SoE 12 Stage Relay: Men’s team finishes in 15th

There had been hopes that the team could match last year’s 10th place but in the end 15th was a pleasing result given the necessary changes that were enacted just 24 hours before race start. Our quickest long leg (7.2k) was run by Adam Kirk-Smith in 22:07, whilst Joel Doye ran the quickest short leg (4.8k) in 15:00.

SOEAA chose to utilise a new course in the Olympic Park at Stratford. The local venue was appreciated by many of our team, although not having exclusive use of the paths was not ideal. The grass changeover area was also problematic due to recent heavy rain - a fall at the start took Southampton’s team out of the race before it had really begun. Adam navigated it well and slotted in at the rear of a lead pack of eight. He drifted back to the chasing pack on the second of three laps and came into the first changeover in 13th place. The team’s position fluctuated in the mid-teens for most of the race with a brief low point of 18th and high point of 10th experienced.

Joel took over from Adam and ran maturely over his two laps. We can expect to see him move up to a long leg in future years, although his focus switches now to middle-distance on the track this summer. Joel was one of four under 23’s that were in the original lineup, three of which train under John Stow. This is good news for the future and vital given that half of today’s lineup find themselves in vets categories. Angus Holford is not one of those but his many years of experience came into use on leg 3. His placement there had been necessary due to travel arrangements for work, however it left him with an unenviable task as other clubs kept front-loading their teams. He was pleased with his final time, although conceded that he didn’t match his relative performances on cross-country this season.

Videsh Weerakkody was keen to make up for his previous cross-country performance for the club. He did so with a solid run that moved us up a couple of places and set a bar for the next two short legs to target. Next up was a welcome return for previous 800m specialist Jordan Donnelly, who’d flown in from Zurich head-to-toe in his employer’s kit. His run was an indication of his strong form over longer distances now and also set a bar for the next two long legs. The amateur surroundings were in stark contrast to his daily work life but he relished them and we look forward to seeing him pull on the green and white hoops more often following this four year hiatus.

Dan Steel had been shuffled up the order and maintained his current healthy run of form, which had included a 3rd place at the challenging Orion 15 last week and a ‘warm up’ parkrun the day before. He ran quicker than Videsh and maintained the team’s 16th place at the halfway point. We should expect to see some PB’s tumbling for him this summer. Next up was Ed Shepherd who took full advantage of a being on a later leg, slicing through the field with a six place gain. Ed has typically been our fastest runner at this event but was edged out by just 3 seconds today. He is looking forward to more regular training over the summer.

Simon Beedell was undaunted by the prospect of being handed over to in an elevated position following Ed’s run. He pushed himself hard and was delighted when the chip timing nudged him into the 15 minute interval. Although he lost two places, they were within touching distance for Tom Rehal. He set off with purpose, quickly catching one of those positions then closely tracking the second runner for much of his leg. Tom only switched to first claim status two weeks before the race and his excellent performance was a real bonus.

The squad's depth was tested when Tom Adolphus made the sensible decision to withdraw. This led to a late call up for a resurgent team member of previous seasons, who stepped up to plug the gap. He handed over to Tom Beedell in 14th but in the inevitable no-man’s land of leg 11. He used a couple of lapped runners for impetus but failed to make any in-roads on the Kent athlete he spied ahead. He finished strong and is looking forward to racing in London again this month over 26.2. Anchoring the team home was Pete Caton, who’d been selected based on his solid Met League performances this season and a recent 800m outing of 2:12 indoors. We were surprised to discover that he also clocked a 2:13 outdoors the day before! Pete’s dependability was another factor in his selection although this was called into question with his unusual course navigation. In spite of this he ran well, losing one place to a fast finishing Dulwich team and another in a sprint finish to London Heathside - though he was particularly aggrieved with that.

The winter squad are eying up goals on the track and road this summer but we look forward to a reuniting in Claybury Park this October.