Latest News

Round Norfolk Relay Race Report

2 & 21 September 2008 written by the runners of each stage.

The Bungay Black Dog Running Club came 44th out of 55 clubs taking part, in a time of 27 hours, 8 minutes and 51 seconds.

Ian Taylor Stage 1 Kings Lynn to Old Hunstanton

Having spent the night at Lynnsport in sleeping bags, Peter, two Robins and Sue cheered me and five others on our way as we headed off into the darkness at 05:30 from Kings Lynn. I was determined to give our team the best possible start and right from the outset I was on the tail of my only true rival, a guy running for the UEA team. In the delicious coolness of the September morning I made my way to Wolferton on roads, cycle tracks and pavements. Sometimes I was alongside "UEA" but mostly just behind him in the inky blackness until dawn broke, almost taking me by surprise, at 06:12. Going off road shortly afterwards for six miles of multi terrain initially UEA pulled away until he was a maximum of 200 yards ahead. There were some quite long stretches of fine loose sand alongside The Wash and, on the approach to Heacham, dry powdery earth which seemed to half my speed and add to my anticipated time.

Once on the concrete promenade at Heacham I was able "to fly" once more and eventually take the lead. Hunstanton is the only seaside resort on the East Coast which faces west and as I steamed along the deserted promenade I was now the one with the 200 yard advantage which I was determined to keep. I had set myself the objective to be first at the changeover point. Running up the zigzag footpath to the cliff top at the end of the North Promenade I was now so hyped up that I lost sight of the changeover point near the lighthouse and strayed off the greensward onto the road, adding a few extra yards. Worryingly there was now no sign of UEA, had he taken advantage of my mistake and beaten me after all my hard work? Thankfully my fears proved groundless and it was with some emotion that I handed the baton to Chris for him to attack Stage 2.

Stage 2 Chris Chorley Hunstanton to Burnham Overy

General comments

Karen Waters  Stage 3  Burnham Overy Staithe to Wells

The sun was shining, the birds were singing – hang on, reality check! It was six thirty on a Saturday morning and Bruce and I were on the road complete with cycle in the back of the car and enough food for a fortnight, heading for Burnham Overy for my leg (leg 3) of the RNR, a distance of a whopping 5.39 miles (compared to the other legs, lucky me!). Nervous, us? No, well maybe just a bit. We arrived more or less on time to be met by “the crew” and Ian Taylor looking rather nervous, on the shingle at Burnham Overy. Ian was none the worse for his rather early morning run and Sue, Robin Farrar and Pete were raring to go. Bruce (my pedestrian support and bonkers enough to do a leg of his own) and I stood at the big number 3 changeover point awaiting the arrival of Chris Chorley and his cyclist, Robin Wilson. We were still in the lead thus far which felt great but we knew it wouldn’t be long before we were overtaken.

As Chris and Robin rounded the corner and got to the big number 3, Chris was keen to hand over the yellow baton with a big grin and off we went. The start of the run was superb, along the coastal path then down a bank but then (eek) into the sand dunes, which was extremely hard going and at times it felt like we were hardly moving but I told myself to keep going for the team who were waiting in anticipation. After scaling what had to be the biggest sand dune I had ever seen we were heading through woodland and along the most perfect path ever for a run!

We passed fishermen, photographers and dog walkers until eventually we reached a junction and a reassuring arrow and turned right. The sight and sound was amazing, there were the ‘Bungay Black Dog crew’ at the top of what at the time looked like a mountain shouting and waving encouragement. After feeling like I had no energy, all of a sudden I had bucket loads. In no time at all I had reached Robin Farrar who was a few metres away from the rest of ‘the crew’ and still very much awake at this point. He was ribbing me to give a Tuesday evening sprint which I just about managed and as I handed the baton to Bobby, the rest of ‘the crew’ were clapping and cheering. I felt very proud that the team to which I belonged did not care in what time I had managed to do the run but were just pleased that I had taken part in this team event and tried my best. Their smiles said it all.

I would like to take part in this event again but if I never did the company and support on that day would certainly be on my list of most memorable occasions. 

Bobbie Sauerzapf Stage 4. Wells to Salthouse

If you have any feeling for the natural world then you will enjoy this stage. You trot along the quay accompanied by the chink-chink of rigging on masts. With sun glinting off the water in the creeks and the mewing of the seabirds above, you soon head into the salt marsh with only the sound of your breathing for company. Wild, desolate but with a definite beauty, the coast path is at its most picturesque and timeless here. The running is undemanding, being mostly short grass, and the way is easy to find. Well-mannered twitchers step off the path as you approach. A few even know what is going on and shout “Good Luck” as you puff past. At Morston you pick up the coast road and follow this through the honey pots of Blakeney, Cley and on to Salthouse and the beach car park finish. My one overriding memory though is my accompanying cyclist (Sue P) trundling through the villages, in her words “like Miss Marple”. Every tourist we passed was greeted with a cheery “Good Morning!” By my reckoning we met 257 and to a man and woman they ignored us!

Stage 5 Andrew Smith Wells to Cromer

The start is easy to find with adequate, free parking but no facilities; fortunately the Team minibus showed up and I changed inside that vehicle, much to Elizabeth's relief. On this stage the runner is on his/her own and I imagined that it might turn out to be an adventure, but in fact the route was well marked, so no excuses there. For the first mile or so, the route east follows the landward side of a shingle bank and some of the path is on shingle and sometimes wet. The route is quite undulating and you'll visit every cliff in Norfolk! I found the hard surface of the promenade at Sheringham a relief after the 'off road' running. The promenade was busy, being lunchtime. The relief was short lived because just east of Sheringham is the mother of all hills, well so it seemed to me. It can only be 40 or50 metres high, but steep, sandy and with few footholds. It's just as you reach the summit that Sue Potter calls you on your mobile phone to ask 'how are you doing', somehow I kept my reply polite! After that it's all fairly pleasant, passing through two caravan sites and you then leave the North Norfolk Coast Path to join the footway of the A149, through West and East Runton and on to Cromer. One suggestion I have is that, perhaps, a cyclist could join the runner when he/she reaches the A149 (map ref: TG 183 427); I could have used a drink at that point. The footway through West and East Runton is a bit narrow in places and the run to Cromer is steadily uphill but the changeover point is very visible and inspiring! After I'd finished I went to the Splash swimming pool at Sheringham and enjoyed a shower for the princely sum of £1.70; Elizabeth was happy for me join her in the car afterwards.

Darryl Oldman  Stage 6  Cromer to Mundesley

Very enjoyable being part of a great team effort and thanks to my cyclist who kept me going up some of the hills!  The long wind up to the lighthouse was hard work - glad I'd walked it the week before to see just how steep it was.  Congratulations to Sue and team for making it all happen so smoothly.

Bruce Rayner Stage 7 Mundesley to Lessingham

I ran leg 7 from Mundesley to Lessington with Karen on the bike. According to our figures, and confident in the detailed estimates of team members 1-6, we arrived with a good 45 minutes to spare. This surprised the ridiculously sprightly 79 year old member of the North Norfolk Beach Runners, who was manfully erecting the appropriate signage and who had been expecting us some hours later and who confirmed that the ladies would not be arriving with cakes until at least a quarter to three. Disgraceful!  Detailed forensic examination of the relevant paperwork revealed a massive disconnection of the figures worthy of Halifax/Bank of Scotland.

Having availed ourselves of the facilities I accepted the baton from Darryl and made my way out of town. Darryl had been going ever so fast and I swear that the forward momentum of the baton propelled me for at least two miles. The run was all on road but was pretty traffic free with some great views here and there although there was nothing to be happy about in Happisburg.... Luckily I managed to store up 4 perfectly good runners excuses for my poor time ...too hilly..too windy...too hot.. too soon after my last run...etc etc etc...but in truth it was just perfect. I would certainly like to thank my cyclist for her sterling efforts and for some cracking dialogue along the lines of...

'....keep going ..you're doing ever so well...not far to go now..'  ( hehehe...now you know what it's like)

'...OK....thanks...can't really talk now....Urghhhh...gasp...splutter'  ( will you give me just one minutes peace and quiet as I try to climb this mountain please....darling!)

We eventually reached Lessington and I passed the baton over to John White to do some serious and brave running.

It was certainly a fantastic day and I felt humbled by the efforts of the core team and the night runners and it was great being with such friendly people.

John White      Stage 8          Lessingham to  Horsey
I arrived at the start of a deserted Stage 8 at 2:30pm, just 4 cones and a board with the number 8. I parked up in the empty car park wondering where everyone was. After checking out the route on a 20 minute warm up, there was still no-one else in sight. A nice lady walking her dog told me that I was much too early and that the runners were not due for another 3 hours! Fortunately not long after that, the Black Dog support vehicles turned up and told me that we were only 20 minutes behind schedule. We found Darryl shortly afterwards and a referees car arrived just before Bruce turned up with the baton.
The Stage itself was all road, reasonably quiet and flat. No navigational issues at all. In fact ideal running conditions. I'd given myself a nice easy target time because of my lack of recent training and I didn't want to aggravate my leg injury, but when I set off it was difficult to contain myself and I ran the first two miles under 6:30 a mile. Unfortunately my lack of fitness hit me then and I had to slow down. My leg held out until the last mile and only really troubled me in the last couple of hundred metres or so, and I did manage to hit my target time of 7 minute miles in the end.
Darryl was really helpful on the bike, offering encouragement and putting up with my moaning about lack of fitness. When Sue drove me back to the start of the stage, the transformation was enormous - there was a huge crowd of people congregated around the start point and the car park was packed. Just a shame it was all over for me by then.
Tim Morton          Stage 9        Horsey to Great Yarmouth

It started so well, arriving at Horsey Mill, sun shining, Bobbie and Chris snoozing on a grass bank and ordinary people on a Saturday afternoon out wondering what was beginning to happen with a sudden arrival of BBDRC red running vests. The word was passed on by the arrival Sue that we were 30 mins ahead at this stage and we awaited the arrival of John White who gallantly limped in struggling with injury. As people have mentioned it was so much a team effort that I was more worried about being passed and not keeping our lead into Great Yarmouth. I kept listening out for our competitors but all I heard was Chris's heavy breathing. The run involved lots of long undulating straight roads into slight headwind, we seemed to be making good time until no signage and poor directions in Caister led us to taking the wrong turning and adding about 1.5 miles extra and hence a disappointing time but on arrival in Great Yarmouth's Marine Parade we were still 1st team and Bob Paul was waiting, with Chris kindly continuing to cycle whilst I added clothes and helmet and jumped on the mountain bike. After a mile chasing Bob and Chris I realised that the seat was set a little too low for comfort with my knees hitting my chest. With Terry Garrity for company and refuelling we were soon able to relieve Chris from his cycling duties.
Would I do it next year? Definitely yes, would be the answer! A huge thanks for all in the Black Dog Team and Support Gang especially Sue.

Bob Paul   Stage 10  Great Yarmouth to  Geldeston
Here are my observations on our big adventure:-

- don't go to your change over point too early because it won’t be there! ,
- I didn't realise there were so many hills between Yarmouth and Gillingham - and Tim lies when he says 'it’s the last hill' - it isn’t!
- Terry G shouldn't go out at night without lights on his bike,
- A penny for the thoughts of the unknowing motorist, on seeing a lone runner, followed by a cyclist followed, by a van with a flashing light?
- you can get a cup of tea and chocolate cake at 3 am at the industrial estate in Thetford for free  - but no loo !
- traffic on the A143 on Saturday night between 2 and 3 am consists entirely of slowing moving vehicles with flashing lights following bikes and runners,
- Its very cold and very dark in Thetford forest in the middle of the night,
- look straight ahead and keep moving purposefully when running through Breckland villages after dark
- The aforementioned line of slow vehicles with rotating beacons looked like an invasion force on manoeuvres
- You try harder if you're part of a team,
- We were one of the best equipped and organised teams - some were followed by a car and no cyclist.   
- Poor Pete and Roy's ankles after driving in 1st/2nd gear for 14 hours - and spare a thought for the poor minibus - did we take out clutch cover?
- And finally a big thanks to ‘Sue’ll fix it' and team for fixing it for us.

Colin Whale      Stage 11    Geldeston to Scole

I started my leg of the race at approximately 8.30pm. It was nice to have Mark on his bike for company along the way. At about 17 miles, one of the marshalls shouted that there was only another 17 miles to go, but I just laughed. With only 1½ miles to Scole, two runners passed me.
The race was very enjoyable.

Bob Jack           Stage 12       Scole to Thetford

Having just recovered from a bad heel injury which had plagued me all year, I was a bit dubious about tackling the longest stage 12 of nearly 20 miles. The last time I had run 20 miles was the Bungay Marathon in April. I had only done two weeks training for this event. It was a dirty job but someone had to do it. Originally I had estimated 4hrs 15mins but set myself an ambitious target of 4 hrs. I had run the first 20 miles of the Snowdonia Marathon last October bang on 4 hrs.
Around 8.30pm, I popped along towards the McDonalds at Geldeston to see how Colin Whale was doing and was amazed to find him only just leaving the start. As he reached the first hill, Mark Lowther his cycle escort confirmed that we were around 40 minutes behind schedule. My fish and chip supper had extra time to digest. It was strange to see no other teams on the road. I didn't know it then but we were leading the pack. John White's useful email updates confirmed the day's stages.
 
Driving from Bungay to Scole around 11pm, I started to pass the night runners including a herd of ten runners and vehicles. They were a few miles behind Colin, but I knew they would catch me on the next stage. It had been a beautiful day, but it was a cold night. I met Chris Chorley, my cycle escort, in the car park of molehills in Scole and we found Sue Potter at the stage change over. She was still wired even with an 18 hour day behind her. Word came through. A couple of teams had passed us and sure enough they came and went before Colin stomped in. I hard wired an Oasis song into my brain to get a steady rhythm going and plodded out of Scole and through Diss. Within 30 minutes, Chris was feeling the cold and felt underdressed. I was fine and wanted to take my shirt off. I had told Chris that I was aiming for 5 miles an hour but with no mile markers. it was difficult to gauge your speed.
 
The second team were around 10 minutes ahead and occasionally we would see their flashing light. Leaving Diss, and into the darkness, I felt surprisingly good and once we hit the darkness, I started to motor, especially up the hills. Chris told me his life story to keep pass the time (I asked him to!). At the top of very hill, I'd look back to see if any teams were behind. Nothing was in sight until around 8 miles, a girl flew past. I had my first Mars Bar at 10 miles. The cycle change over was at the half way point, but I was 10 minutes ahead of schedule and when we signalled for the change, there were delays. With my time advantage, I didn't want to stop and kept going (against the rules of not having the vehicle behind me at night). It was nearly half a mile before the cyclist and van caught up. By now I was into that mindspace where you just switch everything off except to monitor your body.

From 13 miles on, the teams started to pass. That big herd had finally caught me. I estimated 15 teams but it was expected. The dark woods outside Thetford seemed endless to pass through but eventually the roundabout was insight. My cycle escort had said 'a mile to a mile and half to go' and I upped my speed. It turned out to be nearly 3 miles and I was worn out by a finish up an endless hill. Finishing in 3 hours 47 mins I was pleased to finish 11 minutes ahead of schedule and thought that had I stuck to the 4:15 time, we would have clawed back 25 minutes of the deficit. All praise to the support team. They must have been bored stiff. Also praise to Sue Potter for her enthusiasm at every stage.
 
I think we should try this again next year. I reckon we could knock 2 hours off our time.

Robin Farrar    Stage 13   Thetford to Feltwell
Thetford Industrial Estate is not the most salubrious of places at 3.00am, with the stench of diesel mixed with the smell of free coffee permeating through the cold & misty night air and no toilets. The exciting bit that I was ready to set of on my night-time ½ Marathon+ of 13.25 miles. I have always been a morning runner but let’s be honest, this is stretching it a little. Bob Jack came looming down the road & I thought “must remember the baton”. Then, I was away on this crazy adventure, with Bob Paul on the ladies bike. This was strange – a watch that I couldn’t read either for time or heartbeat – No mile markers and strange orange flashing lights from our minibus and the support vehicles of 4 other runners which kept disappearing into the Breckland mists. Bob says in his report that it all looks like an invasion force on manoeuvres, which is very near the truth, as we were going through the Battle Area!

Bob was a great support, and regaled me with almost all of the football results, and together, over the next 2 hours, we put the world to rights. I was breaking new ground in not being able to read my heart monitor. I could have been dead for all I knew. By being able to string 5 words together, I judged that my pace was about right. As RAF Feltwell appeared, I quickened my pace (easier than I thought) and disappointingly the stage end was just round the next bend. Had I known (a “mile to go” marker would have helped) I could have “gone for it” a lot earlier (That’s Lynn’s Tuesday night training, that is). Earlier the previous morning I had set off, cycling in support of Ian Taylor on stage 1. After 3½hrs sleep it is quite difficult to get your leg over a strange and heavy female………bicycle. I not saying that Ian was going fast but when one of my lights fell off, it took all of 15mins to catch him up. Luckily the light of the UEA cyclist helped him. We didn’t have the minibus behind us on this stage. If we had, then they could have picked up me +bike when Ian went off road near Wolverton. Still, the 12 mile ride to Old Hunstanton was therapeutic! I dozed in the Minibus later in the day and whilst waiting at Thetford shared the back of the Land rover with Parsley except he seemed to have some idea that I was in his bed and kept shoving me into rest of the “space” which I would liken to a mobile toolbox.
Here’s to next year.

Robbie James   Stage 14   Feltwell to Wissington

AWAITED

David Cook    Stage 15   Wissington to Downham Market
Wissington at 6am ish on 21 Sept.was dark, cold and misty: good incentive to warm up (enthusiastically). Baton arrived more than 5 minutes sooner than predicted (well done Robbie!), so off we went still sleepily. Brilliantly protected and encouraged by Bob Jack on 'bike -even to the extent of clipping my heel with his front wheel at 2miles (to ensure that we were both awake? or to see if I could go a bit faster?) Course predictably flat, and quiet, as daylight and nice warm sun arrived as the drone of Chris C's support vehicle ceased at 5 miles to coincide with only bit of rising ground which made me feel that I'd been running as hard as I should. Reward for the climb was a lovely downhill run to Downham Mkt to let Doreen have the baton. I did not realise, until later, that I had taken 4mins 14secs. from predicted time- must have been being "chased" by Bob and Chris!  Small wonder I felt "second hand" at the finish.

A huge thank you to all of the support team for super organisation, help and encouragement; and also to Doreen for getting me to and from the fens. (She even let me drive her sports car!) A very memorable event and a super day. Well done to everyone

Doreen Whittington      Stage 16    Downham Market to Stowbridge
AWAITED

Sue Potter      Stage 17         Stowbridge to Kings Lynn

Doreen came flying over the bridge and handed me the baton and I set sail on the final stage of the amazing 193 mile journey that we had made. The first three miles or so were on quiet country lanes before leaving the road to follow the Fens path along the banks of the Great Ouse to the outskirts of Kings Lynn. I don’t know whether it was lack of sleep, or eating too many cakes the day before or perhaps a combination of both but I found it tough going and ran even slower than I normally do! This section seemed to go on for ever, but having said that, the views over the river were stunning, the weather glorious and I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.
Chris did a brilliant job practising for the slow bicycle race to accompany me, and he really helped me to keep going. Chris was however unable to persuade the bike to jump the cowpats like I did, and as a result the bike smelt great in the car going home! Finally the river bank led us to a refreshingly smooth tarmac path which went down to the quay, past the Old Customs House and through old Kings Lynn.

Suddenly Robin appeared as if by magic in the middle of a housing estate, and ran with me into the Lynnsport sports centre, (not sure where he got that energy from,) but he then turned me loose for an amazing stadium finish on a REAL running track, listening to a commentator who had a dodgy microphone! There was even tape for me to run through at the finish. It was a fantastic moment. We had done it. The Bungay Black Dogs had completed the Round Norfolk Relay. All runners had come back in one piece with a smile on their faces, and I felt so proud to be a part of that team and so emotional at our achievement that I cried. I do so hope that we will be able to do it all again next year.

Roy Burton   Support Driver   Geldeston to Kings Lynn
I joined the support group in Gillingham just after dark and wondered what I had let myself in for, but at least I was fresh from an afternoon knap and a good meal. Bob Paul handed over to Colin and in a flash was gone with Mark on his cycle, it all happened in such a hurry, we were held back with the minibus by two cars pulling out of McDonalds, we then had to chase after Colin and Mark, it appeared that Robin had set up camp on board! One stage rolled into another, runners and cyclists driving through the dark, then mist to a grey dawn.  You certainly needed to have your wits about you and appreciated the support from Peter and David, as runners and cyclists from other clubs needed the space to undertake and their support vehicle to overtake. I am looking forward to a repeat of the same next year and would like to thank those that organised it from our club, they did an excellent job.

David Gilbert    Cyclist
Second half of Scole to Thetford
Cycling in temperatures that low there must have been black ice or even snow.  What would I have done if Bob Jack had slipped over on it?  I wondered why he didn't respond to my "chitter chatter" he must have been afraid to open his mouth and let in the cold air, either that or he must have thought "what ever is this man on about".

Feltwell to Wissington.
Change of runner to a short distance, high speed candidate. Robbie James.  We overtook four other teams.  It was so exciting I could have fallen off the bike with glee as the faster teams had been catching us up during the previous stages. 

Downham Market to Stowbridge
The next stage started just before a roundabout.  The changeover for the minibus/cyclists was a bit delayed.  By the time I was away on the bike Doreen had disappeared but no one would tell me which way she had gone and no time to consult the map.  Having eventually caught up with her, the stage turned out to be a spectacular Sunday morning run/ride in bright, warm sunshine with nobody in sight for most of the way in a part of Norfolk which resembled Holland more than Britain.  Shame about the eight layers of clothes I was wearing. I do thank the three runners I accompanied.  Not once did they ask me to stop talking a load of drivel.  I hope that, particularly in the dead of night along the dark empty road to Thetford, I provided some comfort to Bob & he realised that he was not out there alone. Next year can we have one of those big, wide gel filled seats fitted to the bike?

Mark Lowther   Cyclist   Geldeston to Scole
From the hustle & bustle of the changeover at McDonalds at the Malthouse roundabout, Colin and I quickly left the bright lights behind and began following the constant white line towards Stockton. We were soon accompanied by the minibus driven by Roy with it's flashing orange safety light, reassurance that there was someone protecting our backs. Roy and his passengers had to endure 3 hours of my flashing rear safety lights - luckily for me I wasn't so exposed to the traffic, unluckily for them I had replaced all the batteries so they needed sunglasses!   I was lit up like a Christmas tree!

Colin and I chatted about all sorts - as a way of making the white line go faster. It can be a featureless road, west of Harleston, getting late on a Saturday night. Colin told me all about the Comrades marathon - and at that point I could have done with the heat of the desert he described - it began to get pretty cold, sitting on the bike. But Colin was running extraordinarily consistently - hardly varied from about 6 mph over the first 15 miles.   The Comrades Marathon is obviously good training for the RNR. As we headed further into the night the mists swirled through the Waveney valley, and the rabbits scattered in the lights of my bike.  Eventually we were overtaken by a couple of other running teams from Norwich, but not until we could smell the burgers of the changeover field at Scole. Sue and Mark were there to greet us with hot coffee from the van - the field was a surreal sight, with runners and supporters coming and going in various states between being awake and asleep. Most of the arriving minibuses contained as many pillows as runners!

Having drained my coffee, and seen Bob Jack receive the baton from Colin and set off on stage 12, my job was done.   It was time to head home to Worlingham from whence I came - only this time I would be without the conversation to keep me awake. The sight of the  cavalcade of orange flashing lights coming towards me from other teams approaching Scole was amazing. Apart from avoiding pub turning out time in Harleston, and more rabbits and mist at Shipmeadow at 01:30 a.m., I arrived home without incident at 2am.

What a feeling to have taken part - it was a real team effort to have been part of the 200 miles relay - well done to Sue and Karen and all the organisers of the BBDRC team.

Pete Cunningham   Support Driver   Kings Lynn to Geldeston
On Friday afternoon, I picked up the minibus from Lowestoft Car Hire and returned to base camp, excited and a little apprehensive about what lay in store for the weekend ahead.  On arrival back home, a tall young man (Ian Taylor) was waiting for me, having just completed a bit of a practice run up the hill (ok, slope!) from Oulton Broad South railway station. He was shortly followed by the arrival of our electronics expert, Roy, who after some deft manoeuvring and head scratching, managed to get the on-board printer to work as it should.

I set off for Kings Lynn with my human Sat Nav beside me so we made very good time to the start, without a single detour into a field or down a dead end!  My “Sat Nav” even provided me with a great deal of specific interesting run areas off the road on the way – must remember to relay these to Karen!  Arrived into the car park at 7pm, waited for Sue and the others and as per schedule,  Ian and the 2 Robins and I did a “reccie” of the 1st stage for Ian.
We got back to the car park where I chose to kip in the back of the minibus – bad idea! I got myself zipped up into my sleeping bag, lovely and cosy and warm, like a caterpillar – all good news so far. I realised there was a gap between the seats where I wanted to lay so unzipped myself and filled the gap with a cardboard box which was home to the tools. I zipped myself back up, lay down and stretched out on my now reconstructed bed and closed my eyes. It was just like laying down in bright sunshine! All the lights in the car park were providing excellent light for others but for me, there was no possibility of getting any sleep. So, once again, I unzipped myself and found the blanket I had (luckily) put into the back of the minibus before departure, which I used to cover the back of the 2 seats, thus creating a dark black hole into which I squiggled with my sleeping bag. I zipped back up and passed out until 3.45am on Saturday, when the call of nature once again forced me to unzip and brave what felt like Arctic conditions outside the minibus.

I did get a little more sleep of about an hour until for the last time, I unzipped my by now chrysalis and emerged into the pre dawn chill. I decided to test the spare bike in the car park  before we set off and no sooner did I get on it than there was a big “BANG” which not only woke up anybody else who was trying to get any sleep but meant that the back tyre had split and was non repairable.  And the race itself hadn’t even yet begun!
Finally we got to the start, where we laughed off the references to our “Mickey Mouse stopwatches” – we would show them just how good they were with our great first stage runner who set off at a great rate of knots leaving the official to work out how to click the start time on her expensive pieces of kit.    We were off! I then hot footed off to the end of the first stage with Robin W. to wait for Ian and his cyclist to arrive. The official timekeeper, who had arrived early according to him, was surprised to hear that we were expecting our first runner to arrive very soon.  He checked his spreadsheet and we realised it had no first stage, so instead of him being early, he was almost late. No breakfast for him! He shot off to get his watch and Ian came bounding up the hill in first place like a young gazelle. But where was Ian’s cyclist? It transpired that Robin F had to leave Ian going off-road after Wolverton and he had then to cycle up the long road to Old Hunstanton, a total of 19 miles. It transpired that the other support cyclists were picked up by their motor transport at Wolverton!

I began to wonder what on earth we had let ourselves in for, if it was this eventful for the first stage. I needn’t have worried. As we progressed, we got better at dealing with all the little shortcomings, like no signs for stage 2 or that they were hidden behind a motor caravan with an uncooperative driver or like being directed to a changeover point in a car park which had a low entrance barrier and meant I couldn’t get in it without a bit of a hitch. I kept the helm until Roy joined the crew and we agreed he would take over the driving at McDonalds at Geldeston. This seemed like a good idea but fate intervened, or more like someone’s need for a Big Mac and fries. The runner and cyclist completed a perfect changeover and I wish I could say the same for Roy and me. Instead, due to my being held up by the car in front at McDonalds, Roy jumped into the passenger seat and I drove out to catch up with the runner and cyclist. By this stage, David had also joined us on the minibus and was in the front seat beside Roy. Up a gentle slope and behind Colin who was running this stage, Roy and I decided that I would jump out and run round the van, Roy would move across the van and into the driving seat and I would get into the back of the van or into the passenger seat. This would leave David to move across to Roy’s old seat.  The slope meant we were going slowly enough for this manoeuvre to take place without any problem or so I thought. Imagine my surprise when having got out and run around to the other side of the van, I was confronted by David coming towards me who had decided he wanted to get into the back. Thankfully, Robin F was in the back and who, having been woken up by the slam of the drivers door, had the presence of mind to slide the side door open to enable David to jump in. That left me to get into the front and we carried on as if nothing had happened. We told Robin that we had left him snoozing in the van, while the 3 of us were boxing and coxing though!

We held the lead until finally being overtaken somewhere before Scole but it didn’t matter because we were enjoying ourselves. In the early hours of Sunday morning, as it was becoming light, a lot of support vehicles had left their runners to reach the next stage but we decided to continue to support ours, until he moved off the busy A10 and onto the more quiet country lanes. At each changeover point as we saw our runner approach we cheered and I used my sergeant major’s voice to encourage them to “give it some of that”. I think it worked as everyone did their very best at every stage. Sue had been “coerced” into running the last stage and we proudly watched her running around the stadium and over the finish line where we all heaved a huge sigh of relief but felt overjoyed at having completed the course without any major hiccups. What a weekend it was!

On dropping Roy off back home, Margaret commented on our appearance saying we looked like a couple of zombies – can’t think why but she was right! Margaret also asked if I would do it again next year and I said “ask me in a year’s time”. Like Roy though, we seem to be able to volunteer for these things without even being present – Oh well, c’est la vie so I guess the answer is “Yes”!

 

Realbuzz England Athletics Lottery funded and Sport England Lottery funded and Sport England Lottery funded and Sport England Smart Clinic