Photo – James Kingston running the fastest lap of the men’s race at Aldershot
James Kingston helped the Tonbridge Athletic Club men’s team to fifth place at the South of England Road Relay Championships, on Saturday, by running the fastest lap of the entire race. With more than one hundred teams of six competing, including some top internationals, Kingston still recorded the fastest time of the day with 17.19, for the six kilometres long, undulating course, at Rushmoor Arena, Aldershot. Also in scintillating form was Ben Cole, who ran 17.35 on the second leg, when he moved Tonbridge from 17th to 2nd, at that stage of the race.
Cameron Chambers ran 18.22 for the opening leg, demonstrating that he is one of the most improved distance runners at the club. He handed over to Cole in 17th, before Cole produced what was the 5th fastest leg of the day. He handed over to the youngest member of the team, Matthew Dubery, who ran 19.08, slipping back to 8th, before Kingston pulled the team up to 4th. Corey De’ath with 18.58 and Will Beeston, with 18.46, brought the team home, in a race won by Shaftesbury Barnet, from Cambridge and Coleridge.
The under 15 boys’ team came closest to winning medals, when they finished 4th in their relay of three legs of 3 kilometres each. The team had been impacted, as many were, by significant travel delays on the motorway, which had necessitated changing the running order. James Petrie ran 9.58 and Charlie Warren ran the same time, before the in-form Peter Fitzmaurice brought the team home with 9.39. The team finished just seven seconds away from a podium place. The Tonbridge B-team also raced particularly well to finish 11th through Oscar Graffin (10.17), Steven Galliard (10.44) and Ben Catchpole (9.49).
The under 17 men finished 9th, in the 3 x 4.6 kilometres race. Toby Bawtree had been going well on the first leg, but suffered towards the end and struggled home in 15.22. Jacob Hunt, with 14.45 moved the team from 21st to 9th and Joseph Hunt’s 14.43 clocking kept them in the same position.
Both under 13 teams performed well, with the boys finishing 12th and girls 13th. The boys’ team consisted of Luca Szumilewicz (10.50), Sam Hayes (11.23) and Jamie Rogers (10.59). The girls were Aimee Watts (11.38), Hana Maeda (12.10) and Arianne Launders (12.27). The under 15 girls placed 22nd in their event through Millie Watts (11.37), Neve Raymond (11.30) and Aoife Foley (11.53).
Elsewhere, on the roads, Max Selby finished 3rd in the Nottingham Half Marathon in 72.36 and Jay Smith finished 4th in the Folkestone Half Marathon in 76.25. Cole Gibbens, a recent recruit to the club, finished 9th in the Vitality London 10k, with a personal best of 30.58.
At the European Veterans Athletics Championships, in Italy, Grazia Manzotti won a gold medal in the over 50 women’s 5000m walk in 27.39.10. Dan Bradley was third in the over 35 men’s cross country event and Ian Crawley was third in the over 60 men’s Long Jump.
Above – The under 13 teams at Alderhot