SUPER ALL ROUND TEAM EFFORT NEEDED IN DEFENCE OF NATIONAL ROAD RELAY TITLE

Of all National distance running club competitions the 12 stage road relay events are surely the truest and fairest test of any club`s overall strength as the performance of every one of your twelve runners in the team, regardless of their ability, is crucial to the final outcome.

What's more, because all the other championships we contest are determined by the times/positions of your six or fewer leading runners, such as all cross country events and the autumn road relays, the 12-stage event is universally acknowledged as the blue riband title of club distance running, as it is the most demanding and prestigious to win.

Equally if and when you finally win it as we did last year, so achieving what had been one of the long-term objectives of the Bristol and West crusade, such is the relief on finally doing it that it is even more challenging to rouse the same drive, spirit and motivation to repeat it the following year.

Before last year's triumph, the club had only ever won it once before in 1980, when the now legendary team led by NICK ROSE not only won it but set a course record that was never beaten on the old course for 33 years, since when the lap distances have had to be changed due to changes within the traditional Sutton Park venue.

However our team's success in 1980 proved to be something of a one off as they never won any other titles even at area level, whereas since the rebranded formation of Bristol and West we have gradually developed something of a dynasty, particularly over the last ten years with three second places, in one of which we still took the England title behind UK winners Swansea, a third and a 4th before last year`s victory, while in two of those years the race was not held due to the pandemic.

It's a record that the club can be proud of when you consider that you are up against the top 25 clubs from each of the North, South and Midland area qualifying events, as well as the leading club teams from the other home countries. It's also proved that a South West club need never be an also ran if some of the region's better runners can be brought together. So it is no coincidence that our team on Saturday includes two Devonian recruits, WILL BATTERSHILL and FLYNN JENNINGS, as well as Cornish stalwart PETE LE GRICE, none of whom would have had the opportunity of being in a competitive team if they had not joined us.

But back to the enormity of the task facing us in defence of the title we won last year, when who can forget those heart-stopping moments that after leading for much of the second half of the race WILL BATTERSHILL had to make up a gap of over half a minute on the anchor leg to overhaul the backloading Highgate team to seal the victory we had been chasing for 21 years.

As defending champions, we will inevitably be expected to be among the leading medal contenders, yet after losing our Midland title a fortnight ago, we will certainly not start as favourites. That honour looks sure to belong to long term rivals Cambridge and Coleridge and Tonbridge, who dominated the autumn 6 stage championship ahead of Highgate and ourselves, and have gone on to do the same in the recent Southern event when Cambridge and Coleridge, who incidentally were the bronze medallists behind us last year, prevailed by just four seconds over Tonbridge, who robbed us of our National cross country title at Sedgefield in February.

Even so our first challenge is to avenge our defeat in the Midland championship by Western Tempo, who bear in mind were only just behind us in 5th place in autumn's National 6 stage. They too will be strengthened by the inclusion of their up-and-coming star JACOB CANN, while we still also have to make up the two and a half minutes the Cheltenham-based club were ahead of us two weeks ago.

Mind you we were only able to turn out a half strength team that day, yet although PETE LE GRICE, FLYNN JENNINGS, JOE MORROW and TIM LEFROY are due to come into our line up, we will still be missing our road team captain KURT TAYLOR, who is suffering with a chronic groin strain after his fine marathon before Christmas in Valencia, as well as three other injury victims MAX DAVIS, DAN STUDLEY and OWAIN JONES, while BEN ROBINSON, a long term member of our first team, has regrettably defected to the opposition.

While that promises to be our race within a race, to be realistic, Cambridge and Coleridge and Tonbridge still look to have the strongest teams on paper, though this too assumes that the newly crowned Northern champions, Leeds City, runners-up Morpeth and bronze medallists Salford won't be involved at the front. In Leeds' case that would not be a surprise as they are the only club since the millennium to have won the title twice in succession in 2007/08 and 2015/16, though much will depend on whether their marathon international stars EMILE CAIRESS and PHIL SESEMAN turn out.

Having said that, it still does look as if Southern clubs will again dominate the top ten places with Highgate, Southern bronze medallists Hercules- Wimbledon, Aldershot, Bedford, Shaftesbury-Barnet and Kent all capable of making their presence felt.

Our team selection, as ideally it should be, has proved difficult, but those of our silver medal-winning Midlands team to make way for the four normally first-choice runners who missed the event - JOHNNY THEWLIS, ALEX STEWART, DAVID AWDE and TOM DUNFORD - were made available for the B team if available and team coordinator Chris Elson will be hoping to challenge the few other clubs who have qualified two teams for the race.

As for the selected A team, it's not that incomparable with last year's winning line-up, which admittedly it will have to be if we are to at least make the medals again, according to team captain JACK MILLAR, who has done a wonderful job in keeping this outstanding team together.

"So much depends on whether our main rivals get all their top guys out. If they are also missing some of their leading runners, I am sure we can be in the mix," claims Millar, adding, "as always, we all need to go that bit quicker than we did two weeks ago. If so, who knows?"

One thing for sure is that our guys are in no mood to give up the title without a fight, having all vowed after the National cross country that they were going to give conquerors Tonbridge a real run for their money.

As already indicated, the greatest appeal and glory of this race is that every member of the team is as important as the next man. Maybe indeed it does come down to who wants it the most. Over to you guys!

TEAM A (in proposed running order): FLYNN JENNINGS; WILL PARKIN; DYLAN RIGBY; DAGE MINORS; FELIX MCGRATH; TIM LEFROY; MILAN CAMPION; JOE MORROW; PETE LE GRICE; LUKE BURGESS; JACK MILLAR; WILL BATTERSHILL. Res: JOHNNY THEWLIS.

TEAM B:  JOHNNY THEWLIS; MATT BATTENSBY; HARRY HOLMES; TOM DUNFORD; DAVE LEWIN; LEE GAWLER; MATT BIALOGONSKI; ALED ANDERSON; ISHMAEL BRADLEY; ADAM STOKES; ALEXI CHOMYSZYN; JAMES PALMER.

MIKE DOWN