It was a slightly thin ESM turnout for the South of England Road Relay Championships at Rushmoor Arena in Aldershot last weekend, especially as it’s a useful transitional event for track athletes moving into the cross country season. Nonetheless we sent female teams in the Senior, Under 17 and Under 15 categories, and a Boys Under 13 team.
The senior women’s team finished 45th, an improvement on last year’s 53rd. Pictured left are Carol Jones, Nikki Shelley, Kat Mertens and Grazina Narviliene. Kat led them out, finishing about halfway down the opening field of 87. W55 veteran Carol, responding to a late call-up, ran half a minute quicker than last year, but despite her best efforts, the team dropped to 52nd. Grazina, a W40 veteran, defied recent illness to match her time exactly from last year. By the time she had clawed back nine positions, the team were lying 43rd. Half-miler Nikki brought them home to a team clocking of 63:42, a couple of minutes quicker than last year.
The Under 17 women finished 27th. Nicola Ravenhill got them off to a competitive start, finishing 18th in the opening field of 49. Roisin Lynch ran hard and showed an improvement over the previous week’s relays, but she lost ground on the undulating circuit. Laura Stewart managed to regain three places on the final leg.
The Under 15 girls fielded two teams, and the A team finished 37th. Lucy O’Brien, Cameron Thomas and Anisa Ibrahim put in three consistent runs, with less than half a minute separating them. New member Megan Rice also delivered an impressive performance. Anchoring the B team for Sarah Freegard and Leah Kelly, and finding herself isolated from the pack, she ran a time worthy of the A team.
The Under 13 boys finished 33rd. Najiib Hersi led them out, followed by Talvin McClunie. On the third leg, Dylan Rice brought them briefly up to 29th, but Mikey Kouwiloyan could not hold it on the closing leg.
Ilyes Iman tackled the opening leg of the Under 15 boys race , backed up by Naoki Kanai and Mahiis Hersi, but they were one runner short of a team. John Fielding and Luke Adar were the club’s only representatives in the Under 17 men’s race.
Let’s now turn our attention to the cross country season, with the first North West London League fixture for the younger athletes at Horsenden Hill this coming Saturday (for which volunteers still sought). Time to get muddy!
ESM results summary
Women
Senior: 45 (Katherine Mertens 15:14, Carol Jones 16:36, Grazina Narviliene 15:09, Nicola Shelley 16:43) 1:03:42
U17: 27 (Nicola Ravenhill 11:28, Roisin Lynch 13:08, Laura Stewart 11:52) 36:28
U15 (A): 37 (Lucy O’Brien 12:18, Cameron Thomas 12:43, Anisa Ibrahim 12:45) 37:46
U15 (B): 63 (Sarah Freegard 15:44, Leah Kelly 15:53, Megan Rice 12:46) 44:23
Men
U17: John Fielding 13:06, Luke Adar 14:15
U15: Ilyes Iman 11:14, Naoki Kanai (no time), Mahiis Hersi (no time)
U13: 33 (Najiib Hersi 12:20, Talvin McClurie 13:03, Dylan Rice 11:36, Mikey Kouwiloyan 14:05) 51:04
Full results here