Southampton Running Club's senior men have just about squeezed into the Nike AAA Road Relay Championships at Sutton Coldfield on October 25.

Needing a top-20 finish to qualify, their team came 22nd overall in the weekend's Southern Championships at Aldershot, but with Belgrave and Windsor closing B and C teams ahead of them, they were the 18th-placed club.

Army man Rod Finch made a solid return to action after almost ten months out with a broken leg, but the fastest Southampton runner was Simon Plummer who has just moved back onto the road after a successful track season.

There were relay debuts for Iain Robertson and Steve Axon, plus B squad members Matt West and Graham Bungay.

In all, Southampton RC closed eight teams across the different men's and women's categories but, once it again, it was the big London clubs who dominated proceedings.

Belgrave ran out easy winners of the senior men's event, ahead of Bedford and Aldershot, Farnham & District, while Shaftesbury Barnet - helped by Southampton-based Lucy Elliott - won the women's race with plenty to spare over Highgate and Havant.

Southampton's veteran men's teams fared well with the vet-50s taking ninth place and the vet-40s closing at 15th. Their respective B teams were 26th and 35th. Ian Crawford made a great start to his career in the higher age-group, finishing 14th on the opening lap.

Lead-off lady for Southampton the following day was Stephanie Robson, who showed great pace judgement to battle through to ninth on the first four-kilometre leg in a fast time of 13 min 44 secs.

But with the likes of Sonia O'Sullivan running for Thames Hare & Hounds on leg two, it was always going to be tough for the SRC girls to continue Robson's good work. In the end, they finished 27th, just missing out on qualification for the nationals. SRC's vet-40 women were not far behind in 50th overall and sixth vet team in the competition.

This weekend SRC are sending a few runners to Moreton-in-the-Marsh for the National 10K Championships. After that comes the Hampshire Cross-Country League opener at Farley Mount on October 11 and round two of the Hampshire Road Race League at the Hardley Half Marathon on October 19.