SOAR MK Road Relays

With the SEAA Road Relays at Crystal Palace cancelled at the last minute, SOAR and a handful of Milton Keynes and AFD club people hastily arranged a replacement event based at Stantonbury Stadium, Milton Keynes on Sunday.
 
The sun shone and a good turnout of Chiltern athletes performed well on a 2.6k or 5.0k route around the footpaths near the stadium. There was a win for the U15 boys and plenty of good efforts elsewhere.
 
U13s
The U13 boys started at 11.00am followed by the U13 girls at 11.02am. There was one Chiltern team each in this age group. The boys were led off by James Holdsworth who ran well for 10.02 on the 2.6k circuit, coming home in ninth place. Felix Danielli ran 10.28 on leg 2 to move the team up to sixth and Charlie Quantrill continued the good work to run 10.12, moving the team up to fifth. Eighteen teams faced the starter.
The U13 girls also did well with Marlie Nkoane having a great leg 1 to run 10.41, bringing the team home in fifth. Issy Robinson ran 11.28  and Lydia Cross 12.15 to have the team finish in tenth. There were nineteen teams on the start line.
 
U15s
The Chiltern U15 boys are a formidable squad and the A team took a comfortable win with the B team third. Isaac Jessop-Tranter led off for the A team and came in third with 9.07. Archie Pinder ran 9.07 to put the team in the lead and Alden Collier completed the win with 9.05. For the Bs Alex Hughes ran 9.27 on leg 1 to put them in fifth and Max Baxter maintained that spot on leg 2 after a 9.48 lap. Euan Pinder powered round in 9.06 to put the team third. In an incomplete C team newcomer Hari Mistry ran 10.36 and Rowan Gawne 10.00. Eighteen teams toed the line.
There were three complete U15 girls teams. The A team did very well led off by Lesedi Nkoane with an impressive 10.05 to be fourth. Lily Jessop-Tranter ran 11.28 and Frankie Baxter 10.20 to secure a finish spot of seventh. The B team of Olivia Clarke (10.53), Lucy Wilkinson (11.59) and Izzy Martin (10.56) was 12th and the C team of Marea Logan (11.43), Rebecca Lawson (12.11) and Savarnah Pandya (11.57) was 16th. There were 26 teams on the start line.
 
U17s
It was great to have two full U17 women’s teams on show. The A team of Holly Henderson (10.20), Charlotte Docwra (10.46) and Abbie Henderson (11.04) were seventh and the B team of Alice Brown (11.01), Ellie Shield (11.09) and Olivia Edwards (11.27) were 13th. Nineteen teams started.
The U17 men took on the longer 5k circuit and the Chiltern A team started well courtesy of Thomas Askey. However after 800m Thomas pulled a pectoral muscle but bravely continued in pain to complete his lap in 18.01. Laurie Gawne made up four places with a solid 17.36 and Oakley Denson made up two more but was disappointed with his lap of 18.15. The team were 12th from 25th starters. Matthew Evans gained good experience running 19.59 in an incomplete B team.
 
Senior Men
Chiltern had a Senior men’s team out for the first time in a while. Up against some top-drawer clubs, the six-man team battled hard and finished in a creditable 26th place from 48 teams facing the starter. This was enough to be invited to the National Road Relays in Sutton Coldfield in two weeks time. Harry Cox led off on the gently undulating route and came home in 27th in a brisk 16.08. Richard Slade (15.53) made up several places and Will Perkin (15.49) made up one more to have the team in 18th. Tom Dixon (17.56), Finn O’Brien (17.18) and Luke Martin (17.48) all ran well but losing a couple of places each. The team were well ahead of local rivals Milton Keynes and Wycombe Phoenix.