Harriers Do Relay Well

THE PENNINE BRIDLEWAY Relay Race was blessed with perfect weather last Sunday, making ideal running conditions for all competitors.

For the time in its history, Rochdale Harriers entered three 10-athlete teams for this 47 mile, off-road race.   The course started in Waterfoot and travelled in a clockwise direction over the moors near Burnley, Hebden Bridge, Todmorden and Rochdale, crossing at least 13 Fell Race routes along the way.  Phil Roberts and Colin Robinson tracked the teams throughout the day.

The big question before the race was whether the Male Veterans or Mixed Team would finish first.  In the event, the vets team was spared its blushes due to two injuries in the Mixed Team.  Julie Sandilands saved the Mixed Team by standing in on a 10 mile leg at almost no notice for injured Huma Rahman.

The star performance in the male veteran’s team was by Brian Moore and Paul Leary who completed the final 9.75 mile/1500 ft ascent leg in a club record time of 1 hour 14 min 36 sec.  Two other club records were also set on Leg 2 by Ian Stainthorpe and Chris Armour and on Leg 4 by Clive Conway and Mark Hayes.   These performances propelled Rochdale Veterans to  7^th place in its category, ahead of Todmorden and behind Rossendale.

Next was the injury-hit Mixed Team of 5 ladies and 5 men.  They stormed home to take 5^th place in their category, just ahead of the Rossendale Mixed team and a stunning 15 places in front of Todmorden.  Youngsters Ian Roberts and Matt Proctor (pictured) completed their hilly 8.5 mile/1400 ft leg in 61 min 16 sec to finish 8^th, setting yet another club record.  Their strategy was to start at a steady pace then accelerate, picking off the competition along the way.  It worked perfectly. Josefa Terim and John Mayall could hardly believe they finished leg 4 over 3.5 minutes faster than their seeded time and well ahead of the club’s best times from all previous years.

Rochdale’s fastest female runners were lent to the Mixed Team for the day, but even so the Ladies Team put on a tremendous show of strength.  One year ago some of the ladies were jogger/walkers, and now with coaching from Brenda Robinson they are tackling tough, off-road relay races. The highest rankings on the day were from Kay Hill and Tracey Smith on Leg 3.  The performances of Vicky Whitehead and Helen Wyton were singled out as being particulary impressive, finishing leg 4 well ahead of their expected times.

The times for the teams in Leg order were as follows:

Rochdale Mixed Team: Ian Roberts, Matt Proctor (8^th, 01:01:16, club record);  Kris Robinson, Carly Needham (38th  01:45:39);  Steve Leak, Jan Needham (48^th,  01:28:07); John Mayall, Josefa Terim (27th  0:46:29);  Anna Bloomfield, Julie Sandilands (62^nd, 01:38:51).  Overall 38^th place in 6 hr 40 min 22 sec.

Rochdale Male Vets Team: Mike Moran, Nigel Shaw (28^th,  01:11:01); Chris Armour, Ian Stainthorpe (28^th, 01:39:14, club record); John Purdy, Mark Widdup (41^st, 01:24:04); Clive Conway, Mark Hayes (26^th,  0:46:04, club record); Brian Moore, Paul Leary (20^th, 01:14:36, club record).  Overall 25^th place in 6 hr 14 min 59 sec. 

The hard work of Leg 3 done for Mark, JP, Steve and Jan 

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