It was one of those promising days for Bristol & West, the men fifth and the women sixth, but not much time off the medals - it's too easy to forget what everybody's achieved over the past few years, and realise how well everybody ran today. I was on the fifth leg of the B team, and perhaps a little too content to get round in 18.45, I still picked up eight places for the team even though it was a slower time in better conditions than the Midlands. The women all ran well, Amy (14.31) and Katie (14.52) got the team in fourth after two legs, and Claire H. (15.04) and Charlie (15.12) did well to finish the team in sixth place. With only four in a team, it's difficult to do well against teams with a couple of elite types, and our girls ran really well. Sian clocked 15.58 as the C team were the first C team home, and it was good to see Steph B. clocking 14.49 for the B team. Jon W. (17.23) got the men off to a great start, and was the story of the day, he ran the fastest B&W leg on the day, the first leg is always fast, but it was a real break-through run from Jon. Dave B. (17.52) revelled in the occasion, holding eighth place before the much needed return of Rob W. (17.43) moved us up to third! - and the smart money is on Rob running faster over the coming weeks and months. Craig (18.05) and Tim W. (17.47!!) did both improved on their Midlands runs, and it came down to Robbie who ran 17.24, on the last leg a massive performance. Unfortunately Moumin and Billy Farquharson were battling away, but to be anywhere near that company shows how well Robbie is going right now. we finished just 19 seconds off the medals. Dan M. got the B team off to a good start, 19.43 was the fastest time in the team, Tom M. Mick, Rich myself and Jerry all had solid runs without any outstanding performances. In a way the position results weren't as positive as the performances on the day, the coming months do look good, especially if Kevin gets back, and there are rumours of Nigel getting back into the swing of things. Still there's a long way to go, and a lot of injuries and unavailabilities to be avoided. ..and I haven't got any photos, as I spent all my time videoing, which is a bit grainy on the phone. I'm trying to figure out utube, but the limits and my dodgy wireless connection are making it difficult.