Stratford veterans settle for sixth in National Relay Championships

STRATFORD Athletic Club’s gold medal internationals were in action again at the weekend, representing the club in the British Masters' National XC Relays Championships at Long Eaton, Derbyshire.

Roger Wilson and Phil Brennan were joined by fellow club member David Jones as they competed in the M65 age group category.

It was a sunny but cold morning, as competitors from the length and breadth of England met to compete in these annual championships.

Teams from as far afield as Rotherham, Barnsley, Dulwich and Bristol descended on Long Eaton to do battle.

Each competitor ran a 3k leg, before handing over to their next team member.

Wilson was competing just seven days after winning gold for England in the British and Irish International Cross Country Championships in Glasgow.

He lined up at the start with close to 50 other runners and ran a superb leg of 14.10, at an average pace of 7 minutes 15 seconds per mile.

Wilson handed over to Jones in sixth place, who was reasonably pleased with his 13.44 time, but was unable to make up any places and handed over to World Masters gold medallist Phil Brennan.

Brennan was desperately close to catching the fifth-placed runner. When he started his leg, he was 91 seconds behind and he was able to narrow this gap to just 11 seconds.

On the day, Wilson and Brennan were unable to add to November’s medal tally but the team were reasonably happy to finish sixth in a competitive National Championship.