Men 18th in National 12 Stage RR
On Saturday the 16th April the winter season ended with the blue riband team event of the season, the National 12 Stage Road Relay. Teams from England, Scotland and Wales came to take part at the historic Sutton Park course in Birmingham, where the best clubs in the UK would try to prove that they had the best 12 distance runners in the country.
First out for the team was Tom Phillips. Tom (below right) has had an outstanding season and with this run secured the Ken Bray trophy. This manager cannot think of anyone who has come first club man in every race that counted towards the Ken Bray trophy in recent memory. When one considers some of the club's athletes that Tom has kept behind him this season, it is truly impressive and emphasises the level that Tom is now running at. 
But this was shown most emphatically here as Tom came in 12th out of 67 on the first leg with an astonishing 26.41 which was the 21st fastest long leg of the day out of 396! It was a great way to cap off the winter season for Tom, and he should go into the summer full of confidence.
Out next was James Stockings. James was only a week back from warm weather training in Portugal and he had expressed in the week how tired he was from the training camp. But this manager was relieved to hear that by the end of the week James felt he had recovered well and was looking forward to the relays. Tom had put James in a top position, a situation that James enjoys in his current form, but he never looked quite as strong as at the Southern 12 Stage, and in the end he showed immense talent in grinding out 16.27 and only losing one place, so the team were now in 13th. James still ran the team's fastest short leg of the day and the 77th fastest short leg of the day, which shows that James is now in the enviable position of being able to produce excellent times even if not 100%, so this manager now wonders what he will do this summer when he is 100%!
Third out was Tom Beedell. Tom has been in excellent form this season, recently setting a new half marathon pb at the Cardiff World Half Marathon Championships, and has been troubling Tom Phillips in being first Woodford man home in quite a few races this season. But here Tom had to call on all his powers of fortitude as the leg never came together as he wanted and although he ran 28.06 at the end Tom summed up how he had felt during the leg as, 'not great'. But despite all this Tom had only lost 3 places which, considering that the teams were still well bunched near the top and Tom hadn't felt great, showed a great deal of heart and ability. The team were now in 16th.
Fourth out was Angus Holford. Angus entered the day in second place in the Ken Bray trophy, but had accepted that Tom Phillips would probably be winning it off him, or so this manager thought, but somehow Angus's name had been freshly engraved onto the Ken Bray trophy for this year!! But Angus took the banter from the team about this mistake in good humour, although he was more embarrassed that this mistake had occurred than anyone. Angus had run the team's quickest short leg time last season and had this time to beat as his aim. He was pleased to do this with 16.40 compared to of 16.43 last year, especially as all the times on the short leg were bit down this year from last, which indicated that his time was worth a few more seconds than last year. Angus is doing his first marathon the weekend after next and in current form it will be very interesting to see how he goes. Angus had passed three teams but had been passed by three others so we were still in 16th place.
Fifth out was Dan Steel. Dan has had a great season, doing the Istanbul Marathon before Christmas but still managing to come back to an excellent peak post Christmas. This was shown here as he took off a massive 1 min 50 sec off last year's time. The minute could be accounted for by the shorter long leg, but the 50 seconds was all improvement by Dan this season, and he reflected that he had been in good form for the race last season, so his 28.14 here showed his improvement even more clearly. Unfortunately Dan had had very good Serpentine and Tipton runners on his leg who had come through the field at a fast rate, so we were now in 18th place. Dan's next challenge will be the slightly longer Comrades run in South Africa with fellow Woodford man Harold Wyber, so we wish them both well and hope that they enjoy the event, if anyone can enjoy 56 miles!
Sixth man out was Tony Russell. Tony last year had run 17.26 and he was keen to beat this time and show that training was going well this season, and with his 17.12 he should be very pleased as the short lap did seem marginally slower this year, judging by the results. He is looking to put in a spring of doing road races before hitting the track in June/July time, and so pb's should be very much on the agenda for the next few months! Leeds AC (who were 3rd last year) had a flier on this lap who took them from 19th to 14th and so the team were now in 19th place.
Out next was Simon Beedell. It is very unusual to get two brothers in any Woodford team, but when it is the National 12 Stage Relay, which is the pinnacle of the club's winter schedule, it is an even more remarkable feat. This season, despite doing the Berlin Marathon in September, Simon has been an ever-present and with his performances always on the up, he has been an excellent member of the team to have. Here he was promoted to a long leg, but like every challenge this manager has asked of Simon, never a note of negativity has been heard and he accepted the challenge with relish. His 29.23 compared favourably to Dan Steel's time of last season, and when one considers that Dan went on to run 2.30 a week later at the London Marathon, it bodes well for Simon with his own London Marathon next weekend! Shaftesbury had a good man on Simon's leg and had nipped just in front so the team were now in 20th place.
Out Eighth for the team was Louis Clark. Louis had been called into the team by running the fastest long leg for the B team at the Southern 12 Stage. But Louis, not expecting the call, had been on holiday and let the training slip slightly, so when the call came he was slightly hesitant in taking it, although pleased to be asked! But on talking to this manager it became apparent that Louis would still be in good shape, he had run a 10k pb just before the Southern relay and such form stays with you even if you are just ticking over in training. And so it proved here as Louis was sent out with the aim to try and match Joe Everitt's time of last year and so he did running 17.28 to Joe's 17.33. Cambuslang had a flier on this leg taking them from 24th to one ahead of us, so now the team was in 21st place.
Out next was Daniel Bruynooghe. Daniel was reflecting at the relays on how strong a Woodford team would be if it had contained some of the top names that had been at the club in his time, and although he listed quite a few names, the modest Daniel forgot to include himself in the list, even though he would be one of the first names of the sheet! His return this season has been an excellent boost as we lost Ed Shepherd to America, so it has been great to welcome back a top name, and here Daniel showed that his recent months of training hard have been to excellent effect as he attacked the 5.38 miles the whole way, saying that after 10 minutes he could feel that he was working hard and by the last 400m he had nothing left, as he came in with an excellent 28.13. The team just in front had an excellent man on the leg too, but Daniel had closed on him and the teams in front so we were in 21st place but with teams in sight just ahead.
To take advantage of this was Donatas Tumaitis. Donatas was out until Christmas with injury only to come back and in a short time produce some outstanding performances. However injury then put him in doubt for the southern relay but he got through it and produced an outstanding run there too. For this race he was constrained by a tight lower back, but after some good massage work by our leg 11 osteopath Stephan Wenk, Donatas' movement became better and this was shown as he recorded an excellent 17.00 leg time, and overtook three teams to put us in 18th place.
Our last long leg man was Stephan Wenk. Stephan (left) had come from doing 1000 miles in one week on a bike while away on a training camp! These figures just make this manager need to sit down, but for our mountain marathon man it is all in a week's work, but it has to be said that how Stephan recovered enough in one week to make it to the race is testament to his ability and powers of recovery. He ran a fantastic leg, our second fastest long leg of the day, of 27.52. This will probably be the last race Stephan does for the club as he returns to his native Switzerland in the summer, but this manager is thankful that the Swiss international came and ran for the green and white, as not only is he unbelievably talented but I think you'd be hard pressed to find a nicer person competing for any team. This manager knows he speaks for the club when he says thank you Stephan, and you will be welcome back to London any time!
Closing the team was fittingly a man who has made this A team for the past decade Bertie Powell. Bertie set off with the team in front in his sights but as is his way, he ran with all heart and set off at a pace that looked like he was keen to capture the man in the first 400m. As Bertie is probably training at an estimated 40% of his training potential due to injuries, this way to run the leg took a lot of guts, and Bertie ended the leg closing the gap by a few seconds but he had given his all and that is all this manager could ever ask, with 17.26 being his finishing time. This closed the team in 18th (see top photo).
Although we equalled our position of last year of 18th, we were over three minutes faster, once it was factored in that the long legs were about a minute shorter than last year. The talent and dedication shown by the team was excellent and to get another top 20 in the biggest team race is testament to the effort and ability put in by all our athletes all season. Many congratulations must go to Highgate who, after a season with a bit of bad luck in some big races, here all the stars aligned and all the hard work of many at the club paid off in style, as they took the prize that all distance clubs want, the National 12 Stage title. To have the best team in the UK as our local rivals is great for us, and shows the talent that is in our squad on a weekly basis. Met rivals Serpentine were 15th and maybe emphasising that getting 12 excellent distance men out is never easy, Southern 12 stage winners Shaftesbury came 22nd. Mention must go to Newham and Essex Beagles who finished in 43rd but their long time manager Bob Smith is not in the best of health, and we hope to see him and Newham back to the top very quickly. Thanks to everyone who came to support the team and for the officials, as ever, putting on one of the best races any distance runner can do in their career.