Midland 6-Stage Road Relays
LEAMINGTON C&AC men’s ‘A’ team posted their best performance for four years at the Midland 6-Stage Road Relays on Saturday 19th September 2009, qualifying for the Nike ERRA National Road Relays which takes place in three weeks’ time on Saturday 17th October. Leamington placed 28th overall and qualified for the nationals on the basis that they came home as the 20th ‘A’ team, out of 85 total teams competing from all over the Midlands. Birmingham’s Birchfield Harriers finished strongly once again, winning the team event in 1hr 48mins 51sec, just 26 seconds ahead of close rivals Tipton
Richard Harper, wearing A56 above, begun the day strongly for Leamington, finishing 11th in his best ever time of 18min 34s. Second to run was Jamie Langley, flying the flags for C&AC on what is arguably the most difficult leg. Langley posted a time of 21.11, handing over to Jack Mee in 30th; well in the mix with a lot of strong teams. Long distance specialist Mee had a powerful run, finishing 3rd leg in 27th, clocking 20.29. Next to run was Bernard Gaffney, who kept Leamington in the top 30, storming round the final bend to pass over to Steve Cornfield in 20.52. Cornfield, a long time C&AC athlete, was the fourth Leamington runner to break 21 minutes on the day. Finishing leg 5 in 28th with a time of 20.56, Cornfield left the final work to be done by Charlie Eastaugh, resident 800m specialist. Eastaugh powered round the hilly 5.86km course in a personal best time of 21.54, outsprinting a rival on the finishing hill. This concluded the relay in an overall clocking of 2hrs 3mins 56secs: Leamington’s fastest time since 2005
Leamington C&AC’s men’s ‘B’ team came home in 55th on the day, with an impressive 2hrs 17mins 9secs finishing time, aided by Jim Rothman, Simon Kinson, Paul Griffin, Brian Miller, Dave Potter and Tony Foster. The women’s team was incomplete but nevertheless, Monica Williamson finished leg 1 in a brilliant 16mins 30secs, with Emma Day (18.47) and Emma Fulcher (19.41) concluding Saturday's events
Full Leamington C&AC Results (Midland Road Relays, Saturday 19th September 2009 – Sutton Park)
Men’s ‘A’ team (6-stage)
Richard Harper 18.34
Jamie Langley 21.11
Jack Mee 20.29
Bernard Gaffney 20.52
Steve Cornfield 20.56
Charlie Eastaugh (pictured right) 21.54
(Team 28th, 20th ‘A’)
Men’s ‘B’ team (6-stage)
Jim Rothman 21.40
Simon Kinson 22.03
Paul Griffin 23.30
Brian Miller 22.49
Dave Potter 22.40
Tony Foster 24.27
(Team 55th)
Women’s team (4-stage)
Monica 16th, 16.30
Emma Day 18.47
Emma Fulcher 19.41
(Incomplete team.)
Junior Midland Road Relays, Sunday 20th September 2009 – Sutton Park
Under 17 women (3-stage)
Georgina Eastaugh 18.04
Katherine Taylor 19.24
Kate Brandist 17.00
(Team 14th)
Under 17 men (3-stage)
Results not yet available, Jimmy Bull and Adam McGuigan ran for C&AC. (Incomplete team)