By Peter Weeks
While looking through the 2017 fixture list I noticed the Sussex Road Relay Championships, having competed in road relays in such places as Milton Keynes, Livingston and Cumbernauld I thought it was time to see what Sussex had to offer. Following a chat with Gareth we decided to see if there was enough interest to enter a team after a wee bit of cajoling 10 Striders had committed to give it a go, which meant there was a Senior Men’s team (6 runners) and a Male Vet 40 team (4).
Come the big day (1 April) there was a flurry of social media activity as sickness and injuries had beset the Senior Men’s team. I was relieved when Joel and Luke confirmed that they would both be able to run despite not being 100%, and Gareth volunteered to run a leg for both teams. Not sure that having this sort of event on 1 April is a good idea especially for the Team Manager (Richard H please note my additional job title).
What an impressive venue Christ’s Hospital school is and the playing fields were immaculate, with all the club tents neatly lined up and flags flying. Strolling across to the start area I spotted Rob, Debbie and Libby (Plant) erecting the Striders tent and flag with Scott and Joe studiously reading the instructions, obviously not wanting to tire themselves before the run. These events are always a great opportunity to get club members and families together and it was pleasing that before long our support team had grown to nine, with Magda (Chris’s wife) Terry Ward , Pat Weeks, and Clare, Charlotte, Rowan (Kevin’s family) joining our tent experts.
The course was 2 miles 93yds approx. (organiser measurements) starting in the school grounds before moving onto a quiet country lane for ¾ of a mile, then back into the school grounds. All that we had to do was get the “chipped batons” round without dropping them. A quick 2 minutes of instructions to the teams followed, which went along the lines of “incoming runner put the baton into the outgoing runner’s hand and let go. Outgoing runner hold the baton for the next 2miles 93yds”. Simple isn’t it – I don’t understand why some of the track runners make such a hash of these baton changes!
Needless to say that despite great runs on the first leg from Joel (Snr Men) and Gareth (O’40 men) we did not trouble the winners too much, but everyone enjoyed the experience of competing at this level.
The “Senior Men’s” team completed their 6 legs in 1:13:53 coming 19th out of 23 teams, and the Vets team completed their 4 legs in 56:32 and were 12th out of 13 teams. Hopefully next year we can increase the number of teams and include a ladies team or two – if so we will require a larger tent.
