READING Athletic Club's ladies finished 20th when they took part in the SEAA Road Relay Championships at Milton Keynes.

The race is a six-stage relay, comprising four ‘short’ stages of 5.05km, and two long stages of 7.66km.

Each stage started and finished on the athletics track, taking a surprisingly undulating route via tarmac paths around the edge of woods and housing estates.

The conditions were good for racing; dry and sunny with a light breeze.

Hayleigh Wood led the team off well on the first short stage, clocking 21m 01secs to hand over to Sophie Crumley in 24th place.

On the first long stage, she clocked 29:16 to climb to 21st place, before Sue Francis jumped to 19th with a good short-stage run (20:48).

Sarah Urwin-Mann (30:57) ran the second long stage, but dropped a spot to 20th.

On the penultimate short stage, Lucy Daniells (21:22) kept the position, with Claire Mills (22:52) doing the same to help the team finish in an overall time of 2:26:16.