Photo – TAC men’s 12 stage team
The Tonbridge Athletic Club men’s team captured the bronze medals at the South of England 12 Stage Road Relay Championships, on Sunday, at Milton Keynes, after more than 80 kilometres of racing.
The race alternates legs of 8.6 km long, with shorter legs of 5km, with about 60 teams starting and the top 25 qualifying for the upcoming National Championships.
Sean Molloy led the Tonbridge team off, coming home 16th in 27.20, before Lewis Mills, on a short leg, ran 15.29 to move the team to 9th. Cole Gibbens then ran the 12th fastest long stage of the entire race with 26.16, continuing the momentum into 6th. James Crombie followed on leg 4, with 15.39, remaining 6th, before Max Selby’s well-paced 27.11 nudged Tonbridge up to 4th.
Jack Higgins recorded 15.07 on leg 6 to take Tonbridge into 3rd. Over the next five legs Steve Strange (27.29), Ben Murphy (15.29), Will Beeston (27.24), Harrison Fraser (15.24) and Ben Cole (26.48) kept Tonbridge in the hunt for medals, but both Hercules Wimbledon and Belgrave had slipped ahead. With just the final stage to go, Tonbridge were about 46 seconds behind the Wimbledon squad and 10 seconds behind Belgrave, with hopes of a podium position looking to have disappeared.
Ted Higgins was on the anchor leg for Tonbridge and was able to move into 4th before closing further on the Wimbledon runner. He was still 12 seconds adrift with a kilometre to go, but on entering the stadium at the finish had moved level, with 300 metres to go. Higgins pulled clear and ran 14.34, which was the fastest short stage of the race, as Tonbridge finished behind the very strong squads from Highgate and Cambridge and Coleridge. The B team placed 20th overall to qualify for the National Championships.
The women’s team placed 20th in their race, through Rae Le Fay (17.52). Katie Goodge (32.11), Lily Slack (19.16), Polly Pitcairn-Knowles (36.33), Anna Palmer (19.53) and Grazia Manzotti (23.18)