ECCU Relays – Mansfield. November 5th.
Clubs travelled from across the country to the annual English Cross Country Relays in Mansfield on November 5th. The standard was as high as ever, with numeous British internationals on show. A pre-race deluge made for sticky conditions, and overall times were down on previous years. Certainly it was a day when the club tent earnt its… erm… its… (I'm not sure what it is tents earn, if I'm honest)
Despite the heavy ground, Steve Vernon skipped round the first leg in 15.26 for the 5km course, recording the fastest time of the day and leading his Stockport team to victory, followed home by Leeds and Norwich.
Sheffield Running Club had an evenly matched quartet on show in the men's race. Triathlon star, Sam Chambers was first up, clocking 18.57 on the congested first lap, and finishing 115th out of the 198 starting teams. Sam Emson was next, in a pair of borrowed track spikes, moving up 14 places on leg two with his 19.29. Chris Ireland raised the average age of the squad by a couple of decades; his 19.19 on leg three moved the team up a further 13 places to 88th. Will Beauchamp then completed the line-up, moving up seven more places on leg four – his 19.27 left the team in 81st position out of the 157 complete teams.
Another great day out, with a brilliant atmosphere, and one we shouldn't miss in 2012 as it's practically on our doorstep. It would be great to get two or three teams out next time to enjoy the occassion.
Full results are available on the ECCU website
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