Race date: Saturday 20^th September 2025 (Leigh, West Manchester)

Originally meant for Sunday, the reschedule threw a spanner in the works: our women’s team could no longer raise the numbers, and the men were left scrambling. Thanks to Malcolm Baggaley’s persistence, five hardy souls were lined up… trouble is, relays need six. As the backup of the backup’s backup, the message arrived in my inbox the evening prior asking if I’d fancy a day out.

Leigh, West Manchester, isn’t somewhere I’ve seen the road relays held before, and the course itself is a 6.5km 2-lapper, winding its way around some of the tracks surrounding the local sports centre. (Strava suggests 6.23km but that’s never accurate on intestinal routes such as this, Ed.) Billed by many as the Northern “XC” Championships, the route was a decent mix of tarmac, gravel and running track, not too dissimilar to the Rother Valley relay route. Four sharp hairpins and a couple of small muddy sections saw many runners hit the deck, but it wouldn’t be the Northern’s without  some jeopardy.

With the rain now pouring down, Gareth Winter toed the line for our first leg. A 1km PB is not usually something you want to see when looking at your watch during a 6.5km race, but that’s exactly what he got, opening with a blazing pace. To be fair he somehow kept the pace up, through 5K in 15:59 and on to finish in just over 20 minutes. An incredible performance, especially given he was having to hurdle monster puddles every few strides.

Naeem Stevens was up next, followed by Robert Byers (myself), Tim Erskine and Jon Smith. All putting out very respectable performances and crucially defending as many positions as possible. Our efforts were anchored by Richard Carter-Pearson, who closed in 21:12, our second fastest time of the day, regaining us 7 places in the process. Especially impressive given he slipped and fell around the final hairpin of the route.

We finished 48^th/115 teams, and were the 37^th A-team. Not enough for a Nationals spot this time (Top 25), but a performance to be proud of. Here’s hoping our ladies will be out to represent at Sutton Park on the 4^th of October.

Full results Northern Six Stage Road Relays 2025