A sun-drenched Weston Park in Telford hosted the 2024 Saucony-sponsored championships on September 14 after flooding led to a postponement in February
Hugo Milner and Niamh Brown won the overall men’s and women’s championships in the event that was postponed from February because the car parking areas were unusable due to saturated ground.
There were no such problems in the September sunshine, but a complete absence of mud and the going reminded many old stagers of the parkland races that used to take place at this time of year 30 or 40 years ago.
Some doubted that the delayed championship, that was run with age groups relating to the original date last February, would lack quality at the sharp end, but that was generally not the case.
Men
That quality was definitely there in the senior men’s event held over a 12km three-lap course, as three former champions were soon prominent. However, it was triathlete Hugo Milner who broke away with Derby team-mate Ben Connor, the 2017 champion. This left 2020 winner Calum Johnson and last year’s first across the line, James Kingston, struggling to maintain contact from the start.
The two Derby men were never headed and opened out a lead of around 100 metres over Kingston and Johnson on the first lap out in the country. Behind, Will Battershill and Seyed Taha Ghafari led the rest.
With three former champions in the top four mid-race and Milner, who reckons that he is the No.2 triathlete to Olympic champion Alex Yee in the UK at the moment, looking good for victory.
Milner opened up a lead of 100m over Connor and then almost 200m by the line and it was Kingston who claimed third.
Ben Connor leads Hugo Milner (Graham Smith)
The all-winners’ party at the front was then spoilt by Battershill, who just pipped Johnson to fourth to help his Bristol & West sextet claim the team medals. Perhaps his 63:49 in the Great North Run six days earlier had taken its toll.
Talking after the race, Milner, who was fourth in last winter’s European Championships, said: “People were surprised I am doing this as I don’t need to practice cross-country, but I only live an hour away.
“I felt really good from the start but I was pushed all the way and almost fell over with 1km to go.”
Next up for the 26-year-old are triathlons at European and world level.
For Connor, it has been seven years since his victory in this race but his and Milner’s early pace was described by Kingston. “I came to defend my title, but saw the…
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