford's Chris Davies was also on stage two and that something special might be expected of him. It was more than special! As Dave turned at the far end of the course he was able to study the opposition and was startled to see that Davies was up to 3rd and flying. Up the hill through the woods and it was now second place for the Telford man but whereas most spectators expected his yellow vest to reach the takeover zone first, Dave Anderson was having none of that and kept the gap to 6 seconds. Davies had taken his team up from 31st to 2nd and had totally destroyed the outstanding Chris Thompson's course record by nearly half a minute.

1 Belgrave 34:40 (+1); 2 Telford 34:46 (+31); 3 Salford 35:01 (+7); 4 Notts 35:13 (+10); 5 Windsor SE&H 35:32 (+2); 6 Stoke 35:33 (+33).

Fastest: 1 C.Davies (Telford) 16:25; 2 R.Whalley (Stoke) 17:00; 3 D.Anderson (Belgrave) 17:14; 4 N.Wilkinson (Salford) 17:24; 5 N.Talbot (Notts) 17:28; 6 T.Humphries (Cannock) 17:30.

Stage 3

As Spencer Barden took up the challenge, the rain began to fall. Telford had had their day and as they sank back to 9th it was now Salford moving into the silver medal position. Spen never gives us a bad run. By his own admission, not quite in the form he was in at the same time a year ago, he nevertheless gave us what we always expect - a professional and quietly impressive effort that saw the Belgrave lead open up from 6 to 52 seconds by the end of his stint.

1 Belgrave 52:05 (0); 2 Salford 52:57 (+1); 3 Notts 53:17 (+1); 4 London Irish 53:21 (+6); 5 Morpeth 53:24 (+8); 6 Birchfield 53:41 (+12).

Fastest: 1 M.Skinner (Blackheath) 17:21; 2 R.Birchall (Birchfield) 17:22; 3 S.Barden (Belgrave) 17:25; 4 N.McCormick (Morpeth) 17:32; =5 J.Ward (Hallamshire) and J.Brooks (London Irish) 17:32.

Stage 4

Mark Miles had been on site in Sutton Park at sparrow chirp, setting up the Nike sales stand at the same time as the Belgrave tent erection squad were in action. Cold rain was now pouring down as he set out on his mission - and what determination he showed as he splashed his way through the blowing leaves. It was wet. It was slippery. He was nearly a minute ahead of the field. And he turned in our fastest time of the day, just one second behind his own Belgrave Club Record. What more can you say!

Faster still, however, was Van Hest of Bedford, who made such an impression in the SEAA race back in September. He pulled our Southern rivals into third and the medal positions had been settled - or had they?

1 Belgrave 1:09:14 (0); 2 Salford (0) 1:10:48; 3 Bedford 1:11:16 (+10); 4 Morpeth 1:11:25 (+1); 5 Notts 1:11:31 (-2); 6 Sale 1:11:48 (+1).

Fastest: 1 G.Van Hest (Bedford) 17:01; 2 M.Miles (Belgrave) 17:09; 3 M.Steinle (Blackheath) 17:32; 4 B.Royden (Medway) 17:46; 5 K.Ouou (Kent) 17:48; 6 S.Deakin (Leeds) 17:50.

Stage 5

Nothing ever goes exactly according to plan and on stage 5 we reached the point where lady luck was against us. It's the ability to ride the bad luck and still come out on top that sets a champion team above the others and here was our chance to show that have that capacity.

Martin Dent has been running so well but on the Tuesday before the race he met with a freak accident while out training. Running in Richmond Park in the dark he had the misfortune to run into some railings at full tilt and very badly bruise his quads. By Thursday evening he was confident of being able to run close to his recent form but whether the damage was even worse than we and he feared, or whether the icy rain on his bruised thigh muscles had an effect, the result was that Martin was well below par - and he did not enjoy what was probably his last run in Sutton Park.

1 Belgrave 1:27:42 (0); 2 Salford 1:28:22 (0); 3 Bedford 1:29:24 (0); 4 Birchfield (+3); 5 Sale 1:29:54 (+1); 6 Morpeth 1:29:57 (-2).

Fastest: 1 C.Warren (Birchfield) 17:31; 2 A.Jones (Salford) 17:34; 3 N.Anderson (Aldershot) 17:59; =4 J.Trapmore (Shaftesbury Barnet) and G.Raven (Sale) 18:06; 6 D.Deed (Bedford) 18:08; 9 M.Dent (Belgrave) 18:28.

Stage 6

For 30 seconds or so, as Stephen Sharp stood in the rain awaiting a sight of the lead motor bike, Belgrave hearts had a little flutter and Salford supporters began to get excited. Eventually an unhappy Martin hove into sight behind the lead motor bike and as he crossed the line Stephen set out with a 40 second advantage. It was all over. Enjoying his run on the final stage at the head of the field Steve received the applause of the bedraggled supporters and was even able to question what Maria was on about as she screamed alternately at her man on the road and coach Terry Noad, on the 'phone, back in London.

Great running guys. We're proud of you. And as usual, many thanks to all those who make up the support team - those on tent duty, the refreshment girls (have you ever seen such an array of cakes), the supporters and of course two key men - the reserves Jonathan Blackledge and the man on the day, Will Cockerell.

1 Belgrave 1:45:22 (0); 2 Salford 1:46:21 (0); 3 Bedford 1:47:21 (0); 4 Morpeth 1:47:25 (+2); 5 Birchfield 1:47:36 (-1); 6 Sale 1:48:10 (-1); 67 teams started; 63 teams finished.

Fastest: 1 S.Haughian (Windsor SE&H) 17:26; 2 M.Hudspith (Morpeth) 17:28; 3 P.Sly (Thames H&H) 17:37; 4 S.Sharp (Belgrave) 17:40; 5 D.Wardle (London Irish) 17:44; 6 R.Vint (Aldershot) 17:49.

Fastest overall: 1 C.Davies (Telford) 16:25; 2 R.Whalley (Stoke) 17:00; 3 G.Van Hest (Bedford) 17:01; 4 M.Miles (Belgrave) 17:09; 5 D.Anderson (Belgrave) 17:14; 6 P.Richardson (Charnwood) 17:18.

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