Helpston Harriers maintain fine form in Green Wheel

Helpston Harriers maintained their 100 per cent winning record in the Green Wheel Relay on Sunday, and there were category wins for Bushfield Joggers, Thorney Runners and Hampton-based training group Rumbles Running Club.

Despite going off course near Crown Lakes, and adding an extra mile to their route, the seven Helpston runners completed the 49-mile course in a time of 4:56.39, fastest by over seven minutes.

Bushfield Veterans led after the first leg from the Embankment to Eye, with Martin Gichuhi clocking 47.51 over his 8.3 mile leg, nearly two minutes quicker than the second fastest runner, Helpston's Michael Channing.

After strong runs in legs two and three, veterans Barry

Warne and Jim Morris had put Helpston into the lead, and with their star turns Ben Heron and Aaron Scott on legs four and five there was no looking back.

The mishap on stage six when Nat Freeman took a wrong turn cost Helpston several minutes. However, Freeman finished strongly handing over to Paul Lunn still with a clear lead. Lunn ran the glory leg from Stanground

Lock to the Embankment seeing the Harriers home with a comfortable margin over Bushfield Masters.

Bushfield had plenty to celebrate, winning the men's veterans prize. Due to a late Covid withdrawal, Brian Corleys ran both legs three and four. Corleys was the quickest runner on leg three running the 6.4 miles from Newborough to Northborough in 36.45. Scott Meadows ran the quickest sixth leg with Martin Gichuhi fastest on the first stage.

Rumbles Running Club took the ladies masters title with leg two runner Alison Sinclair the pick, while Thorney Runners were the winning mixed team, and provided the quickest runner on leg two with teenager Tobias Goodwin covering the 4.2 miles from Eye to Newborough in 23.52.

Phil Martin decided to enter as a one man team running the entire course on his own. Martin is in training for the Comrades Marathon in late August, a hot 55 mile slog across South Africa. Martin decided against running the final leg, having successfully covered the 43.30 miles up to there in 5:29.11.