Aldershot Farnham & District’s distance runners commenced their new season with five titles in the South of England’s autumn road relay championships at Rushmoor Arena on Saturday. The senior women retained their title but only after a struggle with their club’s B team. The first of the four six-kilometre stages looked promising for the A team when Lauren Hall came home eight seconds clear with what turned out to be the second quickest time of the race but on the second leg Maddie Jordan-Lee took over from sister Millie Jordan-Lee in fourth for the B team and passed everyone, including Katie Pye.
On the third leg, Harriet Preedy for the B and Kate Estlea-Morris for the A kept their positions at the head of the field with less than two seconds separating them. It was Niamh Brown who ensured victory for AFD A, which she did by nearly one and a half minutes from Belgrave Harriers whose Juliet Hodder also passed Laura Gent. The latter did not even have the consolation of a bronze medal because clubs are permitted only one set of medals.
Running three stages alongside the senior women were their veteran counterparts and here AFD won both categories. In the over-40s event, Emily Wicks took over from Lesley Locks in second place and, clocking the event’s second fastest time, took the club into a lead that Lucy Wright maintained on the anchor leg. Amy Gratton was third for the over 50s on the first leg before Emma Pearson, recording the third fastest time of the race, took the lead and Hazel O’Connell maintained it.
The club’s B team headed its A team for two of the three stages in the under 17 women’s race. On the first, Katie McBride was third and Tilly Robertson fifth. On the second, Otelia Garcia Davis took the B to the front and a further six seconds ahead of the A, for whom Sabrina Coppola Johansen moved up to fourth. Kitty Scott then produced the fastest lap of the race to give the A team victory by nearly half a minute. Clocking the third fastest time, Jorjia March also passed Katie Ealden to clinch the silver medals for Chelmsford while the rules denied the latter’s side the bronze medals.
AFD were in fifth after legs by Josh Grace, Alex Pointon, Liam Stone and Tom Chandler in the senior men’s six stage contest. Sam Eglen then put them into second, a dozen seconds behind Highgate Harriers, before Callum Charleston claimed the gold medals for the hosts by finishing fifteen seconds ahead of Cambridge & Coleridge who had moved up for the silver medals.
AFD did take two sets of bronze medals. Poppy Guest, with the third fastest lap of the u15 girls’ event, was the anchor to Felicity Croucher and Naomi Walmsley. Evie Jones, Isabel Goodey de Diego and Martha Dury performed the honours for the club’s u13 girls.