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The 2009 South of England senior men’s 6 stage road relay was run at Rushmore Area, Aldershot. The course was 6k for each of the six runners, split over two laps on gently undulating MOD land with a couple of inclines to keep things interesting. The air was still, and a strong September sunshine made for great spectating, if hot running conditions. The quality of the field was outstanding, with many of the best athletes from the South of England competing.
Chiltern Harriers entered their first senior men’s team for some years, and had a successful outing; finishing 47th out of 78 teams and beating local rivals Wycombe Phoenix who finished in 58th.
First out for Chiltern on the daunting first leg was Matt Bennett who set a very high standard of 19:57. The second leg was covered by Northerner turned Southerner Jon Taylor in 21:42. Richard Quantrill was out third, registering a time of 22:14 despite a heel problem. Stepping up to the senior squad for the fourth leg was Alex Shelley in 22:40. Fifth out was Tom Beedell in another quick time of 20:05. Running the final leg was Fabian Downs who finished strongly for the team in a time of 19:57. The overall team time was 2:06:35.
The event was won by Aldershot, Farnham & District in a combined time of 1:49:28. The fastest individual leg was 17:23 by Mourmin Geele of Newham & Essex Beagles.
Jon Taylor