The Bristol men finished a commendable fourth in Sutton Park today, frustrating yes, but the team all ran well, especially Tom R. (17.06!!!) and the steady progress continues. The women finished 8th, again the team ran well, with Steph and Kate G. leading the way.

I am still ill, which although it's annoying is a good excuse to spectate, and it is very interesting watching the race out on the course. It was soon clear that the first leg was more serious than the Midlands, Jon looked confident on the way out to the turn around and was going along well on the way back. Ryan McCleod was leading at that point, but from a team view it wasn't giving Elswick much of an advantage because there was a bunch of athletes an insignificant number of seconds behind him - it never seems that way when you're running, as a manager I would tell athletes on the first two legs to hold position and not risk over cooking it, you're not going to gain a significant advantage and you risk blowing up.

Dan M. had a great run also on the first lap, helped by the sight of Paul Ward, who ran the fastest leg in the Masters XC relays at Mansfield recently, Dan made sure who finished first this time, clocking a very quick 18.20, with Paul 12 seconds back, another superb Vets performance.

Harry was on second leg, and in the thick of the sharp end action, early on it was easy to see was in a battle - and he came through, holding ninth position with 18.11 and proving that he really is now joining Craig as one of the young members of the senior team hot on the heels of the athletes in their prime.

That set the stage for Tom, who pulled out the fifth fastest time of the day! He really is one of the top athletes around now, finishing in third place ahead of Keith Gerrard. Tom had a cold during the week so who knows what the winter will bring for his progress. He really put the team into the battle at the front, and after solid runs from Craig (18.00) and Phil W (18.02), we were in fourth place.

That left Rob W. chasing Moumin and Bruce Raeside, it must have been difficult for him, because there was no realistic chance of getting a medal, but Rob is a legend and I'm sure lots of people had their fingers crossed. Rob did a great job, 17.51 was the the team's third fastest time on the last leg. Fourth place is a great result, and a big well done to all the boys.

Despite illness, the B team finished in 42nd place. Oli was second quickest (Dan M. was fastest) with a 18.42 on the third leg, but there a few athletes feeling below par on the day, indeed Derek, Jerry and myself all talked about who would run the last leg, Derek ran 19.42 - I think we made the right decision, and hopefully it hasn't taken too much out of Derek.

Steph got the girls away to a good start with 14.37 for 7th place, the team's fastest leg, and Kate's excellent 15.11 left us in 8th place. Imogen and Kokoob held onto 8th place with solid runs, and the team deserves praise for a great performance with some of the more established stars unavaialable. Sian (16.46) completed the B team in 35th place - a few places further up the field than our illness suffering men.

...all in all, as a spectator I thought the club's teams did better than could be expected, and there were a number of athletes who made real progress, in the teeth of national competion. I guess some of the runners will feel frustrated with illness and luck, but I guess that's the way you need to think when you're running yourself.