SEAA Road Relays, Aldershot 20 September 2025
Abingdon AC fielded an impressive four youth teams at the Aldershot Road Relays on Saturday.
U13 boys
First up were the U13 boys. The start line was very congested and Zachary had to fight for space before the alarmingly loud gun started the race. He kept his cool keeping his feet in the crowd and getting quickly into his running. The first leg is always very fast and competitive. This can intimidate some runners but inspire others. Zachary fell into the second category running an impressively fast leg for his debut round the 3km loop.
Zachary flying on the first leg
Zachary handed over to Jack who looked calm and comfortable at the sharp end of a high class field. He passed four runners to move the team up to 8th place, running a very similar time to Zachary and also enjoying his first visit to Rushmoor Arena.
Sam on the change over
Having swapped shoes with Zachary, Sam took the anchor leg. Taking over a minute off his time last year, and maintaining a clean sweep of sub-11 minute legs, Sam kept the team in the top 10, finishing 9th out of 76 teams. This was a very impressive performance, beating esteemed clubs such as Herne Hill Harriers, Aldershot, and Hercules Wimbledon.
U13 boys: Sam Coles, Jack Lindsay, Zachary Pritchard
U13 girls
The next to run were the U13 girls who were all also making their debut. The team was led off by Mia, bravely taking on the physically chaotic first leg and tackling the energy-sapping twists and undulations of the course before handing over to Lizzie, who gained 12 places to take them to the middle of the field.
Last up was Eleanor who ran a super-fast leg which would have been very competitive in the age group above. Passing another 12 teams, the girls came in 32nd out of 57 teams, beating some much bigger clubs such as Wycombe Phoenix and Barnet.
U13 girls: Mia Gore, Eleanor Cadwallader, Lizzie Howlin
U15 boys
The U15 boys were led off by Noah who had never run the Aldershot Rushmoor Arena loop before. He used his strength to fight his way to the front row at the start and managed the chaos and pressure of the start very well. At half way Noah was 6th and looking relaxed and fluent. He was passed late on by a few fast-finishing runners but didn’t lose much distance and handed over to Daniel in an impressive 12th, running 9.45 for a leg of approximately 3.04km.
Daniel set off very fast and got a shock when his Garmin told him he had covered the first mile in 5 minutes and 29 seconds. The early pace bit later in the race but he showed strength and determination to set a new pb for the loop by around half a minute. Daniel handed over to Thomas in 28th.
Thomas has had a very disrupted season due to a broken collarbone and was expecting to find the race very tough having missed a lot of training in recent months. However, he also set a new pb for the Aldershot course and only dropped 8 places to keep the team well inside the top half, 36th out of 91 teams; a good performance.
U15 boys: Thomas Egerton, Daniel Egerton, Noah Spruce
U15 girls
The U15 girls were all new to the Aldershot experience. Charlotte led the team off and decided to start at a conservative pace and push hard in the second half. She finished very strongly, using her excellent downhill running skills on the descent in to the finishing field to great effect. She extracted every last grain of effort. Lara took on the second leg and set off confidently.
It was a challenge for Lara who rarely races at distances over 800m. In the event, she managed to pass a few teams, getting the team up to 53rd position, before collapsing exhausted in a similar fashion to Charlotte.
Beatrix looked composed and poised as she finished the race for the team, running a very good time of 12.45. Of the 3 girls she looked as if she had enjoyed it the most - keeping her feet and managing a smile. The team ended up a very commendable 46th out of 65.
U15 girls: Lara Ford, Beatrix Bewick, Charlotte Moore
A great event
All the athletes were an absolute credit to the club, and it was a great event as always, attracting a very high standard of running.
Thanks to all the AAC athletes and support crews, and special thanks go to Ellen Powell-Herlaar for organising the teams and doing all the behind-the-scenes admin.
