Rugby & Northampton AC kicked off the Autumn season with a fine set of performances at the annual Midlands 6 stage road relays held over an undulating course in Sutton Park. London marathon bound, Haydn Arnall took the first leg and produced an excellent performance to bring back the team in 9th position. International athlete, Josh Lay, making his first appearance for 6 months, raced impressively to bring back the team in 5th. Adam Wright maintained the position and Alistair McDonnel, Finlay Ward and Andrew Johnstone all ran really well to bring the team back in 8th position – equally the club’s best ever position. The time was extremely fast – over 3 minutes faster than the club’s previous best time. The team has now qualified for the prestigious National Relays. The Ladies Master’s team finished in 10th position with Amy Sarkies recording the fastest time of any athlete in the whole race.
The younger athletes also raced well with several outstanding team and individual performances. The U13 boys finished in 15th position with Laike Favier recording one of the fastest times of the day. The U13 girls had two teams, and all ran well showing a real strength in depth with the A team finishing in 10th and the B team in 16th. The U15 boys raced to 32nd position whilst the U15 girls finishing in 7th position with Olivia McGhee posting an outstanding time of 14 mins 21. The U17 girls finished in 14th position and the U17 boys’ teams of Louis Starr, Malachi Collins and Arthur Tilt just missed victory by 50 metres – finishing in an incredible bronze position.
