Nobody knows where they come from, and after a race they seem to just disappear into the mist, they are as mysterious as Kayser Soze they are The Maryhillbillies and they were out on a mission on Saturday aiming to go one better than their best ever position of fourth in the 40 mile Clyde Stride Relay.
Andy (Sutherland) who was drafted in at the eleventh hour to cover for Linda took a couple of hours off his work to lead us off on the first leg from Partick to Cambuslang, he had the rest of the team a bit perplexed with his tactics as he was lying about 50th after 200m and smiling and waving as he went passed but soon got down to business and came in a solid 2nd position after a great run on his 9.5-mile leg.
Andy passed on to Cat (Nisbet) who deserves a special mention as she was only just back into training after a serious illness which stopped her training altogether, she had managed to get back up to 6 miles in training and was confident she could just about mange the short 8-mile leg from Cambuslang to Strathclyde Park, I just forgot to mention that the 8 miles was actually nearer 9.5 miles but she carried on like the trouper she is and ran really well passing on to me in Strathclyde Park in 4th position.
I really enjoy this section from Strathclyde Park to Maudslie Bridge again its about 9.5 miles long but nice and flat and even the grass sections are flat and easy to run on so perfect for me, and I could use the tiring ultra-runners to give me targets to pick off. I never saw any other relay runners in front or behind me, so I came into Maudslie Bridge consolidating our position in fourth and passed on to Scott (Coulter).
In recent weeks Scott the newly crowned Harrier of the Year has been flying and he didn’t disappoint, he had the hardest leg of all,11+ miles to New Lanark which is very hilly, grassy and muddy and has a few sections of steep stairs, not for the faint hearted, but he took it in his stride. The relay runner in third place took off a good 10 minutes in front of him and he wore him down and overtook him towards the finish coming home in a fantastic 3rd place from the 15 teams that started.
The Relay is a low key affair tagged on to the main event which is the 40 mile ultra but it’s just a great atmosphere throughout the whole race of happy friendly marshals and crew who make the whole event possible. Thanks to Allan and Skye for their support and thanks to Scott for the transport a great day out for the Harriers and I hope to be back again next year.
Relay_Results
1st ‘Hills Thrills & Bellyaches’ 04:29:45
2nd ‘Tinto Hill Runners’ 04:39:53
3rd ‘Maryhillbillies’ 05:37:30
4th ‘clyderunners’ 05:45:50
5th ‘Team MR25 Singapore’ 05:47:07
6th Rite Shunners’ 05:47:13
7th ‘Sweatshop Glasgow’ 05:56:42
8th ‘BCRC – The Cake Lovers’ 06:37:39
9th ‘NWGRN’ 06:39:40
10th ‘JogScotland Strathy Park’ 06:39:54
11th ‘Wee Counties’ 06:47:13
12th ‘Running Riot’ 06:49:30
13th ‘Lanarkshire Lassies’ 07:08:07
14th ‘Carluke jog Scotland’ 07:10:31
15th ‘Strathaven Stunners’ 08:05:48
