Record Breakers: Millennium Way Relay 2011

A weekend jumping back on the training horse included plans for some big mileage to round up this week; a smell-the-roses Sunday run to kick off a return to marathon prep. However, such fine plans went to pot on Friday night with a late call up from the club for the Millennium Way Relay team. I'd decided to pass this year, what with a month of long runs to catch up on. But this was not just just any relay team. This was the Bingley Open Team. This was the proper Bingley men/blokes/fellas/male team. Yikes.

Will: that's not mascara he's wearing. 
He swallowed a bit too.

Last minute injuries led to a gap in team pairings and an unexpected invite to step in and help the boys out. How could I refuse?! M can be very persuasive... I joined the boys to run leg 3, paired with M over an 8 mile leg of undulating off-road running, from Laycock to Silsden. The heat was on!

Excluding the addition of Runningbear, the team was impressive. My knees knocked at news of the team sheet with thoughts of fell running legends Andy Peace and Ian Holmes handing over the relay baton to little old me;  this is the stuff of running dreams... a true running career highlight it has to be said (am still hoping someone caught it on camera!). In fact I'm sure I spotted a few double takes as M and I sauntered up for registration. Being mistaken for a mixed team I enjoyed a wee ripple of smugness I have to admit. (I might have even swaggered a bit).

The hanging around at the hand-over was torture; visions of picking up a lead from Andy and Ian and throwing away the race to the chasing teams was pressure enough without even thinking about what competition faced us on the leg. No scarily fast types were spotted though and somehow we kept our cool. Soon we spotted Ian running in like a train and Andy on his shoulder. M and I were off, me with jelly legs at the occasion of it all.

I ran my heart out, trying to hang on to M who was truly motoring. Not knowing what lead we had and fearing we'd soon be caught by the chasing teams; it was mental torture. We flew across the early climbs and hammered down the descents, slowing only for an excited sheep dog who abandoned his owner and mistook us for his flock for a quarter mile. The heel snapping and path weaving caused me an ankle twist and a near race-fatal tumble but we eventually lost the excitable pup at a stile. We pressed on through the valley, crossing the Aire with ease. Luck was on our side at the road crossings and we were on the final miles of the leg with no other teams in sight.

M was a star and showed his fitness, managing all the gate openings and taking on bum pushing duties as I scrambled up the final climbs. He was a patient partner and got me through the rough bits until we hit the final 2 miles when I had a final Runningbear burst for the finish. We arrived at the hand-over with a fine lead. 12 minutes in fact, doubling our 6 minute lead from leg 2 and finishing as fastest pair overall for leg 3; also setting a new all-time leg record! It was flippin' brilliant stuff. 

No. 1 and no lie; it's in black & white!

Final results saw Bingley boys (and a girl) finish in first place by 24 minutes, including four fastest legs out of 5, two leg records, and an overall course relay record by 2 minutes. We had a storming race despite missing some of our fast boys. An unexpected but spectacular day out. We came home with trophies, prizes and great memories for me of being a boy for the day. Relay results here.

Millennium Way Relay 2010

Blogging en route, the Bingley boys M and Lewis are looking strong in second, just seconds behind Keighley. Eek! M is looking calm and controlled and Lewis the 17 year old has such great hair! The excitement is killing me... The P & B boys are chasing in 3rd at half way...

Later... The boys did good. In fact they did very good. After racing uphill and down dale against some of the best local bloke runners in the area they finally came in a close third, within a whisker of Keighley and in touching distance of fell supremo team P & B. After a hair raising leg 4 the fine Bingley pair handed over to our boys on leg 5, all within a minute or two of the leaders, P & B.

Andy B and Steve B ran a stormer despite recent injury woes to pull up over a minute, passing Keighley early on to come 2nd overall by a mere 40 seconds. It seems crazy that a 48 mile race could finish with such a close race in the end. So, feet up and footy on for M, until next weekend of course. I'm quite enjoying this team support business, though I'm not sure it's any less stressful. Oh, I also managed to squeeze in a steady 15 miles after all the drama. I got soaked and my legs were leaden. But I'm back and settled  in for the night with a belly full of dinner.

BMAF Relays

After a very easy couple of weeks trying to get the mojo back it was all too soon time to travel to Sutton Park for the BMAF Road Relays this weekend. A Friday night drive, a truly huge pub meal and a bad night's sleep in a B&B somewhere near Keele weren't enough to put M off a fine run, running down one age category for our V35s team. Determined to get a run but with no team mates to join him, M ran a great first leg finishing in a fine time of 16.40 on this almost 5k course. Even if there was no man to take the baton, what a hero!

The relay course is a toughie, 2 out of  3 miles being uphill to meet swirling winds before the final mile chasing team places and trying to keep the veteran legs turning over at a good pace. I ran leg 3 in the Bingley LV35s, defending the title we won last year. I set out taking over from leg 2 in 7th place and 2 mins behind the leaders but managed to chase down enough places to hand over just 2 seconds behind the leading lady. A bit too much pressure for our fourth and final runner who managed to bring us home to win bronze. I also got a hefty silver for second fastest ladies' leg of the day in a time of 16.57. A nice little sharpener and a relief to know there's still a bit of speed left in the old legs yet. Results here.

Relay Rampage

A much more civilised start to racing today with a fine sleep in and a pootle about until 11am, breakfasting on porridge and then a drive over to Shelf for the handover to leg 6. The Calderdale Way Relay is an annual club favourite taking in 50 miles around the Calder Valley over 6 paired legs. This seems to be a reasonably competitive event on the fell calendar though I'm a bit dubious of its true fell status given that my experience of racing leg 6 comprises of mostly tarmac and canal towpath (except for two very mucky fields). Shoe choice is always a bit of a dilemma. Anyway, Bingley had several teams in the mix, including me in the Ladies A and M in the Vets team. M's handover came quicker and off he sprinted with his pair Richard S. They made mincemeat of the immediate competition and went on to have a storming run coming in 3rd vets team overall.

The ladies A team ran good too giving us a nice lead to get off before the mass start on leg 6. We ran a pretty strong and steady final leg with no competition in sight and finished 1st ladies team. Results show we accumulated a 16 min lead overall. It was far too chilly to hang about for the free pie 'n' peas and team trophy but we all came away having had nice muddy runs and the hot bath at home felt extra special as a result. No more racing for ooh, at least 2 whole weeks. Results here.

Recce'd Legs

A supposedly easy jaunt was planned today to explore the route for December's annual team event, the Calderdale Way Relay. Both M & I are racing leg 6 in our respective team pairs and were joined by club mate Steve B for the recce run. I say easy, it was fairly easy paced today but my legs have pretty much had it with me this week. They weren't very happy with the freezing mud and climbs around the route and were achingly glad to get back to the warmth of our little car for some hot coffee and biscuit dunking. The route was approx 10.5 miles of pretty fast terrain with the odd bit of climb through woodland trails and farmland.

My fatigue and general physical flatness was offset this morning by going to watch the Abbey Dash 10k. It was an awe inspiring sight to see so many runners in such a dizzying flow. As well as lots of club mates and loads of local running acquaintances (including Phil from Horsforth - sorry I missed shouting you on Phil!) I was keeping a special lookout for some work pals, one of whom was attempting her first ever 10k. Wendy had never run until January this year and I think secretly thought I was mad-as-a-box-of-frogs bonkers for being so keen on the sport. She never imagined she could run for 10 minutes never mind 10k and certainly never thought she'd find herself racing. Today she achieved her first 10k in a very respectable time with no stops or walking interludes and I reckon she is now completely hooked. I can't wait to see her at work tomorrow and hear the post race account. There were loads of other great performances and superb PBs today from work colleagues and club mates on this very fast course. Too many to mention except for perhaps a special note on Josie H who has been chasing a 10k time and thoroughly deserved her storming PB today (well done girl!). See full results here.

Hard Core

I impressed even myself with my roughtie toughtie training earlier today. After some gruelling miles through the week I was keen to get a tough tempo session in. Original plans had been to run the National Road Relays at Sutton Park for the club but the ladies team didn't get it together in the end. So I waved off M this morning on his own journey in the boys' bus for the men's 6-stage at Sutton Park. He was a bit trembly running his first National fixture in a Bingley team, especially rubbing shoulders with the likes of John (and Sam) Convery and Stu MacDonald. Really awesome runners.

For me it was a packed day, including visits to see mums and supermarkets and the like. So, I got straight out, running from home, looping via Nesfield on the back road to Denton. After a couple of miles warm up I ran my first 5k tempo effort and felt pretty smooth despite my tired legs. The miles splits were nicely under 6 minutes each but the trick was keeping enough in reserve for the second set. Passing Denton I clocked the first 5k and ran a recovery mile out towards Askwith returning to complete a second 5k finishing at golf course corner. The second rep was a bit tougher, as I battled a bit of a headwind and the traffic being less forgiving. Again the reps were near the 6 minute mark if a bit slower but still a healthy pace.

Am chuffed to bits as was making mental allowances for the long run still in my legs from Thursday - a good effort today. A jog home to warm down brought me back to a cosy house, hungry kids and a bubble bath before setting out again for some mum time. M returned home safe early evening. Though initially a bit disappointed with his run, he eventually accepted that tough training through the week does not = fresh legs for racing. The Bingley boys still did pretty good by the sounds on a challenging and longer than 5k course, mixing it with a world class field. Results here.

The Northerns

Well, I'm feeling a bit hung-over after a session with Maggie the mauler last night. My legs needed a real good sports massage after a return to lots of tarmac and autumn training. Breakfast this morning was a bit of a chore, I struggle with my stomach on race days and always get a nervy, butterflies in my tummy feeling, even at the lower key, training races.

I'm still waiting for my England race info for next weekend and am checking my email like an obsessive compulsive person but time zones etc. all make things happen at strange times and its only just become the weekend technically. Relay racing will distract me nicely, starting with a short and painfully sharp 5k with Bingley Ladies today for the Northern Road Relays. I think we've now got a team sorted, but which leg to do? Decisions, decisions. Report to follow...

Home safe and sound and nicely refuelled having survived another frightening fast race without injury. A lovely day was had in blazing sun at the Carnegie track for the ladies 4 stage relays. As always the field was high quality with many of the track babes out in skimpy pants showing off their abs of steel. I wore my lunarettes with slightly awkward pride and felt like Zebedee, bouncing around the two lap course, taking in all sorts of terrain, including laps of the track and adventures through woodland trails. Bingley ladies ran hard and weren't far off a medal in the end but we weren't quite fast enough, finishing 5th overall with gutsy runs all round. We were chuffed to be out as a team though and I was reminded again how good it is to run for a great club sporting the magic Bingley colours. Well done to our boys who also ran their socks off. An easy long run tomorrow once M has his turn at the hard stuff. It should be a good 'un.