Category: Relays

I wanna Gdansk with somebody

🏃‍♂️ The Hunt for the Z

by James Lloyd-Knibbs

A crew from Leighton Buzzard Athletic Club (LBAC) set out on a mission: to finally tick off that elusive “Z” parkrun. Since there are no “Z” parkruns in the UK, this meant an international trip — and after much discussion about where to go and at what cost, a destination was chosen.

✈️ Friday 26th September 2025 — The Journey Begins

A group of seven intrepid runners departed from Luton Airport on Friday morning, bound for Gdańsk, Poland. A minor two-hour delay didn’t dampen spirits, and upon arrival, we headed straight to our accommodation — a hotel conveniently located above a bustling food hall offering over 15 different eateries. Perfect for refuelling! read more

Ridgeway Relay 2022

Ridgeway Relay 2022

by Rachel Fawcett

With the trail running relay season well underway, Leighton Buzzard Athletic Club decided to take on a new challenge; the Ridgeway Relay, a tricky trail route between Ivinghoe Beacon and Marlborough.  So on a sunny, breezy Sunday morning the first runners from the Buzzard Trailblazers (a Mostly Female team) and the Leighton Greensanders (a Mostly Male team), joined 35 other teams to complete this arduous route. Rachel Fawcett and Michael Furness (running a cheeky 06.40 min mile pace) had the early start and the steep initial sprint down the beacon kicking off the race for both teams alongside a feverish WhatsApp conversation (share live location is definitely the way ahead in future relays). They both thoroughly appreciated having James and Ian at the start line waving them off (Ian clearly recognising that the best way to prepare for a 10 mile jaunt on the Ridgeway is with a bike ride up the Beacon). read more

Greensand 2021 and a Little History Lesson!

First, a little bit of history.

LBAC has a long history of running the Greensand Ridge. Back in 1987 we set established a record for running the length of the newly established route all the way from Gamlingay. At the bottom of this report there is an extract from a newsletter at the time, with a rare mention for Mrs Inchley (Snr)! This original relay was done in pairs, with a senior club member and a junior on every leg.

This record of just over five hours was then exchanged with a couple of other clubs for a few years, but in the meantime SMOC (South Midlands Orienteering Club) had set up their own relay race between them and some other local orienteering clubs. In these pre-internet days we were unaware of the race, even when Ampthill and Flitwick Flyers became the first running club to get involved in 1991. read more

BMAF Relays

The BMAF is the British Masters Athletic Federation. They organise a number of events across the country, targeted at the more mature athlete! The cover all aspects of athletics and embrace all age-groups from 35 years and up. In the UK the traditional age to be a Vet is 40, but around the world 35 is the consistent threshold to start looking at people of your own age and the term “Masters” tends to be used rather than veteran.

Anyway. The BMAF national relays have been going on for a long time and usually take place in Sutton park in Birmingham. We have considered doing them a few times, but haven’t really pushed it. However, with this year’s unusual situation, there was no reason why we couldn’t join in with the virtual version in our own back yard. read more

Virtual National Road Relay Championships

Virtual National Road Relay Championships

4-9 April 2020

What started up as a small idea to replace the National Road Relay 5k Championships became a national sensation with over 5000 athletes of all abilities entering. As always, LBAC, not wanting to miss out on these things and mix the big clubs, got involved!

Firstly, we had 32 individuals from the club entering a time. Two of these ran their first ever run for the club, albeit a slightly strange one all alone! Well done and welcome to Nicola Mellor and Michael Lovell.

A second thing to note before we look in more detail at the final results, is how may people posted some fast times, with some even posting PBs. Particularly impressive when these runs were done alone with nobody to race against. For these people, we definitely need to see you entering a proper 5k race when this is all over! read more

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