SALTAIRE Striders qualified on Saturday for the National Road Relay Championships at Sutton Park in a fortnight.

The NORTHERN CHAMPIONSHIPS at Sunderland acted as the qualifier, and the Saltaire club's 24th-place finish in 3hr 14min 8sec was just within the limit for Birmingham.

This was the first time the club had entered the championships for 15 years, and was the first time since changing their name from St Bede's.

In an excellent piece of team management, captain Will Kerr managed his strongest runners on the four long three-mile legs, while holding his next best for the final short legs.

In a tense 12th stage, Martin Fillingham repaid the strategy as he passed Jarrow, Kendal and, finally, Keighley & Craven in the race's final mile.

Marcin Szoska took time off marathon training to lead off in the fastest Saltaire long leg, and his 32nd-place handover indicated the quality of the top teams.

After the first seven stages, when the four long legs had been completed and Kerr handed over, Saltaire were 31st.

Short legs by James Goodall and Joe Graham were followed by a superb tenth stage by Pete Hopson, whose 11min 39sec took the club to 27th.

Matthew Richardson consolidated in the penultimate leg before Fillingham's heroics.

The other team members, on a historic day for the club, were Stuart Dunbar, Graham Corbett, Chris Jones, Carl Kernick and Simon Frazer.

Leeds City were beaten by a minute by Salford Harriers (2hr 46min 39sec) and edged out Morpeth by 15 yards. Holmfirth (15th) and Valley Striders, from north Leeds, (16th) were the only other West Yorkshire men's clubs to qualify.

Barlick Fell Runners from Barnoldswick, entering for only the second time, finished 11th.

In the women's six-stage relays, Jo Buckley led Bingley's ladies to qualify for the nationals, also in 24th.

Keighley & Craven's Zara Knappy was sixth on the first leg and ran the eighth-fastest long leg overall but the club dropped to 31st position by the end.

Former Ilkley star Georgia Malir ran the second fastest of all the short legs, anchoring the victorious Leeds City team.