Ian Hodgson Relay 2006

Westies managed to be first Scottish male and female team at Patterdale. Manny seemed to be in not too bad a condition from the night before’s trip to the pub as he set off with David on the long first stage. Mind you it didn’t stop them taking the wrong route and losing several places before handing over to Steffen and Dave on the short second stage. They had both learned their lesson from two years ago (when they got lost twice; once on the road!) No mistakes this time as they beat their previous time by over 4 minutes, gaining several places on the way. Chris and Don took over on stage 3, Chris managing to find plenty of time on the ascent to take photographs of Don in various stages of distress. Trevor and Murdo completed the race, both looking (too?) comfortable as they sprinted in towards the finish line in 28th place overall.

Muffy and Jane took on the first stage for the women on the basis that , since their navigational skills were dodgy, it would be best to be in a stage surrounded by plenty of others. Unlike the guys, the women’s navigation was spot on. Helen and Gillian took over on stage 2 sustained by a 5kilo bag of Percy Pigs. Chris just managed to get to the start of stage 3 after using the Public Address system to plead for someone to break into her car, in which she had locked her keys. Clearly the adrenaline burst was good for her, as the pair made short work of the 3rd stage.Val H and Shona looked good as they even picked up a few places on the last stage.

All in all, a good turnout for an excellent event. We even ended up with an unneeded substitute in JD!