Roundup of all the action from the Midlands Men’s 12 and Women’s 6 Road Relays.
MIDLANDS MEN 12 & WOMEN 6 STAGE ROAD RELLEY, Sutton Park, Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, March 28
On a cold and blustery day full of sun, rain and the occasional hailstorm, West Tempo dominated, winning the women’s race for the third time in a row and the men’s for the second time in three years.
However, it was clear that registrations had declined in recent years as organizers struggled to contain entry prices against rising costs.
Furthermore, the two races were again on equal length stages as there was still no indication that entry to Streatley Gate was allowed for the long legs.
The circuit used this year was the 5.47 km distance used in the fall relay and longer than the 5.06 km distance used for this event last year.
Men
Their 12-lap race was a 5.47km circuit between two West Country clubs, holders Bristol & West and Western Tempo.
However, both were stunned in the opener as Miles Clisham, who had run a 13:57 5km two weeks ago and is recovering from recent injuries, led the 73 teams in 15:56. However, most of them didn’t even declare, but finished a dozen runners alone.
The time was in line with his 15:52 and 15:56 over the same course at last year’s nationals, despite strong winds around the field.
Jon Stolberg brought BRAT home second, but the eventual medalists were all over a minute short.
After the first lap, he walked all the way and said: “Other than the stray dogs, I felt good going up the hill where the wind was, but coming back down, you can’t feel it. I’m not sure what my best path is because I’ve been hurt for years.”
Charlie Davies then gave BRAT the second stage lead before Will Buttershill, who was fastest at the Nationals last year, posted the fastest lap of the day at 15:50 to put the Bristol holders well ahead in the third stage.
He said: “It was windy all the way up and I took the lead just after the hairpin turn.” After twisting her ankle here at the Fall Relays, she said she now rides better in faster shoes.
However, the eventual winners were still a minute behind, albeit taking fourth place along the way.
After an uneventful fourth leg, David Avd kept Bristol ahead, this time on stage five behind Edward Buck’s Newark 16:08, until things changed at the halfway mark.
Dylan Gillett took advantage of Bristol’s weaker effort to open up a minute’s lead as Newark also lost ground, but further back Swindon were climbing the field and were now sixth.
Max Kelly upped the ante on stage seven to leave Bristol 95 seconds shy as Newark stayed third, with Swindon en route to a closer fourth.
Dom James opened Western Tempo’s lead to over two minutes in the eighth lap and said “we did it without Jacob Kenny”.
Gwynant Jones also added to the lead in the top of the ninth. But fastest here was Notts’ top master Alastair Watson, who clocked 16:27 to take three places and sixth.
With just two laps to run, Peter Molloy turned the Tempo Knife ten faster in a time of 16:33 and they led by nearly three minutes.
Jack Millar’s 11th round best of 16:21 closed the gap slightly on Bristol, but they had no answer when Western Tempo threw on one of last year’s Bristol winning ten in the form of Ben Robinson, making his first relay appearance for his new club.
He said: “I live in Gloucester and train with these guys,” explaining that he came after winning the Grade 12 and English National Cross Country for Bristol.
Swindon continued to touch the podium in the closing stages before Harry Woods took them to third place on lap ten, a position they held until the end and with it their first medals at this level.
Men (6×5.47 km). 1 West Pace 3:21:48 (H James 17:09, L Carroll 16:58, C Jones 16:49, C Hartmink 17:09, C Wright 17:12, D Gillett 16:31, M Kelly 16:51, D James 16:03 3 Jones, G Derrett 16:46, B Robinson 16:43). 2 Bristol & West 3:24:15 (J Thewlis 17:10, W Parkin 16:47, W Buttershill 15:50, D Minors 17:09, D Avde 17:43, Taud 17:43, T 16:34, M Campion 17:09, D Rigby 17:17, J Millar 16:21, F McGrath 16:40). Mochan 17:37, M Woodward 17:18, F Hart 16:58, B Lines 17:11, H Woods 16:38, A Bampton 16:41, S Byrne 16:36); 4 Newark 3:28:32; 5 BRAT 3:29:09; 6 Rugby and Northampton 3:31:43; 7 V tempo B 3:35:08; 8 Notes 3:36:35; 9 Westbury 3:37:45; 10 Coventry Godiva 3:37:38
Fastest: J Battershill 15:50; M Clisham (Cov G) 15:56; J Taffin (BRAT) 16:03; Jager (Newark) 16:05; James 16:07; E Buck (Newark) 16:08
Women
Just 52 women’s six-a-side teams completed the course after a start of 66, a rather low figure for 2025, when 67 of the 78 starting teams finished, albeit in 2024.
Western Tempo made it three wins in a row, the last two of which were over this new format of equal legs.
They started in third place after Round 1 behind Leamington’s Rachel Gilworth and Birchfield’s Annie Testar.
This was new territory for Gilworth, who said: “I was leading at the top of the hill but last year I was only sixth, but here I enjoyed it despite the hail.” He put his improvement down to a move to a training group in Leamington.
Charlotte Brown soon overtook Western Tempo in the second round as Bristol & West’s Maria Jones edged them up to second before team captain Megan Marchant put the boot in with the fastest women’s split of the day. His mark of 18:49 gave them a three-minute lead over Birchfield, with Bristol a minute down at the midway point of the race.
He said: “I felt really good, but it’s hard when you don’t have anyone by your side. I’m a captain and it’s hard when you have to rally the troops.”
Taiana Ozu then Emma Powell’s hooligan at 19:19 saw Tempo over five minutes away with a leg of glory to go. Burchfield was second but Amy Nichols closed for Bristol here.
Finally Amber Watson turned to lead Western Tempo to victory by more than four minutes from Birchfield, with Rae Nicholls fastest here in 19:38.
Bristol failed to field a runner in the final inning, leaving Tipton to settle for third. A motorway crash was understood to have delayed Bristol’s sixth runner, who then allegedly turned around and headed home.
Women (6×5.47 km). 1 Western Tempo 1:58:37 (A Milnes 19:09, C Brown 20:05, M Marchant 18:49, T Ozoux 20;23, E Powell 19:19, A Wilson 20:52); 2 Birchfield 2:02:52 (A Testar 19:01, K Nee 20:57, E Symes 21:15, J Wright 20:42, E Walters 21:19, R Nicholls 19:38); 3 Tipton 2:05:47 (G Slater 21:32, H Carruthers 19:22, C Holden 21:17, J Charlton 22:05, B Walker 20:25, A Hadley 21:p6); 4 Harnwood 2:07:40; 5 Bromsgrove & Redditch 2:08:11; 6 Swindon 2:10:43; 7 Rugby and Northampton 2:12:40; 8 BRAT 2:12:46; 9 Notts 2:14:40; 10 Mansfield 2:15:19
Fastest: I March 18:49; Gilworth 18:53; Testar 19:01; Milnes 19:09; Powell 19:19; Carruthers/K Marsh (Notts) 19:22
