NEMAA Relays, 3rd May 2023
It was a lovely, spring evening for this year’s old folks’ relays at Jarrow. Late arrivals and diary confusion meant that there were some last minute changes to running order and personnel, but Gill Milne and Laurie Johnson stepped up so that there were 2 full Claremont teams in each of the night’s races.
The ladies were first to go, and the teams were led off by Rachel Hurdman and Lucy Keating. This was Lucy’s first relay for the club, as it had been Rachel’s in this event last year. As ever the first leg gets off to a fast start with the speed merchants jostling for position, but both ladies were well placed as the runners completed the first lap. After the 2nd lap, Lucy had opened a bit of a gap before handing over to the (slightly) more experienced Julie Cross. Julie put in her usual reliable run before handing on to another inexperienced teammate in Lois Blaylock. Rachel passed the “baton” to the just as reliable Cath Robson, with the team completed by Gill Milne who made an enthusiastic last-minute substitute.
The men were led off by the speedy Mark Anderson who had an excellent run and myself (I failed in my mission of keeping Mark in sight for at least the first lap!). Mark handed over to Laurie Johnson who excelled himself on what must have been tired legs having ran the Belfast marathon on Sunday. It was good to see Howard MacLennan complete the “A” team in his first race following a long-term injury. I handed on to Allie Wilson Craw with Jose Gallego on the anchor leg. Due to Jose’s relative youth, Allie and I were competing in an age category somewhat at odds with our dates of birth! Still, Jose can always be relied upon for a sprint finish and he didn’t disappoint on this occasion.
As is customary, we replenished our sugar levels and refuelled with carrot cakes, crispy cakes and cereal bars for a very pleasant end to the evening and make all the running worthwhile.
| Ladies | ||
|---|---|---|
| Position | Runners | Times |
| 29 | Lucy Keating Julie Cross Lois Blaylock Team Time | 14:25 14:26 21:29 50:20 |
| 30 | Rachel Hurdman Cath Robson Gill Milne Team Time | 16:02 17:20 17:40 51:02 |
| Men | ||
|---|---|---|
| Position | Runners | Times |
| 49 | Mark Anderson Laurie Johnson Howard MacLennan Team Time | 11:17 12:08 14:55 38:20 |
| 62 | Tom Tinsley Allie Wilson Craw Jose Gallego Parilla Team Time | 12:13 14:42 14:26 41:21 |
Thanks to Rachel, Gill, Mark, Laurie and Jose for taking photos and to Howard and Jose for the videos.
