Race Date: Saturday 21st September 2024
Team manager for a relay is one of the most difficult jobs in the book, trying to organise individuals in what is not normally a team sport. With the task made more difficult by the 200 mile round trip to Blackpool and back, Malcolm Baggaley did a fine job getting out A and B teams for both men and women even if this did require recruiting someone nearer seventy than sixty years of age.
The plan to put him on first leg to give the rest of his team something to chase worked well as he was last to leave the stadium. More conventional strategy is to put the fastest on first and last leg with slower members of the team in the middle but this has its own problems with Abbie Pearse handing over to Kathy Lydiard in 11th position. No pressure there then.
Finding the correct pace is a recurring issue when racing in a relay. For the first leg runners, lining up against International opposition together with a phalanx of top club athletes, the temptation is to get carried away over the first kilometre only to regret it later. Runners in subsequent legs have different issues described by Louis Wood on second leg for the Men’s B Team as follows: “Wasn’t in dead last when I started but very near the back. Had an odd mix of other slow teams and fastest women to chase, with the leading Leg C runners flying past me.” Towards the end of the afternoon the race becomes a time trial with only the occasional athlete to chase or fend off so pace judgement remains important.
Top Row: Abbie, Katy, Bethan, Caroline Bottom Row: Emily, Hannah, Josie, Gillian. Sunglasses are almost de rigueur.
Stanley Park is pancake flat with only a few inclines and with glorious sunshine was packed with competitors and civilians alike requiring skill to negotiate children on bikes and dogs on the ubiquitous extendable lead. Despite these impediments it provided a splendid backdrop for spectators either watching the changeover from the stands at the athletics track or out on the course cheering on your team. Reports were that tree roots and tight turns caused a few problems, especially for those wearing their carbon fibre shoes whilst the unseasonably warm weather together with a stiff breeze was a recurring excuse given by those who slowed on the second lap.
The team manager was delighted with the effort, confident that everybody had emptied the tank even if some were unhappy with their own performance. The race distance, advertised as 5.6km but actually a little shorter according to Strava, doesn’t allow for direct comparison but some individuals were reporting pb’s for 5k. Nevertheless, there was drama late on as our last man, stating that he was misdirected by a marshal, took an impromptu tour of parts of the park not on the course adding two minutes to his time and possibly losing two places. Perhaps this was karma in return for causing confusion by warming up on the course earlier wearing his club vest with number attached.
Steel City results below include the 5km equivalent to help make sense of the odd 5.6km (5.54km Strava) race distance.
Women A Team, 20th 1:27:25
| Leg | Name | Time | 5k Equivalent |
| Leg A | Abbie Pearse | 00:19:20 | 00:17:27 |
| Leg B | Kathryn Lydiard | 00:22:53 | 00:20:39 |
| Leg C | Bethan Varney | 00:23:50 | 00:21:31 |
| Leg D | Caroline Brock | 00:21:22 | 00:19:17 |
Women B Team, 31st 1:34:19
| Leg | Name | Time | 5k Equivalent |
| Leg A | Emily Green | 00:23:26 | 00:21:09 |
| Leg B | Hannah Holiday | 00:23:13 | 00:20:57 |
| Leg C | Josie Hill | 00:25:35 | 00:23:05 |
| Leg D | Gillian Allen | 00:22:05 | 00:19:56 |
Winners Leeds City 1:16:36. Fastest legs Esme Davies (Border) and E Haggard Kearney (Warriors) 18:08. Abbie Pearse (19:20) ran the 15th fastest time on the day
Men A team, 61st 1:58:19
| Leg | Name | Time | 5k Equivalent |
| Leg A | Seth Kirby | 00:18:28 | 00:16:40 |
| Leg B | Steven Cahill | 00:19:00 | 00:17:09 |
| Leg C | Adam Brooks | 00:21:33 | 00:19:27 |
| Leg D | Pierre McCarthy | 00:21:14 | 00:19:10 |
| Leg E | Chris Wade | 00:20:14 | 00:18:16 |
| Leg G | Robert Byers | 00:18:18 | 00:16:31 |
Men B Team, 96th 2:18:26
| Leg | Name | Time | 5k Equivalent |
| Leg A | Peter Brown | 00:25:27 | 00:22:58 |
| Leg B | Louis Wood | 00:21:18 | 00:19:13 |
| Leg C | Adam Connellan | 00:22:34 | 00:20:22 |
| Leg D | Malcolm Baggaley | 00:21:16 | 00:19:12 |
| Leg E | Ben Baxendale | 00:22:59 | 00:20:45 |
| Leg G | Neil Schofield | 00:24:52 | 00:22:27 |
First Leeds City 01:38:44, Fastest Leg Ben Connor (Derby) 15:37
Further analysis is available with Northern Autumn Relays 2024
Top Row: Seth, Steven, Adam, Pierre, Chris and Rob. Bottom Row: Peter, Louis, Adam, Malcolm, Ben, Neil. It’s all out effort here with definitely no-one waving at the camera.
This event starts at 11:30 with the first of the Young Athletes races so a long day for marshals and officials. For the senior men, a target is to qualify for the National final in Sutton Park by finishing among the top 25 A teams but part of the effort for Steel City was footprint, getting teams out there in the big events. This was a job well done with Steel City providing Sheffield’s only women’s team whilst only Hallamshire fielded any other teams with their senior men finishing second. To qualify for the Nationals, the men would have had to finish in 1:52:08 (that’s six lads each capable of 16:51 for 5km) so a stiff but not unachievable target and it’s worth doing these relays alone for the professional photographs from Mick Hall Photography.