Relay round-up: Belles fare well at Nationals and dominate Surrey champs
The Belles put in a solid performance at the National 4-stage road relays and claimed silverware at the Surrey Off-Road Relay championships.
It was a very good day for the Belles in the National 4-Stage Road-Relay at Sutton Park, with three teams finishing seventh, 15th and 23rd out of a total of 65 teams who started the race. They were the first B and C teams on the day, again illustrating the strength in depth of this squad.
Gale force winds made conditions very difficult particularly on the initial uphill section of the course, and disrupted train services made for a very long day. But spirit was high with everyone encouraging their teammates all around the course.
A TEAM
Alex Barbour got the team off to an excellent start with her best run for the club to date. She set off cautiously up the hill and then overtook many on the flat and downhill sections finishing in 10th place. Steph Hewitt took over on the second leg and found the course tough particularly the uphill sections, but she only dropped four places. Abbey Brooke repeated her fine run in the Southern event two weeks previously, picking up five places on her run. The team were now in ninth. On the fourth leg, Emily Bradley had a very lonely run, the gaps at this stage were very large, but, she did pick off a further two places to bring the team home in a very fine seventh place.
B TEAM
The B team contained some very strong runners who may have might have ben selected for the A team.
They were led off by the experienced Saron Haileselase who ran a very solid led in 25th place despite suffering from a painful back. Penny Oliver took over in second suffering somewhat from back to back half marathon races in recent weeks. On the third stage, Emily Bowden had a tremendous run, the fourth fastest of all the Belles. She moved her team up no less than ten places. Clemmie Cooper also ran very well in a rare outing for the club. She overtook another six runners to finish off the team in an excellent 15th place, the top B team.
C TEAM
In her strongest run for some time, Samantha Munday showed that she is quickly getting back to her best after a year spent concentrating on her masters. She finished in 38th place on the first leg which is always the strongest in depth. All the rest of the team overtook runners; on the second leg, and Emma Rowland took four places. Then Billie McCloskey claimed another six places on leg three, and finally Emilie Arnoux took five more to finish the team in 23rd place, a terrific result for a C team.
RESULTS
Vale Royal 1:14.48, 2. Bristol & West 1:15.07, 3. AFD 1:15. 48. .....7. Belgrave A, 1:17.37, 15. Belgrave B, 1:20.59, 23. Belgrave C, 1:25.24.
A team. 1. A. Barbour 18:49 (10), 2. S. Hewitt 20:32 (14), 3. A. Brooke 19:04 (9), 4. E. Bradley 19:10 (7).
B Team. 1. S. Haileselase 19:57 (25), 2. P. Oliver 21:36 (31), 3. E. Bowden 19:24 (21), 4. C. Cooper 20:00 (15).
C Team. 1. S. Munday 20:47 (38), 2. E. Rowland 21:32 (34), 3. B. McCloskey 20:51 (28), 4. E. Arnoux 22:13 (23).
Belles dominate at Nonsuch Park
It was a very enjoyable day in the sunshine at Nonsuch Park for the Surrey Off-Road Relay Championship, and a successful one too for the Belles teams who came first and second in the race.
Unfortunately, since moving form the traditional venue Wimbledon Park, which was always set earlier in September, far fewer teams enter the race. In fact there were only 12 senior women's teams, with many not fielding their strongest runners.
However, that should not take away some outstanding runs from the Belles, with Saron Haileselase, Emily Bowden, Georgia Holden, Ella-May Hards and Sarah Riceman posting the five fastest times of the day.
Billie McCloskey, Emma Rowland and Lara Mangan also ran very well for the B team which finished four minutes ahead of Epsom in third. Sara Ridmy and Marianna Papat were happy to come along to run in an incomplete C team after Covid had taken its toll.
RESULTS
Belgrave A, 1:11;.21, (1. S. Haileselase 17:35, 2. E-M. Hards 18:23, 3. E. Bowden 17:39, 4. G. Holden 17:42).
Belgrave B, 1:16.04, (1. S. Riceman 18:24, 2. B. McCloskey 19:13, 3. E. Rowland 19:19, 4. L. Mangan 19:07).
Epsom and Ewell, 1:20.01.
Belgrave C, (1. S. Ridmy 20:41, 2. M. Papat 21:32, 3. S. Ridmy 21:41).