THE rebirth of the Hampshire AA Road Relay Championships was blighted by stormy weather on Southampton Common.

Fierce winds and heavy rain took its toll in the event, which was being reintroduced to the county calendar after an absence of 14 years.

The officials had a nightmare with one tent blown into the air and the information tent having to be tied down using crowd barriers as weights.

The computer crashed when damp got into the works, forcing results to be logged by hand.

Athletes, though, are a hardy lot and, despite the foul conditions, the event drew a good turnout from all corners of the county and there were some decent times posted over the 5.7k course.

With Simon Plummer clocking the fastest leg, Southampton Running Club's A team beat Aldershot, Farnham & District to the senior men's title by over two minutes.

City of Portsmouth triumphed in both the veteran men's and senior women's events, while Southampton University men were the only entrants in the university/college relay, which was run over half the distance.

Organiser John Marsh said: "The championships are hoping to become a regular part of the racing calendar again and with the help of Southampton City Council and sponsors AMS Limited of Hilsea, we hope we can achieve this."

RESULTS:

Senior men

1. Southampton Running Club A (Iain Robertson 17.50, Pete Davies 19.04, Simon Plummer 17.21, Matt West 18.59, Dave Branfoot 18.15, Jon Grainger 19.33) 1.51.02

2. Aldershot, Farnham & District (Robert McCarthy 18.09, Graham Osbourne 18.42, Jamie Smith 20.34, Elliot Robinson 18.32, Dave Kennedy 20.09, Richard Batchelor 18.24) 1.53.30

3. Stubbington Green Runners (Zippy Grice 18.23, Mike Bainbridge 20.23, Mark Le Gassick 18.45, Oli Williams 20.03, Tor Duffin 20.20, Gordon Reid 19.52) 1.57.46

4. New Forest Runners (Howard Doe 20.31, Steve Wright 19.22, Steve Martin 20.30, Tom Porteus 21.19, Lee Rodriguez 19.25, Phil Mosely 19.15) 2.00.22

5. Southampton Running Club B (Graham Bungay 19.49, Peter Costley 20.16, Peter Sansome 20.22, Steve Haggerty 19.43, Joan Matas 20.25, John James 20.07) 2.00.42

6. Winchester & District (Ian Hardcastle 19.12, Andy Woodcock 19.44, Tony Sharpe 21.19, Julian Mann 20.18, Duncan Wightman 21.11, Adam Omar 22.36) 2.04.20

7. Team Solent (Owen Jones 17.54, Jim Joyce 21.01, Neil Philips 18.19, Callum D'Souza 22.26, Denham Elvin 23.14, Philip Stevens 23.10) 2.06.04

8. Stubbington Green Runner (Chris Hall 21.08, Noel Carlton 21.27, Graham Bell 21.34, Mick Clarke 23.36, Mike Harper 20.51, Mike Bainbridge 21.41) 2.10.17

9. Lordshill Road Runners (Duncan Beck 21.31, James Meekly 21.09, Yash Mihdidin 21.54, Peter Foot 24.09, Mike Bisson 21.25, Andy Crocker 22.57.

Veteran men

1. City of Portsmouth A (Godfrey Rhimes 19.38, David Thomson 19.35, Martyn Flower 19.37, Paul Davoile 19.17) 1.18.09

2. Winchester & District (Les Lorangle, 19.21, Keith Taylor 21.01, Peter Davies 20.46, Mike Davies 20.45) 1.22.53

3. Southampton Running Club A (Phin Desborough 19.33, Ian Crawford 19.44, Malcolm Riddle 20.29, Neil Hotson 25.29) 125.15

4. Stubbington Green Runners (Mike Harper 20.33, Barry Harris 20.03, Andy Phipps 23.27, Phil May 22.42) 1.26.45

5. Southampton Running Club B (Ian Richardson 20.47, Peter Staunton 22.36, Mike Smith 21.57, Dave Carter 21.52) 127.2

6. Hardley Runners (Mark Eldred 21.52, Ian Banks 21.03, John Simmonds 21.07, Bill Beardsmore 23.05) 1.27.17

7. Overton Harriers (Martin Crawshaw 20.48, David Vosser 20.33, Richard Francis 22.51, Steve McVair 23.37) 1.27.59

8. New Forest Runners (Andy Phmister 22.00, Henry Sewinto 21.37, Moray Martin Rhind 24.17, Howard Doe 21.21) 1.29.15

9. Totton Running Club (Bruce Elkins 21.49, Dave Murray 24.55, Sean Driscoll 20.42, Brian Leigh 22.09) 1.30.35

10. City of Portsmouth B (Dereck Bower 21.50, Peter Newton 22.05, Ed Connolly 22.58, David Efford 24.42) 1.31.35

11. Team Solent A (John MacInnes 22.39, Mike White 21.36, Pete Dean 24.21, Trevor Gregory 23.59) 1.32.35

Senior women

1. City of Portsmouth A (Tamara Wiggins 23.35, Helen Lockyer 21.41, Tracy Burrows 24.05, Judy Morris 22.31) 131.52

2. Southampton Running Club A (Nicci Blandford 26.11, Kaye Harwood 20.45, Stephanie Robson 20.38, Alice Neal 25.10) 1.32.44

3. Lordshill Road Runners A (Sophie Green 23.50, Hannah Turner 23.57, Angela Lee 24.47, Sioux Thirtle 25.38) 1.38.12

4. Lordshill Road Runners B (Dylis Gartside 24.47, Janet McGarry 26.02, Viginie Cotte 28.35, Sophie Green 24.02) 1.43.26

5. Team Solent A (Heather Buckingham, 20.44, Lara Roberts 27.12, Cherelle Elvin 27.11, Jo West 28.36) 143.43

6. Totton Running Club (Catherine Phillips 24.29, Marlene Letheren 30.16, Karen Brouard 25.04, Lucy Jones 27.18) 1.46.07

7. Southampton Running Club B (Siobhan Mitchell 25.04, Sally Diaper 25.52, Linda Massey 26.47, Sue Read 28.28) 146.11

8. Overton Harriers A (Jill Hills 24.24, Madeline Vossier 28.03, Karen Burton 29.17, Andrea Dennison 27.38) 1.38.12

9. Team Solent B (Christine Smears 30.59, Dawn Errington 24.57, Nicky Coote 28.15, Lara Roberts 28.19) 1.52.30

University/College relay

1. Southampton University men (Julien Camy 7.53, Arnaud Gautier 8.02, Vincent Laborde 8.33, Tim Wright 7.19) 31.47