A 12 stage relay with 65 teams running 8 x 5k short legs and 4 x 9k long legs sounds like it should be complete chaos especially when you throw in the ladies 6 stage at the same time.
But the organisers had it all worked with a cunning numbering scheme and clipboarded officials checking off who was running one or two laps.
That left us free to concentrate on the steep Heaton Park hills. A steady climb away from the starting area soon developed into a long slog up past the hall before heading off to the far corner of the park. As you tried to pick up the pace on the way back you knew that the down hill must be coming but it took an age to arrive. A second lap for some of us before a generous gradient down to the funnel that enabled you to more or less re-compose your running.
Mike Halman gave us a great start with our fastest 9k leg. The fact that he was in 22nd place shows the frightening quality of the opposition. Damian pulled back an amazing 8 places in his 5k run which should help him back to full fitness. Unfortunately they were all just behind to chase a post-viral-recovering Ray through the next 5k.
[BTW at this point I was just leaving the house having completed my own personal relay delivering kids between Athletics, Gymnastics and Drama. It felt strange that at the other side of Manchester the race was already underway. Anyway out of the door with shouts of "Just don’t drop the baton, Dad" ringing in my ears.]
Meanwhile Tom took the next long leg running a fast sub 33 long leg and catching Vale Royal in the process. Malcolm put his (injured but recovering) back into it to bring us up to 23rd. By this time Nick was getting really excited and trying desperately to count the team places through the confusion of all the runners going backwards and forwards. Bill took the baton and ran an inspired leg nearly as fast as Malcolm cheered back down the hill by all of us.
Stuart continued his good form with a 33 long leg picking up a place. Jeff took the next 5k while we spent 19 minutes pursuading Tony that he really ought to stop admiring his new Wilmslow vest and think about going down to the starting area before Jeff got back. But once he was in and out of the blocks he flew round and held us in the top 25.
I took the next long leg and was immediately passed by a Bingley guy moving at Halman-pace. This is where a relay is different from a normal race where if you are overtaken it is usually by one of your peers so you have a chance of running back at them. But you do get eam support and I needed it at the top of the first lap (thanks Bill and Jeff). I felt OK going into to the second lap running hard up the hill but again not hard enough to stop an Otley runner with different gears come tearing past. I was aware that it was now getting tight for 25th and gritted my teeth back down the hill. Ray Eagles continues to enjoy all the distances that we throw at him and made short work of the next 5k.
That left captain Nick to see us home. Unfortunately a forced mass start of all remaining runners took some of the excitement off the finish but Nick managed to pick up the crucial place that we needed by winning back more seconds than I’d lost to Otley.
I guess that 25th isn’t going to guarantee us 2012 Olympic funding but given what we were up against (and compared to local rival clubs) this was a real team achievement. And we’ve qualified for the nationals. Well done to Nick for pulling the team together over the last few days and thanks to Ian A who was on the bench.
Rob
Full results at http://www.race-results.co.uk/results/2006/n1206.htm
25 Wilmslow Running Club 4:41:09
(number in brackets is position at the end of leg)
Michael Halman (22) 31:24
Damian Nicholl (14) 17:15
Ray Noble (27) 19:50
Tom McGaff (27) 32:44
Malcom Fowler (23) 18:14
Bill Heaton (24) 18:27
Stuart Parrott (23) 33:08
Jeff Capper (24) 19:18
Tony Hulme (24) 19:55
Robert Downs (27) 33:32
Ray Eagles (27) 18:51
Nick Bishop (26) 18:31
Some of the winning times for comparison and something to focus on when training for the nationals …
Fastest 9k Legs
1 Jason Ward Altrincham 28:24
2 Adam Sutton PrestonH&A 28:32
3 Andrew Jones SalfordH A 28:40
Fastest 5k legs
1 David Webb LeedsCAC A 15:30
2 Mark Hood Sunderland 15:45
3 Chris Birchall LeedsCAC A 15:50
Winning Team
1 Leeds City Athletic Club ‘A’ 4:07:05
Gregory Hull (2) 29:32
M Gostling (2) 16:03
Matthew Clough (2) 16:34
Martin Hilton (1) 29:42
David Webb (1) 15:30
Simon Cook (1) 16:31
Simon Deakin (1) 29:16
J Whitehead (1) 16:23
Chris Birchall (1) 15:50
Darran Bilton (1) 29:13
Adam Osborne (1) 16:15
Martin Roscoe (1) 16:16