National Road Relays - Sutton Park - 13 April 2013
Saturday 13th April saw the women’s six stage national road relays at the beautiful Sutton Park. As the Midland road relays were cancelled due to snow, this event also included the Midlands six stage.
The day started off with bright sunshine and as we drove up to Birmingham we kept our fingers crossed that the rain would hold out.
Hilary Mott was off on the first leg, getting the ladies off to a great start finishing 27th out of 58 teams in 18:27. Becky Boulton was off next, but unfortunately had a delayed start! None the less Becky worked hard and gave it her all on the uphill finishing straight completing the leg in 24:04. Jo Wilkie ran the 3rdleg and demonstrated her continual improvement since a recent injury gaining 6 places in a time of 19:46. By this point the ladies were in 40th place. Wilkie passed over to Amelia Mullins, who clearly fresh legged from a recent holiday had her best ever run at Sutton Park completing the 2.99 mile leg in 21:50, her first time under 22 minutes. Amanda Steer continued the theme and maintanied position finishing in 20:22 despite recent niggles! The anchor leg was run by Alice Johnson, who despite sporadic recent training, improved on her 2012 time finishing in 20:06 gaining 2 places. Johnson was so quick, her team mates missed her finishing as they were queuing for tea. The ladies finished 38th overall and 11th in the Midlands. A fantastic effort! Thankfully the rain had held off until the drive home.