Medway and Maidstone AC

 

Every year the senior men take part in 6 stage and 12 stage relays.  They compete in the Southern Championships and, if they qualify, the national championships.

 

12 stage relays take place in Spring, 6 stage in the Autumn.

 

4 stage relays also take place for masters, women and young athletes.

 

 

The Senior Men's A Team found the going harder than in 2007 as they finished 26th at the National 6 stage relays.   Their 2007 result of 21st place in a time of 1:49:49, was not bettered as the team finished with a total time of 1:52:13.  Their 2007 time would have seen them finish 14th in the 2008 race.  Neil Renault was the star of the show once again, clocking a speedy 17:29, and Mike Coleman continued to improve as he ran 17:48.  Adrian Lowther was the only other athlete to break 19minutes.

 

 

 

27th September - Aldershot

 

The Club's Senior Men's A Team finished a commendable 13th at the 2008 Southern 6 Stage Road Relays.  In a team that included an injured Barry Royden and was missing Jack Tyler through injury the 6 athletes who completed the A Team did well to compete in a fiercely competitive and high quality race at Rushmoor Arena.  Neil Renault was once again star of the show.  He rant he first leg and brought the club hone in 2nd place, leaving a stiff challenge for Adrian to hang in there with many of the country's top athletes running alongside him.  Solid performances from Mike Coleman, Ben Tyler and Tom Collins was enough to ensure the team will be at the national event in Birmingham next month.  The Club's B team had changed shape numerous times over the week and and on the day Ian Reid was top man for the club with a time of 20:25.  Gareth Williams had his best run for many months finishing a further 10 seconds back and anchoring the B Team to 42nd place.

 

 

 

 

6th April - Aldershot

 

Medway & Maidstone A.C.  - 9th  - 4:17:24

 

Long and short stages were undertaken alternately.  Long stages 8.4km, short stages 4.2km.

 

 

Photos: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=42831&l=1f7e1&id=579035502  

 

The young team that travelled to Aldershot for the 12 stage relays were delighted to finish in 9th place.  The April snow did not prove a deterrent to the team, which was devoid of arguably its three best distance runners.  The highlight of the day was undoubtedly Jack Tyler's return to form as he ran a long leg for the first time and duly returned the 19th best time of the whole race, covering the 8.4km in 26:56mins.  Fine performances on the long course from Jack's brother Ben and Tom Collins were backed up by a solid run from team manager Adrian Lowther.  Dan Evans and an ill Barry Royden found the going hard but were a credit to the team. 

 

Over the short legs the club's middle distance boys stepped up and did the team proud.  Youngsters James Hogg, Andrej Safars and Antony Pinol made their senior road debuts and to their credit equipped themselves well.  With the experience of Tim Alexander, Ben Scarlett and Nick Slade the team rolled in 8th, allbeit amongst some chaos over the final legs.

 

The race almost descended into farce as the remaining runners left at 4pm were all set off together to complete their legs.  Some incompetent officiating led to long leg runners only being allowed to complete one lap and being told to stop.  The officials then proceeded to say their time would be doubled to give a final time.  This is clearly embarassing for the event and there will no doubt be much debate about this tactic in the coming weeks.  I for one was left fuming at the mix up, even though it seemed not to have cost the team, it was not in the spirit of the event - a top ten team not being allowed to complete a proper relay just so everyone can go home...?