Round Arran Road Relay – Brodick – 24 July 2010

Relay good HAAC Team

Saturday 24 July saw a blend of Helensburgh AAC stalwarts and newcomers converging on the Isle of Arran for The Round Arran Road Relay Race. Fielding a Mixed Team of 3 male and 3 female runners, 5 of which had just returned directly from holiday where training had admittedly “gone by the wayside”, this was always going to be an uphill challenge in more ways than one. On the day 9 teams had entered the Mixed Race, with 23 teams in total at the start line at each stage; 9 men and 5 woman teams included. Having sailed and flown within 24 hours of the start from far flung destinations such as Borneo, France and even Tobermory, all runners lined up at Ormidale Sports Pavilion in Brodick to be conveyed via chartered buses to their respective changeovers on the 57.5 mile course around the circumference of the island.

The event organisers, conscious of the overall distance and safety issues of this long staged relay, designed the event such that all 6 stages are run simultaneously (as much as is possible given the practicalities of transporting 138 runners to each of the 6 starts). So each stage is run as a separate race and all 3 categories (Mixed, Male and Female) results are calculated by the organisers (Irvine AC) at the end of the race. Simples!

With the benefit of hindsight, this is how the Mixed race unfolded: Running the 11.5 mile first leg from Blackwaterfoot to Pirnmill, Michelle Hetherington finished 6thoverall and 1st vet woman proving she is truly back to her best. Michelle’s time of 1:13:58hrs was 21seconds ahead of Deborah Gray of Bellahouston the 2nd vet lady finisher. Michelle finished just 4mins behind Kelvin Runners Robert McFarlane, handing over the Mixed Team baton in 2nd place to HAAC’s Paul Thompson. In a race he himself described as “a procession from the start”, Paul finished an excellent 3rd overall in his 10.5 mile leg from Pirnmill to Bogullie in 1:06:08hrs, just 4mins behind Alex Hendry from Central AC, overall winning all Men’s Team. With his usual tremendous effort Paul managed to move the HAAC Mixed Team up to first place by finishing 12mins ahead of Kelvin Runner’s Joe Lennon. Showing the grit and determination of her recent 2nd W55 placing at the Edinburgh Marathon, Jan Fellowes 11.5 mile 3rd leg from Bogullie back to Brodick maintained Helensburgh in the pole position but with the lead reduced to 3 mins over Linlithgow who had moved up from 4th place to 2nd.

At this point it was noted (again after the event) that 2 of the Mixed Teams had only one female runner. So Helensburgh were at a distinct disadvantage having held onto 1st  place with 2 female runners already having run and newcomer Erica Cromar facing male runners from both Linlithgow and Arran on this first 7.5 mile South leg from Blackwaterfoot to Lagg Inn (the author is hoping the reader is still following the complex virtual unfolding of events). Erica finished in 56:23 mins, first of the ladies in the Mixed race and 3rd lady overall, but the Mixed Team dropped to 3rd place as the 2 male runners from the other teams forged ahead on the 7.5 mile undulating course, opening up a gap of 2 minutes on Helensburgh’s Sonia O`Sullivan look-alike Erica.

Andrew Stafford’s 1:31:05hrs for the 8.5 mile leg from Lagg Inn to Whiting Bay was enough to hold onto 4th position as Teo Van Well of Linlithgow stormed through for Linlithgow with their 3 man/3 woman team to justifiably knock Helensburgh into 4th place in this now highly evident mixture of mixed team races. The final 8.5 mile leg from Whiting Bay to Brodick, which comprised two tough uphill sections was tackled by Campbell Cromar, running in his first outing in a Helensburgh vest (thankfully an XXL donated by Kevin Johnstone who pulled out due to injury) Campbell managed to claw back 7 mins on Kelvin Runners Anne Marie Cullen, with a time of 55:53mins but it was to no avail as Helensburgh settled for that loneliest of positions, fourth with no silverware to bring home.

Once again the event was fantastically well organised and the fine weather contributed to a thoroughly enjoyable weekend in a majestically scenic part of the country. All agreed to go back to “The Fellowes Ranch” and persuade the other members to work hard to turn out full teams in both the men and women’s events next year.