National Relay Championships: then and now

Elaine Larkins is Chair of Peterborough and Nene Valley Athletics Club, a former bronze medallist over 100 metres at the English Schools' AA and a gold medallist at the National Relay Championships in the 4x100m in 1971.

And it’s that race, which saw four young athletes from Bury and Radcliffe AC fly to glory all those years ago and helped forge a lifelong passion for the sport.

Elaine remembers being very excited about the race, not least because it involved a weekend in London, racing at Crystal Palace, which at the time was the best venue in the country.

"We went Friday afternoon and had to get the afternoon off school. We travelled in the club minibus as we had a few teams running. But it was our junior girls team that was the quickest. We had won the Lancashire Championships and then the Northern Champs at Cleckheaton, so Vera Duerdin our coach (a former England Cross Country and Road Running Team Manager) said we were entered in the Nationals. No discussion; we were in!"

“We couldn’t believe we would be there and were so excited to be competing somewhere that we’d read about and seen on TV. It really was the big time for us."

"We all trained together so we did plenty of practice. We didn’t have a track, so we just ran around a cinder area passing the baton."“We all trained together so we did plenty of practice. We didn’t have a track, so we just ran around a cinder area passing the baton."

"Janet Hilton was on the first leg, and she passed it to Marie Forey who was really a high jumper. We gave her the back-straight because she was tall. Lynn Campbell ran the bend, she was a great bend runner, and I anchored us home.

"We ran the heats in the morning and then in the final I can remember being neck and neck with another team, but I got it on the dip. We ran 49.9, our first time under 50 seconds. We were so excited to be on top of the rostrum, although I do remember being a bit disappointed that the medal looked like it was silver. That is, until I found out they were made of real silver!"

"It was being part of a club team that was really important to me. We stayed in a hotel and I’m sure we didn’t get much sleep as all four of us were in the same room and we spent half the night talking about the race."

"Being part of a team really is so influential at such a young age. You make lifelong friends; you meet rivals from all over the country.

"We even went to Woodford Green one season for the first Motorway League (now known as the National Athletics League) match. Once we went to Middlesbrough and I remember seeing Geoff Capes, the UK record holder for the shot, there. Then, we saw him again at the Spalding Relays, which he organised. All these years later grandson Lawson Capes, the English Schools' AA shot champion is part of our club in Peterborough and I now live about a mile away from the track where those relays took place."

"Understandably, I’m always keen for our members to compete in relays. Over the years we’ve won a few titles in the road and cross-country relays and currently we have a couple of hurdlers who like to always test their speed at the end of a league match in the 4x100."

"Our club can also boast we have an Olympic bronze medallist from Paris as Lewis Davey was a member of our club before leaving us to go to college."

"So, well done Birchfield Harriers and England Athletics for reviving this very important Championships. Give it time to grow and I have no doubt the meeting will be hosting Olympic and World Championships medallists of the future."