Morpeth Harriers finish just outside the top 10 in English Road Running Association relays

The Men’s event unfolded over a long four hours, with no less an authority than Morpeth Harriers President Jim Alder MBE pronouncing the competition as ‘out of this world’.

The race features six legs of 5.38 miles and six of 3.16 through the undulating grounds of Sutton Park, with 57 teams from England, Scotland and Wales competing.

Early leadership of the race was contested by London outfit Highgate Harriers, Kent AC and Central AC from Stirling, with these three getting away from the rest of the field.

Finn Brodie led out for Morpeth, clocking 26:31 for the first long leg and 14th place, with George Lowry moving the club up to 11th on the first short leg.

With long and short legs alternating thereafter, the club produced a very consistent and strong performance to finish in 11th place overall, only 38 seconds off a top 10 finish.

Phil Winkler ran 27:19 for 16th on leg 3 and Andy Lawrence 16:55 for 21st on leg 4.

Sam Hancox clocked 27:22 for 16th and Ali Douglas 16:06 for 17th as the race moved into the second half.

Morpeth stayed in 12th throughout legs 7 to 10 thanks to runs by Carl Avery, 26:04, the club’s fastest long leg of the day, Connor Marshall, Will Cork and Chris Parr.

On the last two legs, Lawrence McCourt moved up one place with 27:00, with Matty Briggs bringing the team home in 16:09 for 11th.

A storming run by Team GB triathlete and Olympic Gold medallist Alex Yee, also a world-class runner, who clocked 24:58, only a second off his own course record, on leg 7 moved Kent AC into the lead.

It was only on the last two legs that the lead was challenged, Andrew Butchart of Central recording the day’s fastest time of 24:57 on leg 9, with the Scottish outfit moving into pole position on legs 11 and 12 to record a winning overall time of 4:09:54.

Highgate came second, with Kent having to settle for third.