Relay fine show by Central men in national race

Central AC’S strong men’s team blasted their way to success in the Tru Wealth Scottish National Road Relays Championships in Livingston on Saturday.

The six-man team event with alternate legs of 3.1 miles and 5.9 miles saw Central clock the fastest short leg and long leg to win by more than three minutes over Corstorphine AAC.

Tom Graham-marr (15 minutes four seconds) handed over a four-second advantage to Alastair Marshall (29:47) and this lead continued to stretch across the next five legs as Ben Macmillan (15:32), Hamish Hickey (29:20), Alastair Hay (15:12) and Jamie Crowe (28:46) led from start to finish.

Graham-marr’s short leg effort was the fastest of the day and Crowe’s final leg effort proved to be the fastest long leg of the day in Central’s overall winning time of two hours 13 minutes and 41 seconds which was the fourth fastest ever for this event with a couple of those times over a shorter course.

The mens B team were also well to the fore with fine runs from Josh Wood (16:09), Luca Fanottoli (30:46), Dale Colley (16:18), Calum Phillip (30:08), Scott Brember (16:17) and Kieran Reilly (29:44) saw them finish in a superb fifth place overall.

There was also some fine running from the older members of the club with an over 40 team of Jens Subke (19:07), Ewan Jack (34:15), Colin Alexander (25:20), Colin Sinclair (47:01), Cameron Campbell (25:32) and Allan Gall (47:24) which gave Central’s supporters plenty to cheer on throughout the day.

There was also no doubting the commitment of the runners in an incomplete team of Sam Grivell (17:04), Lewis Mccomb (33:37), Lewis Millar (17:08) and Andrew Irvine (33:27) again a mixture of youth and experience.

The women’s race was over four alternating legs and Central were defending the title from the last time it was run in 2018-19.

This time there were top performances from Natalie Stewart (19:00), Grace Tindall (36:34), Morag Millar (16:59) and Jennifer Wetton (34:35) but they were eclipsed by a strong Edinburgh University Hares and Hounds Team who lifted the trophy by some 29 seconds.

Central’s Women had been hunting down the University’s team’s lead over the final two legs through Morag and Jennifer with both running the fastest legs of the day.

There were further fine performances from the B team through Lyndsay Morrison Noon (19:16), Louise Torr (42:41), Kyra Gibb (20:32) and Fiona Davies (38:30) as yet another mix of youth and experience ensured a ninth place finish.