A glorious Saturday afternoon in Sutton Coldfield saw the spring series of the English Road Relay Association Nationals.
The sun was shining and it was a drastic difference from the cold and rather soggy affair in October.
Leeds City of course led the way, with the women’s 6-stage team successfully defending their title they secured this time last year. The team was anchored by Jenny Walsh, who’s had a turbulent seven years peppered with injuries, so it’s great to see her back on top form.
😍she’s still, she’s still,
Jenny from da block@JenniferWalsh4 https://t.co/PQ9gZgrqmh— Emelia Górecka (@emeliagorecka) April 6, 2019
It was Herne Hill who took the silver and Birchfield the third spot.
To top and indeed enable a fabulous @hrnhillharriers team silver medals performance it was more than wonderful to see @katiesnowden13 run the fastest overall short stage of the day, 20 seconds quicker than the next fastest https://t.co/1ToIg0hVc2
— Herne Hill Harriers (@hrnhillharriers) April 6, 2019
The men’s dozen were no slouches either, as they were crowned national champions for the 12-stage relay, with Joe Townsend bringing them home in 4hrs 12mins and 19 seconds.
Another Title for Leeds City AC! 🏆Joe Townsend crosses the line for the Men’s team in a new course record! Superb performance all round #ERRA #RoadRelays pic.twitter.com/1NF2ycA5xP
— England Athletics (@EnglandAthletic) April 6, 2019
The fastest course times however came from outside the northern powerhouse teams, as Kent AC’s Alex Yee, who finished 14th at the European Championships in Berlin over the 10,000m, sped around the course in 25 minutes, with Dewi Griffiths of Swansea also clocking an impressive 25:06. The battle for the minor medals was left to Bristol & West and Aldershot, Farnham & District.
An exciting battle for Silver sees Michael Wilsmore of @bristolwestac just edge out Max Heyden @AFDACofficial who take the bronze #ERRA #RoadRelays pic.twitter.com/gvzMTW7Unz
— England Athletics (@EnglandAthletic) April 6, 2019
The women’s race featured Denmark’s Anna Emilie Møller, who was fresh from the World Cross Country Championships in her home country just the previous week.
One for the Danish fans! Anna-Emilie Møller finishing 15th on home soil in Aarhus 🇩🇰🤩 What a performance being the first European crossing the finishline 🙌🏼#WXC19 #Aarhus2019 pic.twitter.com/D9WbAqWrwf
— WXC Aarhus 2019 (@Aarhus2019) March 30, 2019
She finished as top European at the Championships and proved her calibre on the roads in Sutton too, clocking 28:01 for the long leg.
A quality field in the Women’s race is led by @AFDACofficial Anna Moller after the opening leg #ERRA #RoadRelays pic.twitter.com/1SJ5LsoQ7F
— England Athletics (@EnglandAthletic) April 6, 2019
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