This year’s British Fell relays were held in Appletreewick in Yorkshire on Sat Oct 19th in glorious sunshine. Shettleston had three teams entered (Senior Men, Senior Women and V40 men). All legs started and finished in a steep farmer’s field, so it was a lung busting start for everyone.
First leg for the senior men’s team was hill running captain Ross Cruickshanks, who stepped in at the last minute to replace an injured Fred Davies and finish 41st on the leg. For the women’s team Brogan Wallace found the steep climbs and descents hard going, but despite that managed an excellent 8th place for the leg. Last in for Shettleston, but never least, was Steve Winter bringing it home in 15th place in the V40 category
Leg 2 was in theory the longest leg of the day and saw David Lawson and Ryad Chebbout fly round 14th fastest on the leg and taking the team to 21st overall. Likewise Gemma Griffiths and Cat Peutherer had a great run, leaving the team in 10th place after their leg. Jethro Lennox & John Connaghan had a solid run for the old boys finishing 7th on their leg
Leg 3 was the navigation leg and proved to be a contentious affair. Harry Pulham and Dan Dry negotiated the difficult course finishing 11th on the leg taking the team into 16th overall. Zoe Barber and Tilly Hamilton negotiated the difficult course, finishing 17th and taking the team into the 12th overall. For the vets, Iain Pender and Chris Grant Pantry had a storming run finishing the leg 4th. Unfortunately, they fell foul of poor course design by dibbing at a leg 2 checkpoint that was next to the leg 3 checkpoint. They were one of 12 teams to fall foul of this poor checkpoint placement. Since there were so many teams making the same mistake the organisers, did not disqualify these teams, but marked them as “not complete” in the results. These teams are listed where they would have finished but were marked “n/c” and not given a placing. So while the v40 team finished 10th overall, thanks to a strong final leg from Mark Thistlethwaite, they are marked “n/c” in the results. A bit of an unsatisfactory compromise that didn’t suit anyone. It wouldn’t be the relays without a bit of controversy
Leg 4 for the senior men was Robert Simpson running a strong 18th on leg 4, happy not to be involved in any controversy, leaving the senior men 13th overall. For the women a storming run by Elena Heger (7th on the leg) brought the women’s team to a final position of 9th.
Special mention to Fred Davies who was injured but still made the journey and gave great vocal support on the course, took lots of videos (a couple below) and provided a running commentary. Overall, strong performances from all teams and an enjoyable trip.
Thanks to the club for contribution towards travel and accommodation costs.
John Connaghan
