SEVERN RECORD ROAD RELAY BEST
Severn AC mens team had their best ever result when finishing ninth in the Midlands 12 stage road relay championships in Sutton Park on Saturday.
In blustery conditions the race was run over four long legs of 5.4 miles and eight short legs of three miles. Club captain Alex Hope got the team off to a solid start by coming home in 27th on the competitive first long leg (30.22). On the second leg Nathan Bishop had his best race for the club in several years gaining two places to 25th (16.36) and Stephen Hale, on his return from injury, improved to 21st (17.17). Gary Hope continued his preparations for the London Marathon with the teams second fastest long leg of the day (29.31) whilst moving up to 17th. Tim Dalton ran the teams fastest short leg of the day (15.21) moving up to tenth place. Despite losing four places Mark James ran a solid leg six before Josh Lilly made the big improvement up to eighth whilst storming around in 26.55, the seventh quickest time overall on the day. That position was maintained over the next four legs by Simon Fortnam (16.40), Stewart Lynas (17.52), Dave Lander (30.56) and Pete Stephens (16.20). However in the latter stages of the race an interesting battle began to develop between Severn and Cheltenham and County AC for the title of top County team. Nicky Gaulder started the final leg with a 1.24 minute advantage over Cheltenham but he couldnt hold off the fast finishing Corin Hughes who swept past in the final half mile to take eighth spot.
After the race team spokesman Simon Fortnam said "That was a tremendous effort and everyone worked really hard. We had two athletes drop out of the team on Thursday through injury and work commitments so to still finish in the top ten for the first time with reserves in the team is a great achievement. Hopefully we can strengthen the team for the National 12 stage relays on 14th April. All credit to Cheltenham and Stroud AC who pushed us hard whilst finishing in eighth and tenth."
9 Severn AC 4:16:09
Alex Hope (27) 30:22
Nathan Bishop (25) 16:36
Stephen Hale (21) 17:17
Gary Hope (17) 29:31
Tim Dalton (10) 15:21
Mark James (14) 19:18
Josh Lilly (8) 26:55
Simon Fortnam (8) 16:40
Stewart Lynas (8) 17:52
Dave Lander (8) 30:56
Peter Stephens (8) 16:20
Nicky Gaulder (9) 19:01
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