Swindon Harriers senior men achieved their best-ever finish at the National 12-Stage Road Relay Championships last weekend.

Two weeks after finishing fifth place in Birmingham at the Midland Counties Road Relay championships to secure their place in the national finals against the UK’s top running clubs, the Harriers followed that up with a top performance on the big stage.

Their previous best performance in this championship was a 30th-place finish two years ago and they went further than that this time around as they were the 25th fastest team in the country.

Senior coach Bryan Clinton said: “We have had good runners in the past but not the strength in depth we have at the moment.

“The current squad is really strong, and they have a great camaraderie with all the lads helping and supporting each other.

“It really feels like we are the coming force and the men’s success is a fantastic story for us. The club is going places.”

The Harriers improved further on their performance at regionals to qualify for this event, as they were the third-placed side from the Midlands in the national finals.

Simon Byrne ran the fastest long leg from the team with 27 minutes and 13 seconds and Harry Woods had the shortest leg with 16 minutes and three seconds, especially impressive after having to make a late change to the 12th stage rather than his usual long stage after Ben Lines had to drop out through injury.

Team boss Simon Dill was equally thrilled with the performance: “We are improving again and this is a massive jump, to finish as the 23rd club (there were two B teams in front of the Harriers) and also third Midlands club feels like a real statement.

“It was a cracking result and everyone is buzzing.”