Ninth at the Nationals
Above: Ed Mallett takes Robel Bahelbi of Highgate at the finish to secure 9th place for the team
The Senior Men staged a grandstand finish to clinch an excellent 9th place at the National Road Relays in Sutton Park, Birmingham, yesterday (8 October).
After a turbulent few weeks which saw two separate qualifying events – the official South of England Championships and the alternative Aldershot Relays – the Men's A team achieved their highest finish in the National 6-Stage Championships at Sutton Park, Birmingham on 8 October, coming home in 9th, thanks to a grandstand finish from Ed Mallett on the final leg.
Since 2015, when the team finished in 65th, the Club has made dramatic progress in this competition, jumping from 33rd in 2016 to 17th the following year, 13th in 2018 and 2019 and 10th in 2021 (the Covid pandemic saw off the race in 2020). And such is the strength and depth of the current squad, that even with a few runners out with injury, coach Ben Noad predicted that the HW course record (17:30, notched up by Ben Toomer in 2018) could tumble – but who would be the one to seize the moment?
On the first leg Charlie Eastaugh was firmly in the mix handing over in 24th in a time of 17:51 to Jonny Cornish, despite having negotiated a potentially tricky moment at the start when a runner fell in front of him. Then it was Jonny's turn to rip through the field, making up 14 places, and in the process answering the who-could-break-the-Club-record question as he stormed home in 17:23, overtaking a trio of runners just before handing over to Andrew Penney.
Below: Jonny Cornish setting a new HW course record
As a consequence Andrew found himself running alone for the first part of the leg, so was grateful for some chasing company as the race progressed. The boisterous HW support was enough to spur him through 'that final hill and turn that comes just when you are exhausted!' into 9th in 17:39. Tom Jervis clocked 17:45 to gain another two places, with Dan Cliffe holding seventh on the penultimate leg, in 17:57.
Prowling around trying to quell the nerves, knowing that many of the teams would have saved their strongest runners to pounce on the final leg, Ed Mallett vowed to run himself into the ground if need be. Almost immediately he was overtaken by three runners, but he kept Highgate's Robel Bahelbi in his sights and as the final straight beckoned, with his team-mates cheering him on, he made his move, overhauling him in a spectacular finish, to come home in 18:30 and clinch ninth place.
