LIVINGSTON RELAYS HISTORY

In 1928, Mr S.H.B. Livingston, a Director of a Leicester firm of shoe machinery
merchants, presented a cup for an annual road race for Midland Clubs. This cup is a fine
piece of silverware, and is still the main trophy in the current competition.

The original course was from the Leicestershire County Cricket Ground, at that time in
Aylestone Rd, and went through the Blaby and Whetstone areas. Early winners included
the big names in Midlands athletics – Tipton, Birchfield, Coventry and Derby.

In 1940 the course was changed to a lap of just over 3 miles from Avenue Road
Extension in Clarendon Park, Leicester with teams of 5 runners. The record for this
course is held by Coventry Godiva.

In 1976, traffic congestion caused the event to be moved out of the city and was sited at
Holwell Works at Asfordby Hill where a lap of 3.75 mls was established. Apart from a
brief period at Gartree Prison, the event continued to be held at Asfordby until the mid
90’s. It became established as the premier road relay event in the Midlands, and even
hosted the National Championships.

It was not until 1949 that a local team won the race, when Leicester Harriers recorded
their only victory and it was some 17 years later when another local success was
achieved, this time by Leicester Colleges of Art & Technology. 1989 saw the first win by
Leicester Coritanians and there followed a period of success for this local club.

During the early 1990’s interest in the event waned to the extent that it no longer became
viable and the race was last run at this venue in 1994. Most wins over the years were
recorded by Derby & County (20), Coventry Godiva (15) and Tipton (14).

During 2002, when Ramon Howe was Chairman of LRRL, Ted Toft told him he had the
magnificent Livingston trophy under his bed and it was time the race was resurrected !  As
a result, John Skevington, Paul Gregory and Ramon sat down and devised a new venue
and a 3 mile route at Loughborough University, and resolved to put on the race each Easter
Sunday. New categories for Women and Vets were introduced to widen the appeal and
the Relays were duly held again in 2003, with 44 teams taking part. It has been held each
year since and we have over 100 teams now involved. For 2007 we introduced U20 Men
and Women categories to further broaden the appeal. The event is becoming well
established, and we are gradually interesting more and more teams from out of
Leicestershire, which has always been our aim.

In 2008, the profile of the event was increased when England Athletics asked us to
incorporate the East Midlands Relay Championships in the races. In 2009, 65 teams ran
and the course record for Vets was broken by Leicester Coritanians. Holders of the
course record for Men are Owls AC and the Ladies record is held by Charnwood AC.

In 2011 the organisers were denied access to Loughborough University on account of the
forthcoming Olympics and a new course was devised in Braunstone Park, maintaining
the classic 3 mile lap distance. Owls AC found the course to their liking and established
fast times to win the Men’s and Men’s U20 titles. The following year Leicester
Coritanians achieved a clean sweep of men’s titles adding the Men’s and Men’s U20 to
the Vets title they have held for the past 7 years. Charnwood ladies regained their trophy
after missing out in the previous year.

We have now introduced U15 categories to further encourage competitive running for
youngsters. A decision was taken to move away from the Easter date and Mattioli Woods
came on board as principal sponsor. In 2014 we had an amazing entry of 104 teams for
the Relays. The main trophy was won by Heanor RC, who have long supported the event.
It is the first time in recent history that the trophy has gone outside of Leicestershire.
Heanor again won the main event in 2015 after a close and exciting race and Charnwood
eclipsed Leicester Coritanians dominance in the Mens Vets category. Charnwood also
won the Ladies title.

2016 saw Heanor’s domination increased as they took the Ladies title as well as the
Mens, which they have now won for the last 3 years. Coritanians regained the Mens Vets
title they lost last year and Poplar took the newly introduced Ladies Vets trophy.
The event has become more popular and, as a result, a limit of 150 teams has been
introduced. 

By 2019, Heanor’s dominance of the main event was broken as they were not
able to field their strongest team and Leicester Coritanians carried off the Men’s title.
Wreake & Soar Valley won the Ladies title for the first time.

The event could not be held in 2020 or 2022 due to the coronavirus.

It was becoming clear that the Braunstone Park venue was becoming unsuitable for a
variety of reasons. Discussions were held with Mallory Park and Rob Osborn of Race
Rapid and as a result we were able to hold the 2022 event at Mallory. This was very
successful, with many athletes praising the course and its layout. Wreake & Soar Valley
extended their dominance of the U15 categories to take both the Senior Men’s and Senior
Ladies’ titles. Leicester Coritanians once more took the Men’s Vet title and Huncote won
the Ladies Vets trophy. 126 teams entered.

The event was again held at Mallory in 2023 and this year saw the introduction of ATW
who very successfully organised the whole event. Owls Ac won the Men’s race for the
first time since 2011 and Wreake & Soar Valley Ladies kept their title.

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Ramon Howe

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