Midlands 12 stage road relays
Severn Athletic Club bounced back from some disappointing team performances this winter to qualify for the National 12 Stage Road Relay. After an eventful day in the Midland 12 Stage at Sutton Coldfield on Saturday, Severn's second string athletes really performed. This culminated in a 19th placed finish for the team, well inside the top 25 position needed.
Missing key runners, Severn AC struggled to hold their top 20 position in the latter half of the race, with Club Captain Steve Hale expressing his views; "We have had some critical injuries this winter, so the Midland event was very much a question of our reserves producing their best and holding on for qualification, which they did."
With a strong team in the first six legs however, Severn were prominent early on. Tim Dalton bounced back to form running 27mins 22secs on the opening 5.38 mile lap, leaving Severn seventh of 48 teams.
Youngster Oliver Starkey, who like Dalton had run poorly the previous week, produced his best form at this level running a 3 mile lap in 17mins 18secs. The team were now in ninth.
On lap three Simon Fortnam returned from a long injury setback to record a good time of 17mins 55secs coming home 12th.
Josh Lilly stepped up to the plate for the long fourth lap and showed his credentials as a top runner. His time of 26mins 28secs was his best performance in this event, and the third fastest time of the day. Afterwards he was keen to talk about his performance; "I ran 26mins 22secs in the National Event two years ago, but today I was running isolated all the way round, only making up three positions. It would have been nice to have a few more athletes to chase down". This performance left Severn in eighth with a great chance of progressing.
The next two short laps featured new Severn AC recruits, Newent School youngsters Josh Mogg and Nathan Morris. They impressed on their first outing at this level of competition, with Mogg bringing the team home in twelth with 19mins 45secs and Morris in 18mins 22secs for thirteenth. These performances bode well for the future of city athletics.
Now into the business end of the proceedings, Club Captain Steve Hale ran a long seventh lap of 32mins 6secs, placing the team in 15th. He was followed by new father James Rose, who celebrated the birth of his son Tom with a pb of 17mins 10secs, making up one position for 14th.
Next for Severn was Gary Barnes (V50) with a time of 20mins 4secs, handing over to Dave Lander in 16th position. Lander (V45) then ran a long leg in 32mins 17secs to hold 16th, before John Holland kept Severn in qualification with 19mins 56secs. With the team now in the 18th, the race was on to ensure progression to the national event.
Panic ensued however as anchor man Anthony Bethel had to be summoned from work in Stafford to complete the team. Arriving just 10mins before his leg was due to start, after making last minute arrangements and a speedy motorbike journey, Bethel brought the team home in 21st, with a time of 19mins 15secs.
Severn will now look to build on these performances, as well as bringing runners from their long injury list back into the team, for the National Event on April 17th.
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