21 Harborough runners in the mix at Livingston relays

The rain adversely affected runners in the first and second legs of the grand and one oldest races in the calendar of the Leicestershire & Rutland Athletics Association (LRAA).

Despite the challenging conditions, competitors from across the county and outside teams from Derbyshire and Warwickshire turned up in large numbers defeating the odds and made it past the finishing line.

Harborough runners were all out in force with six teams competing in the senior men, senior women, veteran men and veteran women. The men fought it out in the 4x3miles relays, while their female counterparts raced in the 3x3miles races.

In the senior men division, Alfie Boulton ran the fastest relay leg in a time of 17:45. Chris Burrell was second in 18:29, followed by Stefan Lawrenson in 19:13 and Jason Anderson in 22:12. The quartet finished 13th overall out of 27 teams in a combined total time of 1:17:37.

The senior women team placed fifth out of 27 teams in a total time of 1:03:34. Amanda Pearce was the quickest runner recording a time of 20:00, Estelle Herbert in 20:48 and Maddie Stevens in 22:45.

Two women veteran teams took part. The A team was led by Kamila Leska who clocked 22:20. Ursula Stevens ran 20:34 and Claire Laurent registered 22:36. The team placed sixth out of 22 teams in a time of 1:08:31.

The B team finished 18th out of 22 teams in 1:21:38. The team featured regular runners in Anabel Kanjurs who recorded 26:24, Catherine Cook in 28:12 and Amanda King in 27:02.

Dan Perrin anchored the veteran men’s A team in 20:33 to finish 16th out of 21 teams. He combined forces with Graeme Rolfe in 21:31, Ade Stewart in 23:02 and James Lawrence in 27:24.

The veteran men’s B team was made up of the most senior aged runners who are sometimes classified as grand masters in running terms. Bill Kerr, a 73-year-old who has run a record 35 marathons ran his leg in 27:19. Howard Crabtree – the secretary of HAC ran 24:10, David Ward in 24:22 and Gerard McCreesh in 25:59. They finished 20th out 21 teams in 1:41:52.

Another HAC runner, Lou Harvey raced in the Manchester marathon. She finished a good 19th position in the women's 55-age group division in 1:51:14. Her time was a personal best by three minutes.