Haigh Hall Relays - Written by Garry Baines

We managed to put out 2 teams for the Haigh Hall Relays on Saturday.
Almost 50 teams entered the event on what turned out to be a chilly day, certainly for the runners competing in the 3rd and 4th legs.
Gary Atherton got the ‘A’ team off to a cracking start and beat some well known individuals from the local running scene with his time of 25’10”. Mike Reason ran first for the ‘B’Team and, still regaining his fitness after injury, crossed the line in 27’ 51”, which I believe surpassed his time from 2008.
Next for the ‘A’Team was John Foulds. Reliable as ever, John got round in 25’49” which served as a good warm –up for his ½ marathon the following day – more of that later. Jayne Shea was next off for the ‘B’ Team and produced a gutsy performance on this tough course to record 33’ 44”.
Terry Gardiner managed to warm himself up sufficiently to produce another sterling run of 26’24” for the ‘A’s and Michaela Shaw, getting colder by the second as she waited on the starting line, found enough energy to pull back some time for the ‘B’ team with 29’ 42”.
Last for the ‘A’ Team was Dan Reason and Dan showed the benefit of his recent marathon training with a time of 27’11” as the ‘A’ Team finished in 33rd place.
The ‘B’Team unveiled the Invisible Man to run their last leg. After running unnoticed along the 3.75mile wooded route, the Invisible Man managed to keep his identity concealed as he passed the finishing line, thus ensuring the time-keepers were unable to record an official time for him. Rumour has it he ran the course around 27’40” and this would have left the ‘B’team in 44th place. However officially the ‘B’team were not placed as it was assumed they were a 3-man team.
This was not the end of the weekend’s activities for some of the participants. Dan Reason and the Invisible Man ran home along a scenic 10.5mile route back to Tyldesley.
Meanwhile John Foulds competed the following day in the Ironbridge ½ marathon near Telford and from a field of 660 runners, finished in a creditable 98th position with a time of 1hr 36mins and 41secs.