Race date: September 15th, 2019

The Northern 6 & 4 Stage relays are held in the shadow of the Etihad stadium in Manchester. Legs aren’t the most picturesque, with a short section of running track followed by a tour of the ground’s concrete exterior and parking facilities, but this event is all about the competition: the club relays are where competitive running clubs go to measure themselves against each other. For a long time, we haven’t even bothered turning up, but these days we’re regularly turning out good teams and holding our own, showing you can be a mass membership club and competitive at the same time. Although we haven’t won one quite yet.

This year we entered two men’s teams and one women’s team, a big increase on last year. Everyone’s efforts were impressive, but highlights included:

• The start of the men’s race, as 100+ of the north’s top club runners tried to sort themselves into the right order on the bend of a running track while running at 5-minute mile pace.
• For the men’s A team, Phil Skelton and Sam Brown both improving on their times from last year, despite the organisers adding a cheeky extra 100m to the course by moving the start/finish.
• For the men’s B team, Nick Booker showing he has incredible speed for someone who specialises in races that are 50-100 miles+, and Adrian Fisher looking controlled and strong as he produced our 4th fastest leg of the day.
• Our first ever women’s team, who all ran well and were brought home in 27th/69 by in-form Nicola Birch running the 10th fastest leg 4 of any team there.
• The thrilling shoulder-to-shoulder extended sprint finish between the Striders B team’s James Hogg and Sheffield Running Club’s B team’s Alex Plant. Alex, a 16:04 5k runner before injuries set him back, found just enough of his old speed when he needed it to pip James to the line, but it was still a good grand finale before we had to pack up and go home.

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Results

Overall, we managed 27^th/69 in the women’s race, and 62^nd & 81^st/106 in the men’s. At an event of this standard, that’s a very respectable showing.

The women’s race was won by Rotherham Harriers in 1:27:07. The fastest leg was run by Abbie Donnelly of Lincoln Wellington in 20:14.

Women’s A Team: 1:41:57, 27th/69