Calderdale Way Relay Sun 8th May 2011

This was the rescheduled event from December 2010. For those not in the know, the Calderdale Way is a 50 mile footpath circuit across the hills and valleys surrounding Halifax. For the purposes of this event the circuit is divided in 6 sections of varying lengths from 5m to 11m. Clubs enter teams on the basis of all men, all women, mixed and veterans, 2 runners (who have to stick together) on each section. So 12 runners per team. With each leg starting and finishing in a different place, it can be a logistical nightmare making sure everyone is where they should be.

Salford had a pretty solid mens 'A' team and a mixed 'B' team. The 'A' team remained mainly unchanged from initial planning, the 'B' team however metamorphosed, which meant I originally started out running on leg 3, had a brief flirtation with leg 2 and eventually landed up on leg 5 with a 39 min 10k-er!!!

My comment to my original partner on leg 3 was, 'it's alright for you, but it's going to be a bit eyeballs out for me!'. However my leg 5 partner (a Mexican called Tania) has only completed in one previous off-road event such as this and didn't really take to the downhill bits, which meant that I got a bit of a rest at the bottom. The rest was definitely 'eye balls out' and we completed the 7.5m in 1hr 15mins. Being the true fellrunner that I am, I managed to find the only mud on what was a very hard, dry route, and have a roll round in it. Backside well and truely covered to the extent I nearly didn't get a lift back to my car!

Despite having a strong 'A' team the lads were beaten into 2nd place by Calder Valley's Mens Team. The first time that they've won the event, so well done to Calder Valley. No results out yet to know where the 'B' team finished, we were involved in the mass starts on leg 5 & 6, so difficult to assess on the day.

TF