SATURDAY 2nd OCTOBER
NoEAA SIX STAGE ROAD RELAYS
[LEG 3] 3.4m
WYTHENSHAWE PARK

The idea wasn't to race until the journey up to Scotland for the Fell Relays. However, a Richard Taylor SOS SMS was sent out after the once rapid looking Blackburn Harriers 'A' team for the Northern Six Stage Road Relays had depleted within a matter of a few days and I replied that I'd be there barring any better offers he might get. It's such a pity with the wealth of talent in the club that this last minute multiple withdrawal thing seems to happen quite often and so wreck any chances of putting the club's name up where it should be at events like this. It's also a shame for Richard, or whoever is organising the team. Realistically I shouldn't even be getting in the 'B' team for an event like this with all the road and track running names at the club.
I wonder if one or two serial offenders put their own reputatation before the club's and decide not race unless they feel they will be in the sort of form that will look good enough on paper? My plea to them is this - don't say you will run in the first place if you really need to be in such outstanding form and for goodness sake don't jib with a day or two to go without damn good reason. I accept this point of view might seem easy coming from an average club runner like myself who is keen enough but doesn't quite eat, breath and drink the sport. However, when a club goes out of it's way to support individuals, as it does, then surely the individual should bite the bullet once in a while to give something back to the club?
And so, from my soapbox I humbly descend. Now sounding like the martyr which I do not wish to sound like one bit, I turned up at Wythenshawe without any speed training behind me and far from at my best, but so what? Being in the same team as Ben Fish who had recently finished 10th in the Great North Run was something of an honour in itself and never for one minute a chore.
After a stressful last minute faff to get his shoes on in time, young track starlet Chris Matthews got our team out of the blocks on the first of the 3.4 mile legs. Then it was the turn of the classy Mr Fish who blitzed the field on the second leg and made up a whopping 45 places before passing the proverbial baton to me... once again, absolutely no pressure whatsover then! I ran steady and kept up a decent enough pace to at least average sub-six minute miling and lose only seven of those positions that Ben had clawed back. Matt then won back five places before Scott Monk and John Chaplin's efforts secured a fairly respectable 25th spot overall.
Time: 19:16