Shrewsbury AC’s Men's Masters team have taken the silver medal with a strong second-place performance at the Midlands Athletics 6 Stage Road Relays in Sutton Park, Birmingham.
The club sent 2 Senior and 1 Masters team to the event, returning for the first time since 2019. The Senior A and B teams finished 30th and 52nd respectively, the A team doing enough to secure qualification for the National Road Relays in 2 weeks at the same venue.
Performance of the day, however, goes to the Masters team. Matthew Costello, recent winner of the Stafford Half, led out the team over the 3.7 mile course in a blistering 18:42. This was the quickest time of the day by any Masters runner. He passed over to Luke Butler, who ran 20:24, the same time as Rich McKenna’s third leg. They were followed by Stuart Smith in 20:58 and Rob Fox in 21:10. The anchor leg was run by England Masters athlete Jim Hickinbottom, who also ran under 20 minutes in 19:29. The team were second only to West Mids rivals Tipton Harriers.
The club will look to put out a strong team at the National Road Relays.
Results:
Shrewsbury AC Masters 2:01:07 (2nd)
1 Matthew Costello 18:42, 2 Luke Butler 20:24, 3 Richard Mckenna 20:24, 4 Stuart Smith 20:58, 5 Rob Fox 21:10, 6 Jim Hickinbottom 19:29
Shrewsbury AC Senior A 2:03:43 (30th)
1 Jamie Lambie 19:07, 2 Connor Middleton 19:53, 3 Joe Gilling 21:29, 4 Matthew McKibbin 20:43, 5 Thomas Richards 21:58, 6 Daniel Elliot 20:33
Shrewsbury AC Senior B 2:16:37 (52nd)
1 Paul Bowes 22:04, 2 Adam Burgoyne 23:00, 3 Matthew Wooden 21:46, 4 Haydn Jones 23:21, 5 Stephen Waters 23:25, 6 Jim Hall 23:01
Photo:
Shrewsbury AC Masters with their silver medals at Midlands Athletics Road Relays
Report compiled by Matt Wooden
