Midland Road Relays

[Travs]

Ran the opening leg today, 3.1 miles I believe. After the usual fast start through the twists and turns downhill, tried to settle into a rhythm. I felt very stiff and sore from last weekend, so much so that I actually noticed that first long uphill section, I never usually notice that.

In fact I felt pretty awful through the whole opening section, and when I finally felt vaguely comfortable I looked at my watch and I'd already done 8 and a half minutes. And even after that, it wasn't until I hit the sharp turn (for those that know the Sutton course, where the long and short legs split), that I really found my legs and started to motor.

I did feel sorry for a guy from Centurion runners who was stalking me for well over a mile, and finally got right on my shoulder at the bottom of the final hill down by the pond, where I then powered off, and the 20 metre gap he'd taken 10 minutes to close, opened right back up within about 100 metres! But it was him that pushed me along.

Finally crossed the line in 19:13.... I had no idea really how long the course actually was, and was expecting 20 mins based on seeing previous results on the short leg. So I was happy with the time but felt that I could run at least 30 seconds faster if totally fresh, perhaps even up to a minute on a good day. But then again I was 2nd fastest out of both our teams (albeit a couple haven't quite reached peak fitness for their seasons, but you can only go out and do it on the day in question) so perhaps it wasn't too bad.

I think Salford took the win, and think Thames Valley may have been 3rd. Salford b team possibly top 10. I think we at Godiva finished 21st. The over 45's race looked interesting, 5 or 6 teams within about 20 seconds at the halfway stage although I don't know how it ended.

Hello GazB I saw you coming up the hill near the end of your leg. Saw a couple of notable Fell Running vests as well.... Bingley, Holmfirth Harriers, Cambuslang, Rotherham?