THE Essex Road Relay Championships held on Saturday at Chelmsford attracted strong fields in both the men and women’s teams.
Thurrock’s senior ladies fielded 2 good teams which finished 7th and 9th in the 27 strong field of the teams who finished the race.
Outstanding in the A team was Toni Noble who recorded 23m54s for the 6k course. This is her best race for many months and an indication that she is in sub 40m form for the 10k. On Saturday she was supported by Victoria Peacock 27m 08s and Sam Cox 27m43s.
The B team featured an eye catching effort by newcomer Jodie Farrell. She completed the first leg in 26m02s. Translated to 10k pace it represents 43m20s a time which is well inside her pb for that distance. Megan Lincoln made her first outing for the Club for over a year and impressed with a time of 26m15s.
Sarah Driver brought the team home in a very creditable 9th place with a time of 27m53s. In fact this team was the first one home in the B section of the race.
The men also fielded 2 complete teams of 4 and an incomplete team of 2 runners. Best run of the day came from Scott Rice whose 20m16s enabled the club to finish in the top 10.
His team mates were Alec Finch 21m59s, Dennis Cross 20m24s and Don Lawless 21m48s. Amongst the others the Bumstead family provided 2 good results. Paul Bumstead returned a time of 21m50s, he is on his way back to his best form while his Dad, Mick, returned 23m45s a time indicating he is back to sub 40m for 10k.
Other times recorded on the 6k course were Bernie Johnson 25m27s, Gary Rowlett 24m19s, Gary Cahill 25m33s and Nigel Instance 27m25s. All these times indicate that the athletes have wintered well.
