It was a history-making day for Heanor RC at the Midland Counties Road Relays as the twenty nine runners in yellow and blue surpassed expectations to enjoy the most successful day in the club’s thirty one year history.

The men’s A team lined up the strongest it has ever been on paper and the six duly delivered to claim a top-5 finish as the B team also qualified impressively for the National final in three weeks’ time. Heanor RC’s ladies claimed notable scalps in finishing sixth whilst an U15 girls team in yellow and blue featured in the Young Athletes event for the first time.

Senior Men

In increasingly warm conditions, Chris Rainsford got the men’s A team underway on the first of six legs of 3.6 miles. Chris (18:29) put in a solid effort to hand over to HRC debutant James Mee in eighth – before the totally unexpected happened.

James enjoyed a smashing run to rein in the whole field and bring the team home a surprising first with only a third of the race run. The twenty four year old’s impressive clocking of 17:57 also saw him finish fourth fastest individual on the day.

Dale Annable (18:24) continued the charge on leg three and handed Joe Rainsford a twenty six second advantage over second-placed Birchfield Harriers with half the race run.

With the pressure of leading and big-hitters from Coventry Godiva Harriers and Notts AC ready to strike, twenty year old Joe (19:32) performed well and brought the team home third, just seconds adrift of Tipton Harriers in second.

Another HRC debutante, Stuart King (18:32), paced his run well to bring the team home second before handing over to Mark Powell to anchor the team home on the final leg.

Mark (19:09) tried to fend off the strong challenges from Notts AC and Bristol & West AC – with Coventry Godiva long gone and on their way to victory – but was ultimately run out of the medals as the quality on the final leg saw the A team still finish a remarkable fourth.

Whilst initially slightly disappointed to be going home empty-handed after leading at halfway, the list of teams Heanor RC had put away, including Tipton, OWLS AC and Birchfield Harriers, firmly put the result in perspective.

To add to the efforts of the A team, Heanor RC – for the first time – will have two teams competing in the National final in three weeks’ time thanks to the efforts of the second team.

With the top-25 from each regional qualifier progressing to the final, the sextet of Matt Bickerstaff (19:19), Tim Holling (20:03), eighteen year old Tom O’Mara (20:15), Shane Rice (20:20), Carl Hughes (23:15) and club stalwart Lee Perkins (21:40) managed to sneak into the final qualifying position to finish 25th overall (5th B team).

The potential in the B team was there to see as the six sat as high as sixteenth after four legs and not once dropped outside the top-25.

Heanor RC were also just one of twelve teams (out of 85 complete sides) to field a C team and the combined efforts of Tony Weatherson (22:40) – making his long-awaited comeback – Jeff Everitt (25:23), Alastair Hobday (22:01), Mike ‘Cheeky Charlie’ Richmond (24:01), Paul Mercer (24:55) and Paul Winfield (26:08) saw the third team finish 70th overall.

Senior Women

Earlier in the day, two Heanor RC women’s sides took to the line in what was the club’s road relay debut at the event.

The A side were led off on leg one by Louise Insely. Midland Masters 10k champion Louise Insley got the team off to the best of starts on the first of four 2.1 mile legs, handing over to the experienced Jill Burke in 9th.

Jill (17:43) used her experience to consolidate the team’s position in and around the top-10 before handing over to Wendy Mullineux. Following on from her fourth-placed finish at the Gawsworth 10k just six days before, Wendy (17:01) gained one position before passing the baton on to ladies team captain Lisa Palmer.

With the top-3 of Charnwood AC, Bristol & West and Birchfield Harriers away and gone, Lisa used her years of road relay experience to anchor the team home superbly. Gaining five positions on the final leg, including the scalps of Notts AC and Charnwood AC B, Lisa brought the HRC quartet home a magnificent sixth.

The B team featured four ladies each making their debut at the 4 stage event and the closely matched performances saw the quartet place impressively.

Fresh from her PB-setting exploits at the BUPA Great North Run the weekend before, Rose Leivers (18:57) set the team on its way before handing over to Sarah Fullaway. Sarah (20:09) gained three positions before Rita Fisher (19:56) gained even more to hand over to Jo Potter on the

The consistency of the women’s times was the key to their overall success as Jo (20:39) brought the side home 43rd overall out of 73 complete teams.final leg.

Young Athletes

Kicking the whole day off, the trio of Danielle Smith, Emily Deeming and Georgia Stirland made a little club history by becoming the first U15 girls side to compete for the club at such an event.

In a positive sign of the progress of the club’s growing junior section, the trio finished a creditable 19th and will head to the final in three weeks’ time ready to test themselves against the country’s best.

Full results