Saturday, 25th October 2025 saw the 26th running of the BMAF Cross-Country relays at Long Eaton. MHAC have a long tradition of participating in the event: it is very competitive at the front of the field but also gives an opportunity for more mature – over 35 – club members to meet, chat and represent the Harriers in a team event. This year we had a great turn-out: with five teams – W35, W45 x 2, M45 and M55, a total of 18 runners. The Ladies and Very Old Men set off at noon, and the remaining men’s age groups started at 1:45pm, allowing the Macc men and ladies to cheer each other on.
The Ladies W35 team provided the performance of the day, taking 3rd place (and Bronze medals). Faye Sharpley on first leg was in 2nd at the changeover, handing over to Egg Cameron. Egg held on bravely until just being passed by Charnwood. Despite having Birchfield breathing down her neck for the entire 3km, Helen Saunders held on to 3rd place securing Bronze medals for the team. Faye also ran the 4th fastest leg of the day, and Helen the 10th fastest.
The W45 team, comprising Karen Heppenstall, Angela Markley and Kristy Readman, narrowly missed a podium place, finishing in 4th, with Angela and Kristy running one of the 10 fastest legs in their race. We fielded a second W45 team comprising Andrea Lynes, Jo Hackett and Kathleen O’Donnell, with Andrea and Jo ‘running up’ due to lack of a third W55. They finished in a very respectable 8th place out of 13 teams. Incidentally, Andrea and Jo would have both placed in the top five W55 legs.
The Men couldn’t quite match the Ladies’ podium success but there were some outstanding individual performances: we knew that Ian Fisher (M45) was on good form, but it was very pleasing to see him lead the entire field (including the M35s) on the first leg. Not unsurprisingly he ran the fastest M45 leg and the third fastest leg of the day across all the age groups – 9:33 for the 3km. John Carr took over from Ian and ran brilliantly to hold onto first place. Gareth Briggs, using his experience of running this event with other clubs, ran very well and handed over to new-boy Richard Adams-Mercer. Richard ran a very mature leg, handing over to Mark Walker who, clawing back a place, enabled Macc to finish in 6th place.
Our M55 team was also a mix of old hands – or should that be old legs? – and newbies. Ray O’Keefe started us off, handing over to Matthew Lynas (who ran the 6th fastest M55 leg of the day). Although he was a newcomer to these relays, Dan Croft ran a confident 3rd leg and handed over to James Noakes – who, in spite of pre-race injury worries, made up a place to bring us home in 5th.
A big Thank You to all who ran: we all had an enjoyable day out. I’m looking forward to seeing even more Harriers next year, both at this event and the Masters Road Relays in May. The BMAF (individual) Cross Country championships are due to be held in Late February / early March, but the date has yet to be announced. I will be recruiting for all these events, so please spread the word.
Meanwhile, details of Masters national fixtures are to be found on bmaf.org.uk/fixtures and regional ones on northernmasters.co.uk/fixtures.
Matt Lynas
