The last NEMAA meeting of the season at Jarrow saw the introduction of relay races for the first time - and so the stage was set for some record breaking performances... by the Sunderland women's team.

The first relay to be run was the 4x400. With 16 teams entered, the race was split in two, with the heats organised according to the teams' predicted times.
Sunderland's team of Vicky Younger, Emma North, Colleen Compson and Anna Harris, were called up into lane two for the second race. But as the other teams took their positions, Sunderland realised they were the only women in the heat, prompting the question to team captain Vicky: "How fast did you tell the organisers we could run?!"

At the gun, first leg runner Anna tried to get a quick start so she could get herself into a good position when the pack broke after the first bend.
With the officials organising the second leg runners according to the placing of the first runner at the 200m mark, Anna, who came in fourth, was expecting to see Colleen close to the inside of the track.
But the officials had other ideas. Unfortunately they hadn't seen Anna at 200m - presumably because she was surrounded by men about a foot taller! - and they subsequently placed Colleen in the outside lane, forcing both women to weave through a throng of runners to pass the baton, which they just managed to do within the takeover zone.
Coleen then put in a strong run to pass the baton on to Emma, who also ran well to pass on to Vicky. Running as anchor leg, Vicky fought all the way to the line to bring the team home seventh and afterwards she rued that it was possibly the fastest 400m she had ever run.
As the times were announced, an elated Sunderland team celebrated the fact they were the fastest female 4x400 team on the night and the only female team to run the race under 5 minutes, setting a new NEMAA track and field record for the W35 age group of 4 minutes 53.

Next up was the 4x100 relay, which was run by the same team in the same order. Sunderland were quick out the blocks and were first to pass the baton over; and each runner managed to increase the lead, enabling Vicky to storm home over 3 seconds clear of nearest rivals Crook and District AC and set another track record of 62.9
Afterwards a delighted Colleen announced that the team would be back next year to defend their title and hopefully set more records, especially since they now had 12 months to practice their change-overs.

The final meeting of the season also saw the Sunderland women's team come sixth overall in the league, a sound achievement considering many of the club's athletes were making their NEMAA track debuts and other commitments meant the club couldn't put a team out at every fixture.
Notable achievements this season include Vicky Younger's throw of over 22m in the javelin and her efforts in the mile, which to date see her ranked in the top 20 in the country in her age group for these events.
And Emma North made a welcome return to the triple jump - an event she hasn't taken part in since her school days - and managed to jump 8.54m, the 16th best jump in the W35 age group in the UK this year. And she only managed to fit in three jumps before she was called for the relay...
Hopefully this year's successes will encourage more veteran athletes to take part in the league next season.

(Editor's note - Anna Harris, the author of this report, is as self-effacing as ever. It is worth mentioning that at the NEMAA Championships this year she was crowned Champion in the 100m, 200m, and in the long jump with a championship record. Currently in the UKA age group rankings she is 3rd in the indoor and outdoor Long Jump, 8th in the 100m, 9th in the 60m, and 14th in the 200m)