A few of us had decided to spend our valentine’s day competing in the North East Road Relay Championships also known as Royal Signal Relays at Hetton Lyons Park.
The course was 2 laps of the country park totalling 2.2miles with two steady uphill climbs which
were harder than had been expected by all.
Despite the February chill, the uniform of the day seemed to be teeny tiny hot pants and all of the
Saltwell crew had obviously missed this memo with the outfit of choice being the all new Saltwell
hoodie.
The question everyone was asking was what pace do you run a 2.2mile race?!
After it was decided who was running which leg, the women lined up at 12 midday with Gemma and
Lois first to run. The 1st women shot off at a rapid pace and Gemma put in an amazing performance at 14.02 finishing 20th out of a field of 79 and Lois was not far behind at 17.34.
Second up was Ria K for the seniors and Nicola for the Vets finishing in 18.21 and 17.30 respectively and both were chasing Steve Cram’s prodige Laura Weightman! Claire and Susan ran the third leg for the ladies and put in great efforts of 18.25 and 17.28. Last up for the seniors was Ria C and Karen for the Vets finishing in 15.29 and 16.11.
The Vets finished in a total time of 65.11 placing 52/79 and the seniors placed in 67/79 with cracking
efforts from both teams.
Next up the men set off at 1.15pm with a 6 leg race.
Graham ran first for the seniors with a super-fast time of 12.52, Bill wasn’t far behind for the Vets in 14.21. Nat raced around the field in 12.46 and put in a mighty sprint finish and Matt followed at 14.25. The third leg was Jim in 13.14 and Phil R in 16.16 with his “Phyllis” top getting the biggest cheer! Speedy first timer Dave Scribbins was the fastest male in 12.48 and Chris followed in 15.20.
Dave Horsfall and Darren ran the fifth legs after a long stand in the cold and put in times of 14.02
and 15.25. Last but not least Kev zoomed around in 13.19 and Andrew finished in 15.06.
The vets finished in 90.53 placing 51/59 and the men’s seniors finished in 79.01 placing in a very
respectable 28/59.
Thank you to everyone who came and watched and stood in the freezing cold!
Ria Chaston
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