25/10/2026
Reading AC had four teams in the British Masters Cross-Country Relays on Saturday and came away with three team medals! The event was held at Horspath, Oxford, and the racing took place over an interesting 3-km course. Despite the persistent rain of recent days, there was very little mud after the dry summer, but the course was still challenging, including fields, woods, short sharp hills, plenty of roots, and a (empty) ditch crossing, and the stormy weather added to the challenge.
Women’s teams of all age categories ran in the same race (which also included the men’s M65 and M75 teams), with four runners per team. Reading’s three teams were led off on leg 1 by Hayleigh Wood (W35 team), Gilly Meek (W45 team) and Sue Francis (W55 team). Hayleigh ran a super lap, clocking 12:17 (the 5th fastest women’s lap time of the race) to hand over as 3rd W35 team to Leanne James. Meanwhile, Sue ran 13:27 (the fastest W55 lap of the race) to hand over to Kathryn Tolson as 1st W55 team, with a 4-minute lead on their rivals. Gilly, who prefers road and track running, was not far behind, recording 14:01 as she handed over to W45 teammate Claire Mills.
On leg 2, Leanne (W35), who’s training for a 50-mile ultra race, showed she still has good speed as she clocked 13:21. Claire (W45) showed her consistent and dedicated training is really paying off, as she ran a 14:27 leg. For the W55 team, Kathryn demonstrated real dedication; having been injured since the London Marathon and only recently begun training again, she clocked 15:41 for her lap. On leg 3, Shirley-Ann Dix (W35) really enjoyed her run and clocked a super 13:08, while long-term and reliable team member Lucy Daniells ran 14:13 for the W45 team. Helen Antram ran leg 3 for the W55 team. Helen’s also had a summer plagued by injury, so can be very happy with her 14:36 clocking.
Leg 4 saw Reading’s three runners all bring their teams home to medal glory! Sarah Holmes cast aside concerns about a sore heel and she ran a great lap (12:57) to secure the W35 team bronze medals (team time 51:44). Despite taking a short detour at an unmarshalled point, Millie Dainton (15:59) ensured her W45 team were also bronze medallists (team time 58:42). Julie Rayfield had a solid run (16:22) to bring the W55 team home in gold medal position (team time 1:00:07). As Team Manager, I was very proud of all the ladies’ efforts. Several had concerns about their fitness following injury problems and were worried they ‘might let the team down’. But everyone rose to the challenge and ran brilliantly. I was very happy that all were rewarded for their commitment with British Masters medals.
I was also very proud of our solo men’s team who all ran brilliantly in increasing grim weather conditions. The men raced over the same course, but with five stages. Unable to fill a team with runners from the same age category, our team consisted of two M35s, two M45s and one M65. The rules dictate that the team must compete in the category of their youngest runner, so they were an M35 team. On leg 1, Charlie Madelaine continued his super form clocking the team’s fastest time (10:29), with 400m/800m specialist Jonathan Hiorns recording 11:08 on leg 2. Mate Lorincz, who ran the Abingdon marathon only 6 days ago, can be very pleased with his 11:27 time on leg 3. A special thanks and well done to Mike Twomey (M65) who ran leg 4 in a very respectable 13:51. Without his willingness to run, we couldn’t have fielded a full men’s team. Last but not least, Sandeep Simon got the worst of the weather on leg 5, but had a good run (12:45) to bring the team home in 9th (team time 59:43).
Sue Francis (Reading AC Veterans’ Team Manager)
