Twelve go to Buttock '97 FRA Relays

As like many race reports, this one started with a phone call from Manny: 'We need bodies for the FRA relays.' Never having run in a proper relay before, the idea seemed sound so ten days later I found myself in the Gormanmobile hurtling down the M74 in the company of Drew Turnbull and quasi-Westie John Donnelly. The car journey was highly entertaining, with Manny demonstrating what the serious athlete has for lunch (i.e. crisps and Irn Bru, most of which John consumed) and Drew remonstrating with great enthusiasm about the merits of coal fires on holiday.

Our overnight destination was 'somewhere' in deepest Lancashire to share a semi-detached hut with a group of Cosmic Hill Thrashers, led by the shy and retiring Ewan Rennie. Several hours later we found the chalet and our numbers were swelled by the arrival of Christine, Moira, Archie, Charlie, Brian, Noreen, and the Baxters. The first hour in the chalet became a think tank session as we came up with more combinations of six runners than there are of six numbers in the lottery. Finally, Mystic Manny decided on the teams and we piled out to the nearest hostelry. By the time we got there, those Cosmic Hill Whackers had purloined the best seats, but we soon had them shifted. It was quickly discovered that there was a highly entertaining beverage on draught called Black Sheep Ale. By the time it came to Drew's round, this peculiar nectar had taken its effect and the bar tender was puzzled by a request for three pints of Shag Pile Ale. I was beginning to enjoy this relay race lark, apart for the small matter of having to run.

Later, back at the chalet, Manny decided he wanted to spend a night under canvas rather than be kept awake by snoring, so instead he was kept up by the hippies in the next chalet who decided to go star gazing at 2am around his tent. However, he did get his revenge the following morning when we drove off at 8am, by shouting out of the window in his finest Kirkie vernacular, 'Wake up ya bastards!' I just thought 'Please God don't let the car stall!'.

Pendle Village, where the relay legs radiated from, had been transformed into something reassembling an Olympic village with athletes everywhere. The first checkpoint that every leg had to pass through went by the amusing name of Buttock (hence the peculiar race report title).

The event was organised over four legs as follows:

Leg 1 Short leg Single runner

Leg 2 Long leg Pair

Leg 3 Long leg Pair

Leg 4 Short leg Single runner

There were 75 teams in the open category, 25 in the veterans', and 15 female teams. Westies had A and B teams entered. Our B team was really a female team plus John Donnelly, but had to enter the open category as the organisers would not allow one of the girls to run two legs to make up the six runners required. For Westies, the race went something like this:

Leg One

Archie running for the men's team and Jenny Rae representing the ladies took part in the mass start of 115 runners, but it was Jenny who won round one of the 'battle of the Westies' with a clear lead over Archie.

Leg Two

This was a longer leg requiring two runner teams, and saw the men readdress the situation with Brian and Charlie overhauling Noreen and stand-in lady John D. This lead built up to ten minutes by the time they handed over to Westies A third pair, Drew and Pete. However, the third ladies pair brought together the running talents of Christine and Elspeth and so the battle of the Baxters began.

Leg Three

By the time the first third leg runners appeared, it was Chris and Elspeth who had not only pulled Pete and Drew in, but had pulled a sixty second lead over them.

Leg Four

The last leg runners, i.e., me for the A team and Moira for the Bs, were left to battle it out. It was about this time that the fine, clear weather was spoiled by a thick blanket of mist descending on Pendle hill. 'Sod it', I thought, 'Another fine view wasted.' By the time we got to Buttock, Moira and I were neck and neck, but fortunately for the boys, I managed to make my escape in the clagg (do they call it that in England?), to get back to the finish first.

Results

1st Pudsey and Bramley

Westies A 58th 4hrs 59mins 3sec

Westies B 62nd 5hrs 8mins 16sec

Well done the Westies B team who, if they had ran in the ladies category would have finished 6th, and to Chris and Elspeth for running the fourth fastest 3rd leg in the female category! Well done all!

Posted by unknown on Wed 30 Nov -0001 | comments are closed

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