Beverley Athletic Club fielded two teams at last Saturday’s Saucony English Cross-Country Relay competition at Berry Hill Park in Mansfield.
Heavy rain during the morning resulted in muddy conditions but this did not dampen the enthusiasm of the Beverley athletes who fared well against strong competition from the best cross-country runners in the country.
Beverley ladies competed in the senior women’s event and each of the three team members ran a 3k circuit. Despite still recovering from a chest infection Justine Anderson stepped up to run the first leg and put in a brave performance to finish in 14:18.
Sam Allen followed, finishing in 13:30. She loved the course, especially the undulating muddy section through the woods, and overtook a number of teams before handing over to Kate Ladell for the final leg. Ladell consolidated the team position by passing several rival teams despite being caught up in the first leg of the men’s race which started while the ladies’ race was still in progress.
The men’s course was slightly different to the ladies’ and Ladell had to cut across the men’s field twice to stay on the ladies’ circuit! “We were pretty happy to finish 79th out of 105 teams,” she commented afterwards, “especially as we finished ahead of local rivals City of Hull AC.”
In the senior men’s event teams of four competed against each other over a 5k course. Roger Tomlin ran the first leg for Beverley and was the fastest member of his team. He crossed the line in 19:50 to hand over to Steve Evins.
Evins made up a few places before Ian Boardley took over. Boardley overtook a number of rival teams to improve Beverley’s position still further. Neil Bant ran the final leg to bring the team home in 128th place out of 159 teams.
The Beverley teams were supported by Stuart Little who had run the Snowdonia Marathon the previous week. He also took the photographs of the relays.
Second claim Beverley Athletic Club member, Carla Stansfield, competing for her first claim club, Stockport Harriers, ran her leg in 11:58.
Beverley Athletic Club finishing times:
Ladies’ team aggregate time 41:44
Justine Anderson 14:18; Sam Allen 13:30; Kate Ladell 13:55.
Men’s team aggregate time 1:25:22
Roger Tomlin 19:50; Steve Evins 21:42; Ian Boardley 20:52; Neil Bant 22:57.
Reported by Kay Farrow
