ERRA National Road Relays – Mens 12 Stage
at Sutton Park, Birmingham on Saturday 11th April 2015
Full Results HERE
Blackburn Harriers who took 11th spot in the Northern 12 Stage Relays finished in 37th place at this years National 12 Stage which was a pretty good result considering there were some athletes not available on the day.
Karl Billington led from the front, literally by having a great run on the first Leg to finish 11th in 27.40 which was also the joint 26th fastest long leg of the day and shared with Ian Hudspith from the eventual winners Morpeth. Ben Fish was just a few seconds behind on his Long leg with 27.44 which had him at joint 32nd fastest Long Leg along with Tesfaye Debele and Robel Bahelbi. Fastest Short Leg was run by Zac Howe in 17.13 closely followed by Chris Barnes with 17.29.
37 Blackburn Harriers & AC 4:55:36
Karl Billington (11) 27:40
Zachary Howe (21) 17:13
Paul Bradshaw (44) 32:49
Joseph Howe (43) 18:22
Ben Fish (33) 27:44
Chris Barnes (33) 17:29
Shaun Livesey (32) 31:28
Andrew Heys (35) 19:29
Andrew Buttery (37) 32:48
John Chaplin (39) 19:39
Paul Guinan (38) 32:22
Mat Nuttall (38) 18:33
When it was all over some of the lads spoke to the Club. Karl Billington was “Really pleased with my run on the first leg. Regardless of missing a few people still a great result and team effort”.
John Chaplin said he “Enjoyed another good club day out. Some great performances, notably Karl and Ben and a great team effort”.
Paul Bradshaw commented it was “Good fun, no more long legs for me! As it resulted in a ‘settling position’ way below where I should of come home in! Good day though”.
Chris Barnes told us that it was “Another great day out for the senior men at the national, Karl Billington set the tone with an outstanding run on leg one taking some big scalps, after a settling process we found ourselves racing in and around the mid 30’s. Even missing 3 or 4 ‘A’ teamers we managed to hold or place which shows the depth coming together at the club”.
Ben Fish had no doubt that it was a “great effort by the guys. Karl got us off to a flyer coming in 11th on 1st leg. Inevitably we dropped back as bigger clubs came through. I was happy with my run and managed to pick a few off. Top 40 is good, we want top 30 next time”.
Andy Heys was very enthused about the day and said “What a day and what an opportunity to be part of the team that represented our club at one of the all-time great club events. It was great to be involved in an event with some of the best road running athletes in the UK. Whilst I didn’t smash any records, I’m pleased with my performance, but will be looking to better on this next year”
