A STORMING last leg by Jacob Landers helped Tamar Trotters claim a thrilling victory in the men’s race at the annual Tavistock Town Relays on Thursday night.
GTR Men had the lead until the final leg, but Landers overhauled them with a 4.51-minute run to give his side victory by seven seconds.
Tamar Trotters, made up of Richard Ezra-Ham, Ollie Oldfield, Luke Atwood and Landers, finished in a total time of 20.45 minutes, with the GTR Men quartet of Eddy Hillyer, Jack Dee, Sebastian Broomfield and Ronnie Hayes, clocking 20.52 minutes.
Third place, in a time of 21.25 minutes, went to City of Plymouth AC’s track team of Daniel Newman (who ran two legs), Fraser Holman and Dean Smith.
Tavistock AC won the M40 title with their team of Ben Neale, Thomas Brogden, Ian Collacott and Grant Harvey, while Tamar Trotters’ quartet of Kevin Edwards, Steve Baker, Crispin Brabner and Shaun Rundle were first in the M50 category. Okehampton RC won the M60 title.
The women’s race saw host club Tavistock AC take victory in 23.28 minutes with their team of Jasmine Gray, Nikki Kelly, Hannah Smith and Charlotte Walker.
City of Plymouth AC, made up of Annabel Arnold, Isabella May, Molly Shorey and Hayley Smith, were second in 24.40 minutes, while South West Road Runners were third in 25.25 minutes.
The Tavistock AC side of Sam Lake, Hannah Worth, Jenny Jeeves and Holly Fitzgerald won the F35 title, while Okehampton RC took the F45 top prize and Erme Valley Harriers were first F55 with their team of Lynne Whitfield, Andrea Mitchell, Helen Chappell and Carol Hansen.
Tavistock AC and City of Plymouth AC dominated the junior races.
The Tavistock AC ‘Kerr’ Year 9/10 team of Freddie Whybrow, Alistair Graham, Eldon Young and Thomas Hennessey came first overall in a quick time of 21.27 minutes.
Their Year 11/12 club colleagues of Oliver Houlberg, Sebastian White, Noah Reid and Connor Duffin were second overall and first in their category in 23.01 minutes, while Tavistock’s ‘Wightman’ Year 9/10 side of Luke Scott-Tucker, Ben Lentaigne, Tristan Bigham and Freddie Whybrow were third overall and second in their age group in 23.09.
City of Plymouth AC won both the Year 7/8 and Year 5/6 titles. Their Year 7/8 side team was made up of Lucas Sweeney, Seb Travers, Matthew Pavey and Finley Eales, while their younger side featured Micah Martin, Jacob Sweeney, Edward George and Jack Penny.
Both City of Plymouth and Tavistock AC won two girls’ titles each.
Plymouth took victory in the Year 5/6 and 7/8 categories. Evie Bolt, Ivy Ling, Theia Jones and Margot Goodspeed featured in their Year 5/6 side, while Daisy Elliot, Ava Buxton, Darcey Bacon and Sadie Black made up their Year 7/8 team.
Tavistock AC won the Year 9/10 and Year 11/12 girls’ races, with their teams of Suzie Woodrow, Grace Gokhale, Lamorna Cox and Zoe Bigham (Year 9/10) and Lara Dix, Tamsyn Reid, Claudia Jones and Lara Dix (Year 11/12).
An impressive 146 teams took part overall in three different races – juniors, women and men’s/mixed. There was also a family fun run beforehand.
The annual event forms part of the Tavistock Carnival and sees each runner in a four-person team complete a 1.1-mile lap around The Meadows.
Full results can be found HERE.
Gallery from the junior race
Gallery from the women’s race
Gallery from the men’s/mixed race
All pictures are low resolution and are protected by copyright so should not be used without permission.