It was a funny old day in Sutton Park, both the men and women won bronze medals, I ran the fastest long leg in the vets race - but I'm sure there were faster vets in the senior race, hopefully not many M45, but who knows. Tom R. (14.13) equaled the fastest short leg of the day with Tipton's Phil Nicholls.

Jon got the men away to a good start, finishing 3rd on the first leg. I was the only runner in the vets team, the first leg is the fastest, but there's more to run for when there's a team behind you. It was hard work, but I managed a fast finish, so I'm a bit suspicious that I didn't try hard enough earlier on. I finished around 12th, which kind of seemed respectable enough without being too impressive.

After that the men were in the hunt for third, and looked likely to just miss out until Tom's stunning last leg. Tipton and Coventry were well away in the front of the race, and Tipton were stronger in the later stages. Similarly the women had a chance of medals all the way through and Rebekah moved into third on the last leg.

It was good to see Rob and Tom Lowe back in action, and they are sure to go quicker in the coming months, meanwhile the somewhat younger Rich P. keeps improving, his 14.35 was only bettered by Tom and Phil N. There should be a few more names in the team for the national, which has more longer legs so it is a different sort of race.

It has to be said that the teams at the front were strong enough, but the event didn't seem as well supported as normal, there should be fewer races when the national 12 stage is on, and it will be interesting to see how the Midland teams (other than Tipton and Coventry) get on.