Well, here goes with my first ever race report and what a great one to start with – the British Masters Road Relay Championships at Sutton Coldfield!
The lasses decided to leave set off for Birmingham somewhat earlier in the morning this year in order to avoid the very near miss of last year’s race, when our sheer lack of preparation into the time it takes to cover more than 185 miles in a minibus fitted with a 60mph restrictor made for a very close shave indeed. The drama didn’t end on the A38 however, as the road we took into the park was closed leaving us with no alternative other than to abandon the minibus and make a mad dash across the park, Steve McMahon kindly leading the way with myself, Judith Thirlwell, Nicola Woodward and Vikki Cotton lolloping along behind in a state of sheer panic (though strangely still smiling and reassuring each other that everything was going to be just fine).
We arrived at the start line, somewhat knackered, with just seconds to spare, giving us just enough time to pin Nicola’s number on her vest before the gun quite rudely sounded and set us on our way! Not the best pre-race preparation for a National Championship but nonetheless we came away with a very decent 18th Place.
This year we left nothing to chance, and Maddison’s taxi departed Silksy at 6am sharp with Wor Eddie at the wheel and my fellow passengers, team mates Judith & Nicola there to keep him company. A very pleasant journey it was too with not a snippet of silence the whole way there, which made the time whizz by...it’s good to talk...something I excel at!
How lovely it was to arrive with enough time pre-race for all 4 of us to do a warm up together, and time to try and compose ourselves. I would like to be able to say I arrived without any panic but that would be a lie...my nerves, as per normal, were ridiculous; the adrenaline was pumping and my Costa Mocha hadn’t quite hit the spot! I constantly question why I put myself forward for these races and always doubt my ability when I compare myself to fellow team mates, but for some reason I really thrive on taking myself out of my comfort zone. Nerves kick in days before any race and non-running friends, family and work colleagues often wonder why I put myself though such a mental ordeal. My answer is always the same...the euphoric feeling post-race far outweighs the self-torture beforehand. They say nerves are good and I feel if I ever lost them then I wouldn’t care anymore...a day I never hope to see. So bring on the nerves and let the race commence!!
The Women’s and M75’s races were first out of the blocks at 10:30am with Nicola Woodward blazing the trail and running a stormer of a leg with an amazing 19:36 for the three mile lap, putting us in 15th position. I was next up, unfortunately slipping 2 places, with a time of 21:35 (a PB for this course though!), handing over to Vicky Younger who went into battle mode on the 3rd leg and regained 3 places taking us to 14th position with her time of 21:10. On the anchor Judith Thirlwell gave yet another sterling performance, running a super leg of 20:23 and kept us in our ‘not to be sniffed at’ 14th position. I’m going to put my neck on the line here and say top 10 for us lasses next year...we are on the up!!
Next up were our superb M55 team who saw the welcome return to the fray of Paul Collins and Steve Coxon who joined the Legend himself Paul Merrison to make up this top trio. Collins was first away and clocked a fine 17.50, putting the team in 5th position. ‘The Legend’ Merrison then ran an outstanding race, moving the team into 2nd position on leg 2 with his time of 17.36, just outside the top ten fastest on the day, and Steve Coxon recorded a strong 19.05 on leg 3 to bring the team home in an almighty 5th place, less than two minutes behind the winners, South London Harriers. The screams of encouragement from the sidelines from us fellow harriers could be heard for miles!!
Last team to compete on the day, but most definitely not least, was our fabulous M45 quartet, with Micky Thompson kicking the race off and getting the team awayto a great start coming home in 7th position with a magnificent 16:07. Deano Phillips was next up and put on a great fight on Leg 2, coming back in 19:34 with the team in 26th, followed up by George Harden battling hard and stopping the clock at 19:23, losing only 5 places in the process, to hand over in 31st place. Bringing the squad home, and continuing his current rich vein of form was Al Knebel, who climbed 4 places in clocking 17:49, bringing the M45 team home in a highly respectable 27th Position.
On the day, Sunderland Harriers were there, other clubs were not; we completed our teams, others did not. Overall it was a fantastic effort by everyone and a great experience was had by all.
In my view relay racing brings a whole new dynamic for runners. You are running in a team event and you would never want to let your fellow team mates down so you always give 110%. I personally don’t feel any different in relays because as soon as I pull on my royal blue harriers vest I am running as part of a team, whether it be a relay, a 10 mile road race, a half marathon or cross country. I always feel that self-inflicted pressure to perform and never want to let my team down, therefore I try to always run to the absolute best of my ability, always hoping for a good day at the office!