Details of the famous cross-country relay in Manchester, the Priory Relays and the Lindsays Scottish short-course event

Ronhill University of Manchester Relays, October 29

Birmingham University’s domination of Manchester’s annual cross-country relays continued, but only just as the event saw the closest finish in the history of the men’s race.

Run over a 3000m grassland course, the first leg in the men’s race was hotly contested with nine of the day’s 10 fastest lap times being set. Durham’s Cameron Ross Boyek’s 8:40 clocking gave his team an 11-second lead over Birmingham’s Tomer Tarragano who came home in 8:51. Leg two saw the lead cut to seven seconds before Durham extended the lead to 22 seconds after leg three, thanks to a 9:22 lap from James Rashbrook.

Leg four saw Birmingham’s Ethan O’Shea (9:10) cut the lead to nine seconds. By the end of leg five the positions were reversed with Birmingham’s Elliot Moran running 9:11 to take a three-second lead.

The race was far from over with the lead changing hands and Durham’s Marcus Shantry headed the field in the last 150 metres, only to be outsprinted by Birmingham’s Tyler Bilyard in a thrilling finish with Birmingham taking the trophy by less than two seconds.

Durham had an impressive set of split times. Beside Ross Boyek’s 8:40 the rest of the team clocked either 9:22 or 9:23.

In the women’s event Birmingham dominated from the start with Saskia Millard leading her team in on leg one with the day’s quickest lap and, with legs of 10:34 and 10:23 from Rosie Hamilton-James and Mia Atkinson, they easily took the honours from Leeds University who just held off Birmingham’s B team to take second.

The mixed relay saw Salford Harriers field an under-20 team and their victory by over a minute from two Birmingham teams bodes well for the future of their club.

A total of 148 teams finished in what was the 56^th edition of the race. Named in honour of the late Dr Ron Hill MBE, the event was supported by Ronhill Sports, who provided a generous prize list.

Men (6x3km): 1 University of Birmingham 55:28; 2 Durham University 55:30; Leeds University 57:13

Fastest: 1 Cameron Ross Boyek (Durham Univ) 8:40; 2 Tomer Tarragumo (Birmingham Univ) 8:51; 3 George Brown (Nottingham Univ) 8:56; 4 Tom Bridger (Birmingham Univ) 8:56; 5 Kristian Imroth (Birmingham Univ) 8:58

Fastest: 1 Saskia Millard (Birmingham Univ) 9:59; 2 Mia Atkinson (Birmingham Univ) 10:07; 3 Alice Crane (Durham Univ) 10:19; 4 Georgia Campbell (Birmingham Univ) 10:33; 5 Rosie Hamilton-James (Birm Univ) 10:34

Women (3x3km): 1 University of Birmingham 30:54; 2 Leeds University 32:28; 3 University of Birmingham B 32:31

Mixed (6x3km): 1 Salford Harriers 63:01; 2 University of Birmingham 64:15; 3 University of Birmingham 64:41

PRIORY RELAYS, Reigate, Surrey, November 5

Crawley posted a men’s and women’s double in this relay that retains a modicum of popularity despite being held on the same day as the English national championships, Martin Duff reports.

The West Sussex club led throughout the men’s race and held on despite 43-year-old Kevin Quinn closing for South London on the final stage with the fastest lap of the afternoon.

The quickest women’s time was set by Crawley runner Amelia Cox, the Sussex junior champion, who gave them an early lead that they retained to the end.

Men (4×2.5M approx): 1 Crawley 58:00 (A Sproston 14:11, T James 14:14, L Best 15:26, B Short 14:09); 2 S London 58:04 (D Cyprien 14:58, J Lyne 14:12, R Evans 15:09, K Quinn 13:45); 3 Dorking & MV 59:08 (M Alwin 14:20, C Wyllie 13:59, D Evans 15:10); 4 Epsom & Ewell 61:10; 5 Guildford & G 63:34; 6 Reigate P 63:36
44 teams finished

Fastest: Quinn 13:45; Wyllie 13:59; Short 14:09

Women (3×2.5M approx): 1 Crawley 50:38 (A Cox 16:28, F Clayton 16:46, S Gordon 17:34); 2 Stragglers 50:55 (E Hawthorn 16:30, S Biggs 17:09, S Holt 17:25); 3 Belgrave 52:31 (L Goodson 17:08, E Hards 17:28, O Papaioannou 17:55); 4 Belgrave B 54:30; 5 Reigate P 55:09; 6 S London 55:45
39 teams finished

Fastest: Cox 16:28; Hawthorn 16:30; G Reynolds (Sutt St) 16:37

BORDERS SERIES, Lauder, November 6

Overall (4M approx)
1 M Wilkinson (Lauder) 27:01
2 A McVey (C’thy) 28:49
3 A Gray (Penic) 29:03
4 I Gilmore (C’thy) 29:17
5 R Welsh (Tev, U20) 29:25
6 R Umpleby (C’thy) 29:37
7 O Chepelin (HBT) 29:40
8 M Misak (Moorf) 29:52
9 D Carter-Brown (Moorf, M40) 30:02
10 C Donnelly (Cambus, M60) 30:14

M70: J Clough (Norham) 41:30

TEAM:
1 C’thy 12
2 Moorf 31
3 Lauder 39
4 Tev 44
5 HBT 49

Women:
1 S Collins (Cors) 31:51
2 H Hindley 32:10
3 K Williams (HBT) 34:01
4 M Mowbray (HBT, W40) 34:54
5 A Loudon 35:23
6 C Wallace (W40) 35:28
7 C Cragg (Lauder) 35:35
8 W Roethenbaugh (Gala, W50) 35:43
9 I Jamieson (Tev, U20) 35:50
10 C Moss (Moorf, W50) 35:59

W60: C Fortune (Gala) 41:52

TEAM:
1 HBT 18
2 Moorf 36
3 Gala 53
4 Lauder 54
5 Dunbar 102

Lindsays Scottish Short Course Championships, Kirkcaldy, November 5

Ben Potrykus narrowly won the men’s race while European under-20 champion Megan Keith was a runaway senior women’s winner from Kirsty Walker and Jenny Selman.

Men:
1 Ben POTRYKUS 11:12 Inverclyde AC
2 Tom GRAHAM-MARR 11:14 Central AC
3 Ben MACMILLAN 11:17 Central AC
4 Callum THARME 11:20 Strathclyde Univ Harriers
5 Natt KNOWLES 11:21 U20 Edinburgh Univ Hare and Hounds

Women:
1 Megan KEITH 12:35 Edinburgh Univ Hare and Hounds
2 Kirsty WALKER 12:59 Edinburgh AC
3 Jenny SELMAN 13:02 Fife AC
4 Alice GOODALL 13:05 Edinburgh Univ Hare and Hounds
5 Hannah RYDING 13:05 U20 Giffnock North AC

MIGHTY MEGAN – It's 1st place for Megan Keith @EUHareHounds in the Senior Women's race at #LindsaysXC short course.
?@Bobby_ThatOneMo pic.twitter.com/Ev6VJjfrW5

— scottishathletics (@scotathletics) November 8, 2022

Team results

Men
TEAM: 1 Centr 33; 2 I’clyde 96; 3 Shett 102; 4 Giff N 102; 5 Cambus 110; 6 Edin U 124; 7 Fife 172; 8 A’deen 179; 9 Glas U 182; 10 Edin 231; 11 Falk VH 277; 12 Dund H 305; 13 Stir U 357; 14 S’clyde U 358; 15 Cors 413

U17 TEAM: 1 A’deen 37; 2 Giff N 38; 3 Harm 40; 4 E Loth 40; 5 Kil’k 91; 6 Kilb 91; 7 Cambus 93; 8 E Kilb 93; 9 Garsc 124; 10 Lass 125;

U15 TEAM: 1 Giff N 21; 2 Harm 35; 3 Ross C 50; 4 E Loth 50; 5 Falk VH 57; 6 Kilb 62; 7 Garsc 82; 8 E Kilb 90; 9 A’deen 101; 10 Edin 117

Women:
TEAM: 1 Edin U 27; 2 Edin 60; 3 Fife 118; 4 Cors 134; 5 Shett 172; 6 Glas U 204; 7 A’deen 216; 8 Giff N 238; 9 Garsc 251; 10 Stir U 285; 11 VPCG 322; 12 Ayr S 343; 13 Cambus 402; 14 S’clyde U 423; 15 Bella R 426

U17 TEAM: 1 Giff N 27; 2 Cors 45; 3 Falk VH 62; 4 A’deen 68; 5 Centr 74; 6 E Kilb 88; 7 Kilb 96; 8 E Loth 103; 9 Living 126

U15 TEAM: 1 Falk VH 42; 2 Giff N 44; 3 Edin 51; 4 Kilb 62; 5 Harm 71; 6 Aird 77; 7 Gala 79; 8 Lass 99; 9 E Kilb 101; 10 VPCG 135