By Annis Turner

As a newer and slower member of LBAC I often approach club races with a slight feeling of trepidation. So I nervously signed myself up to run 3km as part of our ladies’ team. The race takes place once a year at Fairlands Valley Park in Stevenage, attracting many clubs from surrounding areas. Each runner must complete a 3km leg which is a scenic lap of the park. Ladies’ teams complete 3 legs whilst the men complete 5.

On what was luckily a nice evening, 8 dedicated runners travelled to Stevenage to take part in the race (Men’s Team: Elliot, Simon, Pete, Sam and Graham. Ladies Team: Annis, Lorraine and Fiona.) I had set myself two goals for the race: to beat my 1 mile PB (currently 8 minutes) and to finish the 3km leg in under 15 minutes (slightly risky goals considering I hadn’t run in a week). After getting lost on the way back from the toilet with Lorraine, I joined the runners at the start ready to run my leg of the race (the 1^st leg). Having checked out the results from previous years I knew I wouldn’t be the slowest runner there so I felt slightly less nervous! I set off thinking that realistically I wouldn’t get my mile PB, however when I looked down at my watch to check my pace I saw the magical number 7. I started to push myself, knowing that if I kept up this pace, I could complete a mile in under 8 minutes. I stared at my watch as I approached the 1-mile mark, I was clearly huffing and puffing as another runner gave me some words of encouragement, to which I replied in excitement “I JUST BEAT MY MILE PB!” My watch read 7:55 but my PB euphoria soon disappeared when I realised I still had to finish the course with 0.8 miles left. The marshals and other runners (including a big cheer from Fiona) were really encouraging and the finish was soon in sight. I check my watch and I was still under 15 minutes so I decided to finish (what felt like) a sprint just to make sure. Based on individual times I finished 88^th out of 143 ladies with a time of 14:46 which I was pretty happy with! read more

by Chris Dimmock

As the mist cleared and dawn broke I checked the clock and realised there was enough time to recce the key points of my leg before picking up Fred to roll up to Tiddenfoot for our start in the inaugural Weary Soles round Leighton relay hosted by Leighton Fun Runners. Having had multiple team changes over the previous weeks, days and hours I had ended up with a leg I was unfamiliar with and drove to the start, middle and end to check the lie of the land. Satisfied that I could get from Wing to Stoke Hammond along the prescribed route I picked Fred up and we set off to meet the rest of the team. read more

The Greensand Ridge Relay 2015 – crusted ports, old Madeiras and shandy drinkers.

I was standing next to one of LBAC’s more cerebral runners at the start of leg 4, waiting for Warren to appear. Chris Williams and I were having a conversation about murder. It’s true that previously Fiona and Chris had had a disagreement about pick up times for the GSRR, but Fi’s life was safe. No, the murder in question occurred in 1962 at the end of my leg 4 in the layby. Chris mentioned the case of James Hanratty who murdered a scientist and his wife and was subsequently hanged by the state for his crimes. Recently, Chris recalled, Hanratty was shown to be justly convicted of his crimes based on the exhumation of his body for DNA tests. Now, this is all too close for comfort. I’m a scientist and I’m running leg 4 and looking up at the start of leg 4, I was going to be murdered early on if I pushed too hard. DNA evidence might not be needed to show that I had run a bad leg, but I know my peers would scrutinise in a courtly fashion via Strava any cock-ups that may occur. read more