MIKE Down’s prediction that Cheltenham & County Harriers would be the team to beat at the Midland Counties Six Stage Road Relays proved to be spot-on as Bristol & West were pushed to the limit by their west rivals at Sutton Park.
Bristol & West only secured vict
ory on the sixth and final stage as Steve Mitchell over-turned a one second deficit into a 34-seconds advantage by the finish.
All six B&W runners ran solidly but pride of place must go to Richard Peters, racing seriously for the first time in several months as he brought the club into the lead for the first time at the halfway mark.
Peters’ time of 17mins 29secs proved to be the equal fastest of the day only matched by Cheltenham’s Graham Rush, who set up a thrilling final stage by over-hauling Owain Jones on stage five.
Winners (L to R): Steve Mitchell, Rich Peters, Will Christofi, Ben Westhenry and Owain Jones (Luke Evans was missing)
The other big run came from Ben Westhenry. His form has been up and down this summer and Cheltenham team manager Dave Newport had sensed a weakness on stage four.
But Westhenry enjoyed arguably his best run in a club vest and opened up the lead over Cheltenham from 22 seconds to 51 seconds and deliver a crucial psychological blow.
“It was a great team effort and a fine win,” said Down.
But what happened to the Midland teams? In third Birchfield Harriers finished 3mins 33secs behind while the likes of Tipton, Coventry Godiva and Notts failed to mount a serious challenge.
1 Bristol And West AC 1:49:45 (William Christof (6) 18:43, Luke Evans (3) 18:43, Richard Peters (1) 17:29, Benedict Westhenry (1) 18:08, Owain Jones (2) 18:21, Stephen Mitchell (1) 18:21); 2 Cheltenham & County Harriers 1:50:19 (Oliver Mott (4) 18:29, Thomas Lowe (4) 18:59, Philip Wylie (2) 17:49, Dave Roper (2) 18:37, Graham Rush (1) 17:29, Alex Lee (2) 18:56); 3 Birchfield Harriers 1:53:18
9 Cheltenham & County Harriers ‘B’ 1:58:01 ( Marc Fallows (32) 20:09, Richard Decamps (18) 19:34, Alex Bampton (16) 19:58, William New (15) 19:40, Jonathan Barnes (11) 19:58, Phil Beastall (9) 18:42).
10 Taunton AC 1:58:20.
14 Bristol And West AC B 2:00:59 (Robert Stewart (15) 19:19, Will Davidson (21) 20:41, Josh Moody (14) 19:31, Tom Dobra (18) 21:09, Miles Chandler (14) 19:20, Harry Leeming (14) 20:59).
25 Cheltenham & County Harriers ‘C’ 2:04:24 (John Merrett (41) 20:50, Mark James (36) 20:56, Liam Roarty (24) 19:42, Dave Aubrey (24) 20:37, Roger Mullins (23) 20:58, Russell Forsbrook (25) 21:21).
32 North Somerset AC 2:06:07 (David Warnes (40) 20:46, Cameron Coetzee (37) 21:03, Joe Gentry (34) 20:53, Michael Proffitt (39) 22:18, Julian Emery (42) 21:51, Josh Davis (32) 19:16).
39 Westbury Harriers 2:07:37 (Adam Wilson (37) 20:36, Scott Campbell (24) 19:59, Joe Connors (22) 20:39, Elliott Chard (37) 23:05, Chris O’ Donovan (41) 22:10, Alex Hamblin (39) 21:08)
40 Gloucester AC 2:08:15 (James Walters (55) 21:50, Andrew Mcpeake (58) 22:39, Jack Evans (48) 20:46, Nathan Smith (45) 21:11, Stephen Millward (39) 19:53, Austin Blackburn (40) 21:56).
Fastest: 1= Richard Peters & Graham Rush 17:29; 3 Douglas Musson (Notts) 17:41.