National 6 + 4 Stage Relay - A Windy Day!

Julie running well on leg 3 (photo courtesy of Kenny Phillips)

The sun shone but the wind blew at Livingston this afternoon as an enthusiastic squad of Harriers assembled for the National Road Relay Championships. This is the first time the race has been held on a Sunday and also a later than normal start time but this did not affect the strength of the field, in fact, if anything the quality was higher, particularly in the veteran teams.

For the first time in many years we were able to field a full team of ladies with Mary Goldsmith getting the team off to a good start on the 3.15 mile leg finishing in 24:07 in 32nd position before departing with equal haste to Mothers' Day celebrations. Meanwhile Frances Maxwell was off on the long leg of 5.85 miles, battling against the wind for much of the course to record a time of 42:33, only 25 seconds slower than last year despite the wind and making up a rake of places to finish in 25th. Julie Beveridge was a first timer at this event but is gaining in race experience all the time and so handled the relatively solo effort on leg 3 in a fine time of 22:00 brining the team up to 23rd. Finally Joanne McEvoy had the double trouble of a slightly dodgy hamstring and wind of a different kind on the last leg but was thankfully back to full strength and was making up plenty of places in the first half before an upset tummy reduced her pace considerably. Despite this Joanne made up one place to bring the team home in 22nd in a time of 45:59. Well done to the ladies.

The men's vets team were under a bit of pressure to go for three in a row having won the bronze medal at this event the past two years. As Davy Watt had not recovered from a a month of illnesses, then once again Jim Holmes was introduced to the team unexpectedly last Wednesday and had a few sleepless nights absorbing the pressure! Jim took the first leg again which had returned to the traditional lap (bridge repairs required a different end to the lap last year) and probably had the best run of any of the Harriers, recording his fastest ever time on this route (20:09) bringing the club in 40th overall and we thought 6th vets team. Martin Duthie was on leg 2, the long leg and was disappointed at the end when he finished in 34:55, pulling the team up to 32nd. Martin confirmed that the strong winds in the first half seemed to be in your face no matter how many corners you turned. At this point we were completely unsure of our position in the vets competition as it was clear that once again the rule that all vets teams must be identified by a large and clear V on their number was only being loosely applied. So we thought we were maybe 5th or 6th at this point. Charlie MacDougall had his first try at the short leg and surely there would be no faster M60 in the field, recording our team's fastest short leg time of 18:59 and 31st position (again 5th or 6th vets team). Ian Hughes made his 6-stage debut with a last minute switch to a long leg and took off like a bat out of hell on the slight downhill, wind assisted start, coming home in 35:49 in 27th position. Eddie Reid was on the penultimate leg this year and feeling a bit under the weather. Still, Eddie recorded a solid 19:32 (25th position and 6th vets team). Finally, having missed the whole week training due to virus, I set off on the last leg struggling more than I have in any race for a long time. My breathing was never under control as I battled into the wind and inevitably when I turned out of the wind and downhill in the second half, a stich started to come on with about two miles to go. I managed to hold it off for a while but with 1.5 miles to go it paralysed my breathing and I struggled to the finish at reduced pace and with virtually no breath to the line in 34:16 in 24th position and 6th vets team, a minute or so slower than my last outing on this leg. Amazingly our total time was only 14 seconds slower than last year when we won the bronze, confirming the higher vets standard this year. Well done to the team for rising to the challenge!

Our men's second team was incomplete this year due to various illnesses but still ran enthusiastically. Colin Banks was on leg 1 recording 22:06. The experience of Gerry Mullen was called on for leg 2 which he despatched in 40:50. Andy Henderson is only just back to running a bit harder following his broken ribs and so was pleased to record 20:56. Finally, Russell Couper had a stress free 4th leg (except that he was desperate to stay in front of our ladies team, which he did!). Russell finished in 48:55, some 3 minutes faster than last year so very well done to Russell and the rest of the team (There is no truth to the rumour that Russell spiked Joanne's sports drink with baked beans prior to the start to ensure his victory!).

Some photos to follow courtesy of Frances. Thanks to Mandy and Sandra for their support for the duration of this long afternoon! Just received, photos of all the Harriers in action from Kenny Phillips.
Alan