Round MK Relay 2017

by James Bell

Alan Turing, mathematician and computer scientist of Bletchley Park fame, once said that ‘We can only see a short distance ahead, but we can see plenty there that needs to be done.‘  How prophetic he was. Perhaps you don’t know but Turing was an avid runner whose best marathon time was 2:46.  Maybe, just maybe, the tow paths that were run over the weekend were also used by Turing to train.  In any case, I think he would have liked the fact that runners would orbit the great city like possessed electrons zooming round a 31 mile course. read more

Olney Squeaky Bone Relay

by Sam Dear

Having run this last year for the first time, Andy had been hounding people from the club to enter a team this year it seemed like he was barking up the wrong tree so entered his own team joint with MKAC (Milton Buzzards). Finally, having got their act together, it was down to Dan, Jo, Laura and Sam to step up to the plate as the Leighton Buzzard Bulldogs.

The race is a 4 person team taking on a 3.5 off-road lap each near Olney, just north-east of MK. With almost 100 teams of all abilities it’s a good mix meaning that every dog can have his day here. read more

By Annis Turner

As a newer and slower member of LBAC I often approach club races with a slight feeling of trepidation. So I nervously signed myself up to run 3km as part of our ladies’ team. The race takes place once a year at Fairlands Valley Park in Stevenage, attracting many clubs from surrounding areas. Each runner must complete a 3km leg which is a scenic lap of the park. Ladies’ teams complete 3 legs whilst the men complete 5.

On what was luckily a nice evening, 8 dedicated runners travelled to Stevenage to take part in the race (Men’s Team: Elliot, Simon, Pete, Sam and Graham. Ladies Team: Annis, Lorraine and Fiona.) I had set myself two goals for the race: to beat my 1 mile PB (currently 8 minutes) and to finish the 3km leg in under 15 minutes (slightly risky goals considering I hadn’t run in a week). After getting lost on the way back from the toilet with Lorraine, I joined the runners at the start ready to run my leg of the race (the 1^st leg). Having checked out the results from previous years I knew I wouldn’t be the slowest runner there so I felt slightly less nervous! I set off thinking that realistically I wouldn’t get my mile PB, however when I looked down at my watch to check my pace I saw the magical number 7. I started to push myself, knowing that if I kept up this pace, I could complete a mile in under 8 minutes. I stared at my watch as I approached the 1-mile mark, I was clearly huffing and puffing as another runner gave me some words of encouragement, to which I replied in excitement “I JUST BEAT MY MILE PB!” My watch read 7:55 but my PB euphoria soon disappeared when I realised I still had to finish the course with 0.8 miles left. The marshals and other runners (including a big cheer from Fiona) were really encouraging and the finish was soon in sight. I check my watch and I was still under 15 minutes so I decided to finish (what felt like) a sprint just to make sure. Based on individual times I finished 88^th out of 143 ladies with a time of 14:46 which I was pretty happy with! read more