The venue for this year’s event Masters Cross Country Relays was Horspath, Oxford – the first time the relays have been held there, with the hope of making it an annual fixture at the same location. The AFD turnout was sizable and great to see, with 25 runners (including Tad) braving the challenging cross country conditions.
The course was an enjoyable short and sharp 3km, comprising a mix of lumpy fields, a rooty woodland singletrack climb and a short stretch of tarmac which caused consternation for all those debating whether or not to wear spikes.
The weather was inclement, to say the least, but spirits remained high. Storm Boelo was warming up alongside us, soaking runners with bitterly cold drizzle and strong gusts buffeting the AFD tent and runners alike.
The event kicked off with the women’s race, represented by Ruth Wallace, Abigail Curtis, Karen Andrews and Lucy Wright in the W35-44 category.
Ruth got the team off to a flying start, finishing the opening leg in a hard-fought 4th position. A competitive second leg ran by Abigail against Reading and Milton Keynes saw AFD slip to 5th, before Karen fought back to regain 4th. In the final leg, Lucy chased down the field to gain two places, clocking the fastest women’s lap of the day in 11:41 and securing silver for Aldershot.
The men’s race – in teams of five – was up next, with the course getting more slippery and cut up by the minute. James Quinlan took the first leg for the AFD M35-45 team and clocked the fastest AFD time of the day in 10:07, despite rolling his ankle and getting spiked in a nasty fall with 400m to go, putting AFD in 3rd. Stephen Blake, Chris Tizzard, Daniel Quinlan and Leo Maliphant all put in consistently strong legs, battling for third place right until the line, but were edged out by just 5 seconds by BRAT to take 4th.
The M45-55 category saw a huge turnout, with three AFD teams lining up. In the A team, Oli Stevenson clocked a rapid 11:11 first leg to put the team in 5th, with Mark Symes overtaking two teams to move into 3rd, Richard Guy Smith held 3rd before Simon Cooper located his Salford Harriers target and took him down, moving into 2nd. Howard Calvert held on in the last leg to take team silver.
The B team opened with Vince Warne holding steady, before Brian Stopher recorded an impressive 11:03 to move the team into 4th, passing on to Graham Micallef, Koji Miyazaki and then Mike Boucher on the final leg giving it his all in a sprint finish, bringing the team in in 7th position, a mere 4 seconds behind Aberdare Valley.
The C team – James Warren, Andrew Tappin, Rob Harkness and Jasper Ellis – also put in strong performances all round, with Harkness recording the fastest leg in 11:42. Special mention must go to Andrew Hislop, the team’s anchor leg, who held off Oxford City to finish in 9th overall, 8 seconds ahead of the home club.
A successful and fun day out with plenty to celebrate – not least the fact that Richard Guy Smith had kindly brought chocolate for all – and there’s already plenty of talk of making the event bigger and better for 2027, with potentially an even bigger AFD turnout!
