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CENTRAL ATHLETIC CLUB

The premier athletic club in the Stirling and Clackmannanshire districts.

Our philosophy, regardless of age and ability, is to encourage and support our members to achieve their goals in a competitive environment

Central AC in grand national win

Apr 15, 2023

The Central AC men’s team are National Road Relay Champions after taking the victory in the National 12 Stage Relay at Sutton Park in Sutton Coldfield on Saturday 15 April 2023 in a new course record time. This is the first time a Scottish club has won this most prestigious UK club competition.

Central AC team
(back row) Fanottoli, Phillip, Butchart, Hickey, Crowe, Marshall, coach Derek Easton. (front row) MacMillan, Colley, Graham-Marr, Sutherland, Milne, Hay

The race is contested over 12 stages with alternating long legs of 8.6km and short legs of 5.0km. At the start, 62 teams toed the line and Ben MacMillan ran a superb 25:39 on the first long leg to bring the team back in the leading group. Dale Colley took over and posted 16:53 to keep Central well in touch. Tom Graham-Marr ran a rapid 26 minutes exactly to pull through ten places and was followed by Matt Sutherland’s storming 16:21 bringing the team to eighth. Cameron Milne went to work and returned a fantastic 26:41 followed by Alastair Hay who clocked 15:23 picking the team up to fifth behind the lead of eventual second placers Highgate Harriers who were having their moment in the sun. But there is no prize for leading after six stages.

The second half of Central’s challenge saw Luca Fanottoli clock a great 26:24 before handing over to Calum Phillip who launched round in 15:34 with Central now in third. Ahead, the lead had changed with eventual third placers Kent AC now in the vanguard. But there is no prize for leading after eight stages. Leg nine saw double-Olympian Andrew Butchart run the fastest long leg of the day in an eye-watering 24:57, handing over to Hamish Hickey who matched that achievement by running the fastest short leg of the day in 15:07, and Central were now in second. Kent AC were still in the lead, but there is no prize for leading after ten stages.

Coach Derek Easton’s mastery of the tactics of leg allocation now saw Jamie Crowe on leg 11 where he ran a superb long leg in 25:28 to carve through to the lead, leaving Ali Marshall to power the team home to victory in 15:27, taking the prize for leading after 12 stages and setting a new course record of 4:09:54 with a 44 second margin over Highgate Harriers in second.

Congratulations on a fantastic performance – full results at https://www.race-results.co.uk/results/2023/nat1223.htm for team-by-team detail and https://www.race-results.co.uk/results/2023/nat1223.pdf for leg-by-leg detail.