DUDLEY and Stourbridge Harriers got off to a flying start in the National 6 Stage Road Relays thanks to a top performance fromLee Slater

Slater finished the event, held at Sutton park last weekend, with a time just over of 18 minutes.

The result saw him come home in 28th place with a time that ranked him 58th fastest from the 465 runners taking part.

Dave Nation also ran really well in 20.08 but could not hold the place as DASH dropped to 51st.

The third leg runner, Dave Ratcliffe, also had a good run in a time of 20.21before handing over to Ian Mansell in 64th. Mansell held on by running 21.06 before Robert Meredith ran 20.37 in leg five to pick up one place to 64th.

The last leg was taken on by Jordan Smith. She came home in 22.00 as DASH finished a very good 64th from a field of 77 teams that had qualified to take part.

With the cross country season only weeks away, the club will be looking forward to a promotion challenge with some confidence.