From Daniel McKeown…
Sunday saw the return of the Lee Mill Relay, four laps of the finest six-and-a-half mile course that the remnants of industrial Lancashire can provide. I’d assembled a fearsome foursome of forty-somethings in order to ensure that whoever pitched up from Calder Valley or wherever would at least have to break a sweat for the V40 prize.
Conditions looked to be clear but cold. An overnight freeze and the low, piercing sunlight directly in our eyes made the drive over a little more interesting than we might have liked; we also saw a car which had somehow made it up a very steep bank, only to bury its front end in a drystone wall.
Our quartet was Jon Denniss, Dan McKeown (that’s me), Nick Kealey and Steve Gott. The route is four laps of the same course as Rossendale Harriers’ midsummer midweek fell race: starting in Stubbylee Park (Bacup), runners head up through the old quarry onto moorland, circling round to return through the quarry, with a bone-shuddering descent to look forward to in the last mile.
Jon, coming off the back of a prolonged bout of cold, put in an excellent run to hand over within touching distance of the first V40 team. I scuttled off up through the quarry, out onto the moor squinting in the sunlight, then realised I hadn’t seen any flags or any runners in front for several hundred metres. I’d gone astray which, while mortifying enough in an ordinary race, is doubly bad when you’ve got people waiting for you in the changeover pen. Happily, only one runner had followed me and after a quick (and – some might say – belated) look at the map, we managed to find a line to rejoin the race, at the cost of half a mile, plus some time spent faffing.
When he eventually got to go round, Nick put in our best leg result of the day, coming ninth of the L3 runners. It was still going to need an enormous navigational mishap from the V40 leaders to bring us back into contention, instead of which anchorman Steve Gott spared my blushes by going off course *twice*.
In the final reckoning, we were 15th overall (out of 87), about half an hour behind winners Hogia Hebog whose last leg runner saw off the challenge of Macclesfield. We were second V40 team, very well beaten by the grizzled vets of Barlick.
Despite my navigational clanger, I enjoyed finally getting to do this race (it was frozen off last year) and hope we’ll be bringing a team or two again next year.
15. Ilkley Harriers Hobblers and Wobblers 3:57:49
Jon Denniss 54:44
Dan McKeown 1:04:05
Nick Kealey 56:13
Steve Gott 1:02:47