RAF Road Relays - 10
Royal Air Force Road Relay Championships Report & Results RAF Wittering - Wed 14 Jul 10
By kind permission of the Station Commander Group Captain R J Knighton MA MA(Cantab) DipFM C Eng MIMechE RAF, the Royal Air Force Road Relay Championships took place at Royal Air Force Wittering on Wednesday 14 Jul 10.
A total of 25 male teams (12 more teams than in 2009) and 8 female teams attended the Championships hosted for the third time at RAF Wittering. The male competition was over (4 x 5 km) and the Ladies (3 x 5km). The race was held in warm, overcast and slightly breezy conditions on an accurate 5 km route using the virtually traffic free Wittering airfield perimeter roads. The course followed an "out around a loop and back" format taking in a circuit of Vigo Woods.
RAF Championships Ladies 3 x 5 km
The opening leg saw Cpl Tamsin Rutter 18 min 58 sec secure a good lead for Wittering, the fastest female time on the day. (Ladies course record). Second leg Cpl Nicola Faulkner ran 21 min 22 sec and on the third leg Flt Lt Nikki Harrison recorded 21 min 44 sec to ensure an overwhelming victory for the Wittering team in a time 9 seconds faster than last year.
1. Wittering 62 min 04 sec
2. Odiham 69 min 44 sec
3. Waddington 73 min 35 sec
Full Womens Individual Results
RAF Championships Men 4 x 5 km
The opening leg saw Cpl Matt Blunden (Waddington) run 15 min 10 sec to set a new course record 10 sec faster than his time in 2008. The first “team” across the line was RAF Cranwell in a total time of 68 min 44 sec. However the RAF Championships require the team to consist of 4 different runners, so the duo of SAC Andy Taylor and Flt Lt Tom Bailey running odd and even legs could not claim the Championship Medals. Flt Lt Tom Bailey recorded a more than useful 16 min 01 sec and 16 min 38 sec times.
Waddington “A” secured the actual RAF Championships with the team of Cpl Daz Sharpe 16 min 40 sec, Sgt Ronnie McWilliam 17 min 23 sec, Chf Tech Watkins 20 min 25 sec and Cpl Matt Blunden 15 min 27 sec (his second run of the day) coming home well clear of Cosford “A”. Well over 115 runners took part, some taking in more than one leg and with 8 runners well under the 17 min barrier the standard was high at the “sharp end”.
Cranwell 68 min 44 sec
1. Waddington “A” 69 min 55 sec.
2. Cosford “A” 71 min 47 sec.
3. Wittering “A” 72 min 00 sec
An absolutely huge thank-you to Warrant Officer Steve Marshall (Low Flying Ops) for his first class organisation of the whole event, MTMS at Wittering for the use of the facilities on the day and for the first class support from RAF Wittering.