Warrington Relays Report

In  a previous blog I have waxed lyrical about the relays.  They really are a superb day out and a great opportunity for ordinary club runners to run alongside internationals and an opportunity to see many great runners who you often hear about in the athletics press or see at the start of races disappearing into the distance.

This was officially my first relay as a Vet 40 so I am going to start with some stats!

My time of 19.53 was probably as quick as I have run all year and would probably get close to my 5km season best had the course been 5km.  That said I did run pretty quick from the start and had to hold on at the end.   A first mile of 5-10 probably wasn't a text book way of running a relay but it felt (relatively) by the latter stages of the second leg I wished I had run a bit more conservatively at the beginning but its all part of the fun!  That said I did finish with a sprint and managed to outkick a few runners over the last 300m which is a bit unusual for me...

Over the six stages there were only 13 veterans quicker than me including the evergreen Ian Hudspith of Morpeth who posted a fine 17.21 on the last leg to send Morpeth home as runners up to Leeds City.  So 14th Vet overall in the six stage is a fine result that will make training this week (once the stiffness in my legs has gone!) seem that little bit more special! Overall in the event I posted the 158th fastest time of the day out of a field of 595 finishers. 

Team wise we had full teams in the Mens 6 stage and the Womens 4 stage.    Here are the full results...

http://www.noeaa-athletics.org.uk/FileUploads/northern_athletics_sen_men_6_relay2011_results.PDF

http://www.noeaa-athletics.org.uk/FileUploads/northern_athletics_sen_women_6_relay2011_results.PDF

North York Moors Ladies finished 34th out of 48 complete teams.  
North York Moors Men finished 60th out of 93 complete teams.

A huge well done to New Marske Harriers who finished a very creditable 8th overall.   A fine individual performance from Andy Wiles with a 17.42 (10th fastest of the day) on the second leg backed up with some solid performances from Shaw, Best, Piggford and Jackson.  

I usually scour the relay results by team and see where I might have featured in the Top 10 teams.  ThisYear I would have been 6th Counter in the Altrincham Team who finished 7th, 4th counter in the New Marske Harriers Team who finished 8th or 6th Counter in the Liverpool Harriers B team who finished 9th.

It was also good to see a few old faces at the relays from my days in the North West of England and have a good catch up.

On the coaching front two of my athletes competed on the day with good solid performances from Jayne Parkin on the first leg with a 20.19 for the 2.98 (ish!)  mile leg and Lucy Clough with a 20.04 to help the team to a creditable 34th position.   Judging by the banter between the two of them it could get quite competitive between them in training over the next few weeks as they build up to target races over the Autumn/Winter period.

Enjoyed watching the Berlin Marathon today despite the camera problems meaning we got lots of shots of cycle outriders, BMWs and Tourism shots of Berlin oh and the occasional glimpse of Haile, Paula and big groups of pacemakers.   The world marathon record took a step closer to being under 2 hours with  Patrick Makau smashing the world record with a fine 2-03.38.  Its the first time I have ever seen a marathon winner go back through the finish and hand slap the majority of the crowd on the finishing straight...awesome!  Also some great British perfomances with Paula Radcliffe back on form with a great 2.23-46 third place but also a great run by Scott Overall who finished 5th in 2.10-55 to get the qualifying time for London 2012.

Where next for Haile after dropping out with stomach problems?  I wonder if the "The greatest distance runner ever" might have had his day - who knows what drama will follow in the build up to 2012!