Fechin McCormick
Storm Amy with torrential rain and 95mph gusts of wind, threatened to wreak havoc on the National 6/4 Road Relays at Sutton Park, Birmingham, two weeks after the Northern RR Championships. Fortunately, all was well in the end and Sale Harriers fielded teams in all 14 age age-categories with several ‘B’ teams, a credit to team management and to parents. The club’s most outstanding were the senior women and the U15 Girls.
SENIOR WOMEN:
Their 14th place was their best result since 2017 when they also placed 14th and 6th way back in 2006! LUCY ARMITAGE was running her fourth consecutive National 4-Stage Championship and again she made all the difference! Taking the opening leg, she brought her team home in 4th, recording the day’s 7th fastest stage among the best runners in Britain. With OLIVIA BROWN and NICOLA MOYNIHAN who’d delivered the club’s best performance in a decade at the Northern championship and with CHIARA YOUNG stepping in for CHLOE ELLIOT, they were a formidable and promising quartet. They also had a ‘B’ team that featured other promising youngsters like SOPHIE ARMITAGE, MIA GIBBONS, and MEGAN TUCKER, and with more talented youngsters on the wings who were unavailable for this championship, the future looks bright for this section if they work together. Local rivals Vale Royal AC, last year’s silver medallists, were crowned the 2025 champions, and Leeds City continued their decade-long dominance in this championship, leaving Sale Harrier’s proudly the 3rd Northern team!
U15 GIRLS:
Thanks to typically great runs by ROBYN HEYWOOD-YOUNG, MEGAN BOYER and BEA SOPER the U15 girls ‘A’ team placed 6th, matching their position from last year and equalling their section’s best result in 17 years…long before they were born! They were also the 2nd Northern team and impressively they also fielded ‘B’ and ‘C’ teams .
YOUNGER AGE-GROUPS:
Across all the younger age groups, most teams finished around the middle of the overall results, similar positions to recent years. Encouragingly, many managed to field at least two teams in each category.
SENIOR MEN:
Two weeks after the men posted their most disappointing ever Northern 6-Stage result, they unfortunately followed it with their lowest ever finish in this championship – 49th out of 50 clubs!
