I was invited by Tim (Old Miler) to run with the Melb Midday Milers in the NAR Relay which starts at Romsey, moves to Lancefield, then past & then back to Lancefield, finishing with a BBQ in Romsey. The day is about fun and participation, four person teams who all must run 4 legs each.
Left to Right: Gary (my uncle), GG (in the red), me (navy blue) & Jim (white), there are others behind but they were not in the first leg. Max is yet to make the line!
My first leg of the relay which was after the first time trial (2 runners per team). 3.6km gravel road, start uphill with some undulations to sort the field out, this leg was with all of the No. 4 runners, so this would let the team Captains see where there weakest runner was compared to the other 4 teams. Max moved away straight away and myself & GG sat together for the first 2k's with him moving away from me on the third rise, I handed over to Banger (our No. 3) in third position, a good distance in front of Gary (my uncle, who I have only beaten once before, but currently I am fitter). This leg took a bit out of me, whilst I probably didn't go 100%, the hills and not a great warm up made this seem a little harder than it probably was, overall not too bad.
Back in the car as a team, giving some encouragement and some friendly sledging to opposition teams, we moved to the next change over. My next leg was probably to be my easiest, 3.25km mainly on gravel, very flat for the first 2k + with a slight rise to finish, again this was a battle with all of the No. 4 runners which was slightly different, I actually moved into the lead and lead for the first km or so which was a strange feeling, eventually GG moved alongside me and I tried to remain next to him for as long as possible, but eventually I couldn't hang on and then Max passed me and made me feel quite slow. Eventually Max moved past GG, at the finish our team were third, but this time closer than after my first leg, handing over to Banger again to finish off the last leg prior to the lunch break.
We all stopped in Lancefield for lunch, 30-40 minutes, myself & Banger were up for the 2nd 3km time trial. Ten runners on the line, I knew I would probably finish 8th, I needed as much of a break on 9th and to be as close as possible to 7th. I tried for a cautious start as I knew the run had a slight constant rise after the first km, happily I thought I started to catch 6 & 7th in the final 500m and crossed the line in 12:01 (or 4), which 12 months ago I couldn't do in a track race, let alone for my third race for the day.
My final leg was after all of the very hard legs, it was to be the final leg back into Lancefield 3.7km with the first 2k's downhill. This time I started last, approx 2= minutes behind the leaders and about 5 sec after Andrew (in 4th position). I followed Andrew by 10m or so for the first km and then I moved up and was on his shoulder or alongside until 1400m to go, but then I couldn't move when he picked up the pace and I continued to fight because I knew every second could mean something.
A great day, finished with a BBQ, met a lot of good people who were all happy to mingle with people they didn't know and made them feel very welcomed, a true reflection of distance runners, different abilities but all with the same passion for running.
I finished the day off with a 2 bag ice bath at home, submerged up to my waist, it might be good for you, but it sure is an eye opener....
My Individual Results:
1st leg, 3.60km - 3rd 14:43
2nd leg, 3.25km - 3rd 12:47
3rd leg, 3km time trial - 8th 12:01
4th leg, 3.70km - 4th 13:18
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