Team spirit triumphs

The Edinburgh marathon festival took place during this last hot weekend.

Derwent AC entered two teams in the marathon relay. Each team consists of four people who each run one leg, varying between approximately five and eight miles. Some bright spark decided to put in two “balanced” teams which, within the formal race, would race each other. So much for my desire to participate in a major running event at an enjoyable pace, able to take in the atmosphere without stress.

In spite of a last-minute drop-out – after the reserve had already pulled out – and some frantic emailing round for a ringer, we managed to send a full complement. I had arranged the accommodation at my friend Jo’s house:

After tea on the lawn and a stroll round the grounds, followed by some logistics discussion, we all had a great meal at the Cross Keys in Kippen, an 18th century pub in a nearby village.

To access the point at which we started the race we first had to drive into central Edinburgh, park, walk to the bus pickup just below the castle, and then get on the right buses. Steve and I were to run leg 2; we were dropped off at a sports field by the sea where there was a row of 10 portaloos awaiting 100s of runners; luckily we were among the first off the bus! Though it was early and there was a chilly sea breeze the sun soon cut through the haze and the temperature rocketed.

It was amazingly stressful waiting for Howard who was starting off Leg 1 for the Derwent Reivers (misread by the authorities as the Derwent Ravers), but eventually he hurtled round the corner in Team Relay second place, a whole five minutes in front of the next person – Derwent Strollers’ Leg 1 runner, Phil. This gave me a brief moment of glory as I stepped forward, crossing an empty expanse of grass to grab the rubber bracelet that took the place of a relay baton. Not wanting to let Howard down, I sprinted off at my best pace – as far as the corner at any rate. After that a more moderate race pace seemed appropriate. Obviously I wasn’t in a position to take photos at that point, so here are some action shots from later in the race:

In spite of the heat I really enjoyed myself and found that being in a huge race – team relay runners are mixed up with full marathoners, and I guess some of the slower half-marathoners may well be in there too – spurred me on. In fact I was going so fast, and was so blinded by a mixture of sun and water sprayed by spectators, that I ran right past the entrance to handover 2 – Doh! Thus I missed my chance of a second moment of glory by being third relay person and first relay woman into the enclosure 🙁

However, in spite of this we all ended the day very happily by winning two nice shiny trophies for 2nd and 3rd team places
🙂 🙂

Strollers 2.55.34
Reivers 2.56.46
So the Strollers hardly strolled but they did not beat the Reivers by much!