GREEN BELT RELAY 2003

Barry Dabrowski reports: The Green Belt Relay was a great success in terms of enjoyment and team spirit, as we fielded full Men's and Ladies Teams completing the 2 day event in 5th and 20th positions.Simon Loach had a superb run on Saturday, winning Leg 7 from St Albans to Little Berkhamsted, prior to the only significant logistical cock-up, which will no doubt be written about by others. I can only comment on the parts of the race I ran in or managed:- Clare Wyngard and I ran leg 3 from Boveney Church (near Eton) to Little Marlow. It was a beautiful flat leg all along the Thames towpath. Clare and I ran together for 1 mile, then I moved through the field all the way to
finish in 5th - but was there anything left in my legs for Sunday? Clare ran well before being whisked back to Datchet.On Leg 6, which I managed, Malcolm and Alison had good steady runs on the shorter undulating stage from Chipperfield to St Albans. Alison was picked up at King's Langley, taken to Chipperfield, ran to St Albans, then returned to South London by train to squeeze the run in between a morning at work and an evening engagement.On Leg 9, Andy almost missed the start, due to the starter not knowing that the official time had been put back by 5 minutes, but ran well. Kirstin saw more of Epping Forest than planned (she went off course), but found her way back, and plodded onto the finish with a sore knee.

On Sunday, Jo Q and I ran Leg 14 from Lullingstone Park to Tatsfield. Before last year, this stage was a tough 11 miler mainly on lanes - now it's a sadistic 13.3 miles with a big uphill on fields and tracks followed by a steep downhill on road to rejoin the old course. It was really tough, but I was pleased that my legs were up to the job, though I didn't see much of Hugh Jones. Jo did well to finish inside 2 hours having done 13.3 the day before.On Leg 17, Andy's relative lack of fitness showed in the last mile or so. Claire S (still steaming from the leg 7 ordeal) fought her way up the hill, then flew through the woods along the North Downs to finish only 8 minutes behind Andy. On Leg 20, Simon fought and lost the battle against Mark Critchlow (West4), but carried on well for a good 2nd place, while Celia chased 4 other lady runners all the way. Thanks to all the 20 runners and all of the DR helpers who helped to make an enjoyable weekend for us all.

Simon Loach reports on Leg 7: The leg started at 3.28pm in cloudy conditions, with drizzle in the latter stages of the leg. I started out very steadily with a guy from the Shandy drinkers club at 6-minute mile pace for about 39 minutes partly because my navigation skills on this stage weren’t very good due to too many directions on the map we were given. After just over half way I decided to break away from him and, realising the marshalling and sign direction appeared faultless I managed to create a 2-minute lead in the space of 6 miles and confidently sprinted to the finish. It was great to be the first stage winner for Dulwich Runners. If I had gone out more aggressively from the start it would have been possible to have been closer to Hugh Jones course record, but as it was I was only 3 minutes outside.However, preceding the event, Barry had told me that the minibus with all my kit and Claire’s kit was going to arrive promptly. 2 hours and 35 minutes later, having been stranded with Claire in the pub for that time we were rescued, having spent that time with no money,little food, no mobile phone, or warm clothes. We had been bailed out partly by Ruli, one of the course organisers who took pity on us and gave us a tenner, along with Barry’s and Ros’s phone numbers. What was great and victorious turned into a farce. I’m a Celebrity, GET ME OUT OF HERE.

And leg 20: The race started at 4.43 pm. At the start I was jokingly saying that I was going to comfortably break the course record and be another stage winner, but having started the race I was having to contend with the power of Mark Critchlow who seemed to be in his zone. Unfortunately after 1 1/2 miles my shoe lace came undone so, having decided to tie it up which lost me at least 20 seconds, I had been psyched out .It ended up as a catch me if you can race, but I could see the gap getting wider. Mark won the stage in 50.24, and I followed in 52.04, still beating the old course record by 90 seconds I had been running at just under 5 mins 30 pace.

Dave West reports: As this was my first Greenbelt, it was difficult to know what to expect. What's the standard like? How well is the course marked? So it was with a slight sense of trepidation that I led men's team off on the first leg from Hampton Court on a perfect day for running. A group of about six of us settled at the front and we took it in turns to lead over the first 5 miles. By Walton Bridge the group was down to three, but the other two looked ominously easy as we headed off the towpath and away from the river for the first time. Taking my turn to lead again at about 45 minutes into the run, I opened up a slight gap as we regained the towpath which had grown to about 300m by the 9 mile point passed in 55 minutes. Though bothered by a slight stitch, I still felt fairly strong and for the first time started to think that I could win the stage. Unfortunately the stitch became worse and the chasing duo closed, though it was only in the last mile that I had to relinquish the lead. Across the final bridge, with just a third of a mile to go, my luck ran out and I missed the turn onto the towpath. By the time I'd got back on course I'd lost a couple of minutes and the same number of places. But I'd had a good run overall and I'd have been pleased with third had I not made that stupid mistake. Just hope I recover in time for tomorrow!

And so on to Tatsfield and it was with a sense of deja vu that I tagged onto the two leaders at the start. 2 miles later they had pulled away and I ran most of this undulating, largely off road leg alone but with the leaders in sight. At about half way a blue Ranelagh vest streaked past and I was down to 4th. There were some stiff climbs to follow and despite slowing down I closed slightly and began to catch the Ranelagh man who was fading fast. A desperate glance as I passed him told me that he'd shot his bolt (he finished about 10 minute behind me at the end). The final section seemed to have more downhills and I pushed on to see if I could pick up another place. Whilst that was not to be, I did close and remained third with the leader less than a minute ahead. Overall, it's been a great couple of days and I'm pleased with my runs if not my urban navigation skills!

Claire Steward reports: My GBR was really a tale of two halves. By the end of Saturday, I was never going to even think of repeating the event but Sunday finished on a real high. Stage 7, St Albans to Little Berkhamstead, is 13.1 miles which became nearer to 14.5 after missing a turn (no arrow). Fortunately about 6 of us missed it, although the following group had the advantage of meeting us on the way back and then we all stayed together until we were back on course. Due to a ‘communication breakdown’ (that’s the most tactful way of putting it) no-one came to pick us up at the end and Simon & I spent over 2 hours waiting to be fetched (sitting in our sweaty running clothes). We were only rescued after a friendly Straggler race official tracked down a couple of DR mobile phone numbers and left messages, then lent us some money for beer and crisps, and the bar manager took pity and made me a huge pot of coffee as I was chilled to the marrow.Fortunately Simon had won his stage, feeling very pleased with himself and contemplating a double victory for Sunday (sadly, this was not to be, despite a brave attempt). The moral of this story is never to run
anywhere without money, phone, house keys and a spare set of clothes. On Sunday Barry did his best to make amends for Saturday’s cock-up (not his fault) being personal chauffeur, then letting me drive around in his car, and cheering me on from about 6 points along the somewhat shorter Stage 17 (10.4 miles). Together with Andy, we just made it to Box Hill in time to hurtle down the zigzag road, fight up the seemingly endless ascent (knackering) before the second half through the
woods which was beautiful and really enjoyable (despite the rain). I was going well by then and dropped two guys on the way (always satisfying). On the whole it was a wonderful team effort, with lots of support along the way and great to meet up with many of our fellow runners at the Hawker Centre afterwards.