Saturday 21st September saw the Northern 6 Stage Road Relays taking place at Stanley Park in Blackpool, 115 teams from clubs all over the North gathered in the picturesque park to complete 6 legs of 6.6km – racing against some of the best club athletes the North, our lads had a serious challenge on their hands!
As 2pm chimed the first leg runners lined up on the track to begin the event; first off for Clayton Harriers was Captain Tom Brewster, after a faster-than-usual start and subsequent drop-off he finished the leg with a typical sprint finish to regain some places lost on the way round.
Standing by to take over for the second leg was Lee Smith, taking up the challenge with enthusiasm to complete his first 6 stage relay.
Taking the “baton” from Lee was Terry O’Leary, never seen without a smile on his face despite the toughness of the fast 6k course.
Running the 4th Leg for Clayton was David Hogan, giving it his all in an excellent comeback to competitive running having not raced since the Hameldon Hill Fell Race at the start of May!
With the clouds having moved on the temperature started to really ramp up, Richard Briscoe took to the course having no problem dealing with the excessive heat to complete the penultimate leg.
Clayton newcomer Adam Shaw completed the final leg taking the relay and the day to a close, voicing everyone’s feelings that it had been a very enjoyable day overall.
A pack of Haribo was produced as the Captains reward to the lads who each put in a sterling effort on their individual legs, after the dust had settled the team compared notes and comments such as “Did you see how fast that lad was running?!” and “He made me feel like I was stood still!” were rife as we’d faced off against some of the elite of the North. The results were released, Clayton were revealed to have achieved 71st place overall; an excellent result and well done to the lads who represented their club!
Given that this competition includes 4 junior categories and a Ladies relay, more efforts will be made to enter as many teams in as many categories for the 2014 relays.
Full results for the event can be found HERE
Thanks to Road Captain Tom Brewster for this excellent report.
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