South of England 12 Stage Road Relays 2022

Hillingdon AC’s Senior Men triumphed against adversity to finish a team at the South of England 12 Stage Road Relays in Milton Keynes on 27 March 2022 finishing 33rd out of the 62 teams entered

Contested over alternate “long” 8.66km and “short” 5km legs, the South of England 12 Stage Road Relays are the modern day successor to the historic London to Brighton Road Relays where relay teams would contest the 54 mile route between London and Brighton over a variety of different length stages ranging from two miles to over 10 miles. It is this variation in stage length that persists in the current 12 Stage Road Relay events – hence the different “long” and “short” stage lengths.

After failing to complete a team at the Southern and National Cross Country Championships and with the Southern 12 Stage Road Relays being contested for the first time in three years due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it was important that we fielded a team at these regional championships which was achieved by the slimmest of margins with the 12 athletes competing for the club the only 12 that were fit, available and prepared to race from the 24 names entered.

As such, full credit goes to the team of James Laing, Dominic Speight, Jack McVann, Mark Speight, Kirk O’Rourke, Tony Warnakulasuriya, Abdirahman Hamud, Scott Farley, Charlie Edwards, Dan Thompson, Rob Thompson and Paul Leppard.

There were a number of positives to take away from this race including the strong performances by the long leg runners James, Jack, Kirk, Abdi, Charlie and Rob and the experience gained by Jack, Kirk and Tony who were competing for the first time in a senior regional championship event. However, the over-riding positive was the attitude and commitment shown by all members of the team with a number of athletes within the 12 prepared to race and compete for the club despite lacking full fitness.

Full results may be found here: https://results.sporthive.com/events/6913780354896706048/races/481583