Lincoln Wellington and Leigh Harriers were the winners in the North of England, while Swansea Harriers made it a clean sweep in Wales to complete a fantastic weekend of road relays across Britain.

Lincoln Wellington won the men’s Northern six-stage road relay on Saturday (September 16) in Manchester, taking over in the second leg after Michael Cayton got Horwich RMI Harriers off to a winning start. After taking the lead the impressive Lincoln charged on to clinch the title by almost two minutes.

Salford Harriers finished second, with Liverpool Harriers, the 2016 winners, in third, ahead of Morpeth and Leeds. The fastest leg of the day went to Jack Morris (19:10) of Stockport, ahead of Richard Wier (19:20) and Ben Fish (19:26) respectively.

Also worth noting, was the performance of Morpeth Harriers’ Ian Hudspith who produced a fantastic V45 run of 19:43.

In the Northern women’s 4 stage relay, Leigh Harriers took the victory from Leeds City, with Rotherham in third, ahead of Salford and Derby. Lauren Howarth of Leigh Harriers ran the fastest leg of the day with a time of 19:47, with the next runner 57 seconds behind.

The Welsh Road Relay Championships were run in the slightly different format of 4 x 5K. Swansea Harriers A team were convincing winners over the Swansea B team, over three minutes separating them. Dewi Griffiths, who chatted this weekend with Fast Running about his season so far, ran the fastest leg of the day in 13:46, with Josh Griffiths running the second in 14:27.

In the women’s race, Swansea continued their winning ways, beating Lliswerry Runners to the top spot by over six minutes.

Caryl Jones of Swansea ran the fastest leg in a time of 17:03.

Chris Thomson and Charlotte Purdue both had convincing wins in the Richmond Run Fest 10k at Kew Gardens. Thomson took the win in a time of 29:30, just over two minutes in front of Alex Milne in second. An excellent performance from Charlotte Purdue saw her win the women’s race in 34:37, finishing fourth overall.

Tom Charles of Trafford won the Chaparral Abersoch Half Marathon in a time of 68:27 just a week after running a big personal best of 67:44 at the Great North Run. Paul Green had a great run, posting 71:30, finishing clear in second.

Matt Lalor continued his winning streak at the English Half Marathon in Warrington, winning in 73:14. James Nutt finished second in 74:26 running a personal best by over a minute. In the women’s race, Jenny Fox of Sale Harriers won in 85:39, with Kate Knox finishing second in 87:09.

The Great Bristol Half Marathon on Sunday (September 17) saw the first four go under 70 minutes. With Aaron Richmond taking the win in 68:07. In the elite women’s race, Emma Stepto won in 77:42 from Emma Grainger 78:38.

Elsewhere, at the Worcester City Run, Phil Beastall won the men’s race in 31:18 ahead of Danny Hallam and Adrian Holliday. Jenny Nesbitt won the women’s race in 34:26, finishing ahead of Sophie Booth and Naomi Eaton.

In the slightly less conventional road relay format in Norfolk, 61 Teams of 17 ran 192 miles in the Round Norfolk Relay. The weather was cold and foggy but it led to favourable running conditions throughout the night, and it turned out to be another fine show of the club culture in Norfolk.

As has been the case in recent years, City of Norwich AC (CONAC) was the dominant club, but some concerns were raised about the fielding of athletes from around the country with very little affiliation with the club.