For an evening in late May, it was surprisingly chilly at Strathclyde Park for the 2023 edition of the MAC Team Relays. But that didn’t prevent the squad from showing up en masse. With thirty-five runners and six helpers/supporters, the club had a sizable presence at the top end of the loch! (For reference, the 2022 event had twenty runners.)
It was a tricky exercise trying to form the nine teams whilst also walking lochside to the start point. This is likely to be the first and last time taking that approach! However, we got there in the end, and once all the teams were announced, the discussions about who would run each leg quickly took over. As did the banter between teams, all done in the usual good spirits.
The team results were:
1st – Team A – 53:56 (Jonathan Moore, Pat Allen, John Hughes, Jonathan Moore)
2nd – Team G – 54:05 (Craig Mackenzie, Russell Beswick, Thomas Sneddon, David McLeary)
3rd – Team D – 54:51 (Aaron Campbell, Ross McLean, Alan Main, Gary Arthur)
4th – Team H – 55:12 (Charla Hands, Kirsty Young, Lucy Saez, Robbie Pattinson)
5th – Team F – 55:19 (Alastair Loudon, Kirsty Oliver, Lilly Jeffrey, Douglas Samson)
6th – Team I – 56:07 (Neil Hendy, Nicole Gierlowski, Gillian McCaffer, Brian McLinden)
7th – Team C – 56:55 (Colin Gardner, Iain Campbell, Dougie O’Hare, Graeme Kennedy)
8th – Team E – 57:35 (David Hoolaghan, Angela Downie, Peter Gallagher, Jim White)
9th – Team B – 61:31 (Scott Dickson, Emma Main, David Gardiner, Anne Hughes)
In previous reports, a commentary has been provided about who was in the lead, which runners gained positions, etc. With nine teams taking part, there are not enough hours in the day to write such a thing. What has been prepared, however, is a graph showing how the position of each team changed after each leg. Hopefully this proves a worthy substitute.
Congratulations to Team A for a fine win, and commiserations to Team G who were oh so close to winning. Indeed, if Jonathan had run his magnificent second leg in the same time as his first, it would be Team G who were victorious. But fair play to Jonathan, who started the final leg in 8th position and still managed to finish first!
Thanks to everyone who came down to the park to take part in this event. To see such numbers running or helping is a fantastic reflection on the club. Hopefully everyone had fun, and that’s what it’s all about.
