We were strong all round at this year’s River Relay: we had a full three teams, our A team finished second again, our B team was a very competitive fifth and the C team were 27th out of the 51 teams who finished. The proceeds of this event go to charity, and £666.67 will be donated to Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY) as a result of the A team’s efforts.
The race was not without its usual mishaps, of course. We have been quite inventive in this respect over the years, but 2014 looked like being a cracker when all three first leg runners went AWOL before the start. They had disappeared on an over-ambitious warm-up and reappeared just in time to grab their batons for the pre-race photo. Despite this, all three runners turned in fast first legs, with Sarah Gerrie being first woman, a minute and a half adrift of Florjan, with James O’Neill not far behind her.
With Florjan bringing the B team in ahead of the A team, it took James Steel the whole 5 miles to reel in Ian Leslie, only catching him 10 metres before the handover.
Samir ran a stunning third leg to bring the A team up from sixth to second. Unfortunately, Angelo was still out doing a course recce when Samir sprinted in, but recovered his composure to keep the A team in second place.
The fifth and final leg presented problems for all teams, as an unexpected path closure resulted in an impromptu re-routing through Kingston. Both Tom and Santosh took a wrong turning, but Santosh still pulled the B team up into fifth. By overtaking the Sandhurst B team runner, he ensured we were the first B team.
Our team times for the 26.2 mile route were: 2:45:56, 2:55:01 and 3:24. The winning team was Sandhurst Joggers – yet again – but we’ll be back next year. We won in 2007, and we can do it again.
Full results will be posted here when available.