For the first time since 2019, the Sussex Championship Relay races took place at Goodwood, on Saturday.
Conditions for running were excellent and the day was cooler than expected, although mist gave way to drizzle, then rain. Providing a perfect Autumnal setting, with leafy glades giving way to exposed heathland, the ground underfoot was firm and the course was superbly laid out and marshalled.
Our U13 Boys performed exceptionally well, delivering both gold and bronze medals. The winning team – George G, Raphael K and Saul B, opened up a huge gap in the region of two minutes The silver medallists, Eastbourne Rovers, were just a few metres ahead of our B Team, Alex R, Matthew L and Sam O. Raphael and George had the two fastest lap times in their age group.
The U13 Girls A team Lara C, Kira D and Julianna W secured Bronze in a well-contested race, won by Crawley.
The U15 Boys raced very well, although they faced stiff opposition and had team members missing, owing to illness. Tom M was racing for the first time in a while, owing to recovering from injury, but powered around as did new member, Sonny, who looked as though he was enjoying the race.
Similarly, the U15 Girls team was adversely affected by members scheduled to race, who were ill. They still managed to gain fourth place in a tough race.
In the U17 races the Girls team of Eadie, Tilly and Sophie had a strong performance to take silver. The Boys team of had to settle for 4th place but Henry Yelling had a strong run to record the third fastest lap.
Due to clashes with other races over the weekend the Senior mens team had to be non-scoring, finishing in 5th place.
Full results are on the Sussex AA website. View them here.
Pictures by Jem Kelly