Short Report & Results
Fantastic to get two teams of 10 out. Winning was the ‘icing on the cake’. A big thanks to all the ladies who ran, would have run had they been fit/available, or stayed on call right up to the last minute, and everyone who supported on the day.
There were 10 ladies teams out with strong teams from Keighley & Craven, Wharfedale and Horsforth for this local long distance (48ms) point to point, off-road relay, run over 5 legs (8-11ms) in pairs. It was a bright warm day but often wet & slippery underfoot after a week of regular rain. K&C led out on Legs 1 & 2 and by the start of Leg 3 had a 12 minute lead, but misfortune struck and one of their L3 runners collapsed with suspected heat exhaustion. Our Leg 4 and 5 runners took almost 12 minutes out of K&C so who knows what the result may have been. I knew we had a strong team and stood a good chance, and our winning time of 7.14 for almost 50 wet underfoot off road miles stands well against the ladies record of 7.04.
I was also happy to be in the difficult position of struggling to decide who to put in the A team with a number of strong runners all of whom could have been part of a winning team. And it was great to welcome new (to off road relays) ladies Sarah Flaherty and Polly Green – they both enjoyed the experience and will come back for more ;-). Becky Weight – Team Manager
| Leg | Ms | Bingley Angels – Team 95 | Run time | Bingley Belles – Team 96 | Run time | ||
| From | to | ||||||
| 1 | 10.4 | Lesley | Watson | Polly | Green | ||
| Bingley | Penistone Hill, Haworth | Jo | Buckley | 1.40.12 | Ali | Dewhurst | 1.50.00 |
| 2 | 9.4 | Mary | Green | Sophie | Findlay | ||
| Penistone Hill | Laycock | Sarah | Dewhirst | 1.25.28 | Eleanor | Brown | 1.48.00 |
| 3 | 8.0 | Sarah | Flaherty | Denise | Wright | ||
| Laycock | Silsden | Becky | Weight | 1.11.13 | Becky | Holmes | 1.25.22 |
| 4 | 8.7 | Julie | Thornton | Sue | Fulton | ||
| Silsden | Ilkley | MariSol | Carrera | 1.27.57 | Meryl | Levington | 1.41.49 |
| 5 | 11.6 | Ruth | Whitehead | Faye | Firth | ||
| Ilkley | Bingley | Shona | Stone | 1.29.43 | Sally | Robinson | 2.05.34 |
| 7.14.33 | 8.50.45 | ||||||
Full results on http://saltairestriders.org.uk/site/bradford-millennium-way-relay/
Bingley Ladies at the Bradford Millennium Way Relay – Sun 26 Jun 2016 – The Real Story
With only minor re-shuffles and the help of 3 reserves the Angels & Belles were ready and fit to run with Sue Hall waiting in reserve for the call that didn’t come, and Barbara Carney out & about with camera and support. On Saturday evening I didn’t even have to take the phone off the hook as the torrential Eldwick Gala Race thunderstorms left us with a 5 hour power cut – phone not working, no mobile – peace! But I needn’t have worried – our 20 runners were good to go on Sunday morning.
Leg 1 Bingley to Penistone Hill 10.4m Jo Buckley & Lesley Watson were hovering around the front of the 44 teams at the start on Beckfoot Lane. Jo had suggested a quick start to avoid any queuing at the stiles at the footbridge and ford. Lesley took this to heart and found herself pacing Christian Holmes and Lee Athersmith with Jo nowhere in sight. ‘Not that fast’ said Jo when they teamed up again. But they did get a clear start ;-).
Ali Dewhurst & Polly Green took as alternative approach starting at the back. It was Polly’s first race for many years and first off-road relay so there was a healthy mix of nerves and excitement. They soon found they were steadily working their way forward. Ali, with plenty of marathon training in her legs was stronger over the first half with all the climbing up to the reservoir above Denholme and helped Polly along. Then Polly’s strong descending came in as she led the way down to Oxenhope. They even passed two teams by shimmying around the wall-end at the watercourse rather than waiting to go over the big ladder stile. Polly & Ali were pleased to come in just 10 minutes behind Jo & Lesley
Leg 2 Penistone Hill to Laycock 9.4m Mary Green and Sarah Dewhirst took over on Leg 2. Mary used her experience and confidence to lead out for much of the route until the final ‘sting in the tail’ road climb from Gooseye to Laycock. Sarah’s young legs sensed the finish was near, and hill or no, they were going for it, bouncing in at the end looking fresh and strong.
Sophie Findlay and Eleanor Brown were one of our late change pairs. Both relatively new to these relays but had done good recces and were comfortable with a long challenging leg. In fact it was Sophie’s longest run to date. Both she & Eleanor enjoyed the variety of Leg 2 from fields, woods, valleys and villages to high, wide-open moor tops and reservoirs.
Leg 3 Laycock to Silsden 8ms Myself (Becky Weight) and Sarah Flaherty took over. We had just managed to squeeze a recce in so Sarah, who I knew was faster than me, led away with me keeping up as best I could on the climbs and road. This was Sarah’s first off-road relay and having been largely a road runner to date was a little more hesitant on the off-road down-hills. I had a low section with leaden legs, across the uneven long grass fields to the bypass between Steeton & Silsden. On the twisting turning route to the top of Silsden Sarah discovered that sometimes one recce is not enough as I shouted her back a few times. At least it gave me chance to catch up briefly! Rolling down to the finish Sarah noted how much she had enjoyed running as a pair and in a team.
Denise Wright and Becky Holmes were on Leg 3 too. Becky had asked for ‘not hilly’. I can’t remember what I said at the time – something along the lines of ‘I’ll do my best’ knowing full well that the M Way doesn’t really have ‘not hilly’. Leg 3 is as good as it gets starting high and finishing lower but not without hills. Becky had been super busy (and stressed) with an Ofsted inspection (Outstanding I believe!) in the run up to the race but was a little more relaxed now. Even so Becky finds it hard to eat before a race with the race nerves kicking in. She managed half a banana and carried a bottle of water. Denise’s ‘ultra’ legs and recce anchored the leg. By the end of the leg Becky was suffering – lots of sloshy cold water on a nervy empty stomach (and maybe a little wine the night before?) was all too much. Jelly Babies provided the immediate sugar fix to calm the shakes and a ‘tuna-melt’ at the Laycock Village Hall cafe was just the post-race recovery needed. Sarah & I indulged in tea and cake surrounded by white linen table cloths and small vases of fresh garden flowers.
Who’s who? Top – Lesley Watson, Polly Green, Ali Dewhurst, Lesley, half of Jo Buckley, Sarah Dewhirst. Middle – Jo, Lesley (x2), Becky Holmes, Denise Wright. Bottom – Sarah D, Lesley, Mary Green, Becky Weight, Sarah Flaherty, Ali & Polly. Photos courtesy of Becky Weight, Barbara Carney and Dave ‘Woodentops’ Woodhead. Click on picture to see bigger version.
Leg 4 Silsden to Ilkley 8.7ms Julie Thornton and Maria del Sol Carerra Vivar found they were a good match. Julie a little stronger on the ups and Marisol faster on the downs. Julie managed to find a knee deep bog not long after the start which she was still sporting later in the day (just trying to match Marisol’s tan!). And there was a close call when they took a wrong turn at a farm. Fortunately some gentlemen behind them called them back before they lost too much time. Despite being at race pace Marisol still managed a good deal of chat on the way round.
Sue Fulton and Meryl Levington headed off on Leg 4 with the pack. The cut-off times for the later legs are tight and by legs 4 & 5 a good proportion of the field are on ‘cut-off’. Meryl was down from Durham for the weekend helping Ruth with wedding preparation but hadn’t managed a recce and memories had faded since her last Yorkshire grit running. Hopping gingerly along the boulder path along the edge of Ilkley Moor she wished she had had a little more practice.
Leg 5 Ilkley to Silsden 11.6ms Ruth Whitehead & Shona Stone were the only ladies to set off in front of the cut off. Ruth used her long experience to get the best out of Shona pulling along at a strong pace. Nevertheless Wharfedale ladies, who went on the cut off shortly after caught them on the climb to the top of the moor above Burley. Shona was worried but Ruth stayed calm knowing they could both pick the pace up on the long descent to Bingley. Sure enough by Hirst Wood near the canal they caught the Wharfedale girls. Then it was a case of holding it. Watching them come in at the end Ruth & Shona were both pushing hard right to the last, and rightly so with Wharfedale on their tails 10-20 seconds later. Ruth & Shona’s hard work paid off. They were fastest on leg 5 and made sure our winning position stayed safely in the bag. Looking at the records Bingley Harriers ladies make up a good portion of the fastest times with Ruth a regular contributor.
Faye Firth & Sally Robinson had chatted about starting at the back of the cut off pack for the last leg. Having just watched Ruth & Shona set off they relaxed to suddenly find they had been set off and were at the front. Faye knew the narrow paths in front of them bunched up so pushed on at a good pace. Not sure what Sally thought of the fast start but it soon became clear that her coaching was definitely kicking in as she ran up the hills. Sally’s write up about finding her running again makes great reading; find it in the 2016 News : https://www.bingleyharriers.co.uk/blog/2016/06/15/distance-crisis-the-lakeland-trail-series-2016-and-finding-your-running-mo-jo-again/
Who’s who? Top – Sophie Findlay, Eleanor Brown, Ali Dewhirst, Polly Green, Julie Thornton, Lesley Watson, Mary Green, Shona Stone, Becky Weight. Middle – Shona & Ruth, Ali & Polly, Sarah Flaherty and Becky Holmes. Bottom – Shona & Ruth, Marisol del Carrera Vivar & Julie Thornton, Sally Robinson & Faye Firth. Photos courtesy of Becky Weight, Barbara Carney and Dave ‘Woodentops’ Woodhead. Click on picture to see bigger version.