Luton AC first competition
Luton AC took part in their first competition since its inception on the 1st September, following the merger of Luton United AC and Vauxhall AC. Already the strength of the merger is showing itself when the club finished 3 teams in the annual St. Albans cross country relays where, in the past, both United and Vauxhall struggled to field a team each.
The difficulty facing team manager Chris Stebbings was who should be in which team and the final results proved that clearly some runners in the ‘B’ team should have been in the ‘A’. Nevertheless they finished a highly creditable 11th of 31, which, bearing in mind the event attracts some of the strongest clubs from North London, is a strong showing in such illustrious company. But it was local rivals Bedford and County who won the race by almost 2 minutes from London Irish and London Heathside 3rd.
Fastest of the day for Luton was Gareth Suffling with a solid 15.08 for the 2.5 mile hilly course held in picturesque Verulamium Park. Suffling changed his focus during the summer and is now showing the fruits of the additional training he has been undertaking to support his Steeple Chase ambitions on the track. It was good to see Simon Stebbings returning after nearly 2 years out of the sport through asthma, which was originally poorly diagnosed, to record 15.34. Young Jamie Attwood recorded 15.36 and Stuart Stills, new joiner to Luton, recorded a solid 15.54. Keith McLellan and Chris Green completed the team with times of 16.12 meaning the ‘A’ team finished with a total time of 94 minutes 36 seconds and 11th place.
In the ‘B’ team fine performances, worthy of ‘A’ team selection, were recorded by James Drinkwater, who stormed to a time of 15.22 on leg 4, 2nd fastest for the club on the day, and on the 2nd leg Veteran Alan Daglish surprised everyone with 15.43. Chris Drinkwater was unlucky to go off course and lose precious time, otherwise he would have joined his brother in the sub-16 recorded times, actually recording 16.51 but losing approximately one minute.
No other performance of the day summed up the newly found enthusiasm of the club than that of the 4th leg runner for the ‘C’ team. Mike Hardy, the club Secretary, who retired from work last year, at the statutory retirement age, completed his leg in 24.09. This spirit was endemic throughout the club and Mike’s efforts summed up the team spirit.
Clearly Luton AC have a great future ahead of them and this coming weekend will be the first chance for the youngsters to make their statement at the Southern Road Relay championships at Aldershot. The event takes place over Saturday and Sunday, when the Senior and Veteran men compete on Saturday and the Ladies and young athletes compete on Sunday. It is unlikely that that the club will be bringing many, if any, medals home from the event but surely it will not be long before they do.
Chris Stebbings
Luton AC
01442 826843, 07909 910615
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