Birchfield Harriers claim road relay victory

The girls put in an impressive performance to finish with a time of one hour, 32 minutes and 21 seconds, two minutes ahead of second place Bristol and West.

Ladies team manager Eddie Cockyane said: "It was a fantastic performance, we actually won quite easily and our two new runners contributed to a very successful day."

Ellie Stevens ran the first leg with a time of 15min 16s, leaving Birchfield sixth, but only 20 seconds off the leaders on Sunday.

Stacey Johnson took the second, in what was her first race for the Harriers, took Birchfield into the lead with a time of 15min 20s.

Having struggled with a hip related injury for the last 18 months, Johnson described the event as the 'ideal scenario' to return to action.

She said: "As it was a relay it was great to have the girls there cheering you on which motivates you to run well.

"When you return from injury you lack the confidence you had before. I was glad to run the second leg, it gave me someone to chase and I was able to relax. I did not realise we were winning until the end of my run, I kept thinking there is was one more girl to catch.

"The aim now is the National Road Relays, so I need to keep ticking over in order to knock 20 seconds off my time."

The third leg came from Clare Grice who extended the lead with a run of 16min 11s while Sian Khan, another athlete who has struggled with injuries over the past 12 months, put in another good performance, finishing in 16min 27s

The fifth leg was the fastest of the day as Sara Treacy ran an impressive 14mins 33s, and Catherine Blew finished in 14min 34s.

The girls will now compete in the National Six Stage Women's Relay at Sutton Park on April 5.

The men's team finished in a respectable eighth, with Weynay Ghebreslasie finishing third, running 25mins 12s over the longest leg.

By Kyle Hancox