The British Masters National Road Relay Championships on Saturday 23rd April at Sutton Park proved to be a very enjoyable and successful day for Bristol and West AC men and women. It was an achievement in these Covid stricken times to get five full teams out, with the club fielding two men’s and three women’s teams.
The women’s event kicked off at 10:30 with all age groups (and M75’s) running together. We had three full teams in the race, one F45 and two F55. Our first F55 team claimed bronze with Jill Harrison 22:05, Sian Davies 22:35 and Rosey Mushens, returning from injury to run the glory leg, also in 22:35. It looks as if Jill was the fastest over 60 too!
Our second F55 team finished in a very good seventh place, with Fliss Russell 23:18, Antonia Gooder 23:35 and post marathon Maggie Salter 24:44. Our F45 team gave it their all to finish in eleventh place on this challenging course. Unfortunately, the results went a bit haywire for their individual results, but we think it goes something like this, Julie Ilogu 23:30, Henrietta Anstey 25:34 and Kate Druett 24:34.
Our M55 and M65 teams travelled up to Sutton Park, hoping to improve on their performances in 2019 (the last time the event was held) when we won bronze and silver medals respectively. Our M55 team improved on their 2019 time by nearly two minutes and that was enough to secure gold this time. Matthew Robinson got us off to a great start, his 18:13 giving us third place, behind what turned out to be the second and third fastest legs of the race. Tony Roper, with 18:30, hauled us into the lead, handing over to Philip Parry who extended our 14 second advantage by a further 7 seconds, with the equal second fastest leg of the day. All three of our runners were in the top nine fastest legs, Philip missing out on individual gold by just one second. The M55 race was more competitive than in 2019, with 36 teams finishing (compared to 30).
Our M65 team, having suffered various disruptions to their preparation, put in a sterling effort. Jon Goodland’s 21:35, Mike Chipping’s 23:04 and David Bedwell’s 20:59 gave us a similar time to 2019, but it was not quite enough to secure a medal, finishing fourth. David’s time was in the top ten fastest legs. The M65 race was significantly more competitive this year, with nearly twice the number of finishing teams as in 2019. The winners, Cambuslang Harriers, were almost three minutes faster than Oxford City were in 2019. This year, again, Oxford City finished just ahead of us.
Congratulations and thanks to all the runners, supporters and organisers.
Thanks to Tom Burgess for the men's report and team management.
Sian Davies