Cleveland Way Relay 2019 Report

New record was set in this year’s Cleveland Way Relay with the number of participating teams. First time 23 teams participated, including 2 ladies teams. A very positive development, although for the organiser, time is getting tight, and there are fewer opportunities to follow the event in detail.

After completing the first leg in ideal conditions, almost blue sky, sun just about up, light breeze pushing up the coast, there was just about enough time to retrieve the car at Filey and head off to Whitby for the first runners to pass through. Already the Marshhouse A team, coming through at 8:43, had a good lead, with York, Loftus, Esk Valley, Scarborough and NYMAC following about 15 to 20 minutes later. The last 3 chasing team being a bit delayed by the open bridge at Whitby. Teams then kept passing through until about 11:00.

A generally equal picture a few hours later on Clay Bank. After the Mass Start, Marshhouse A arrived first at 14:15, followed by Loftus A and NYMAC about 15 minutes later. In the usual fashion, by this time, large gaps have established and by the time it was time to move on to Helmsley to see the first teams finishing, only about half the teams had already arrived. Just as I was setting off for Helmsley at 17:30, the NYMAC ladies team arrived at Clay Bank.

It then started to get busy quickly at Helmsley. Only just parked, when the first 2 teams arrived, again Marshhouse A in the lead, followed by NYMAC A seconds later. Both teams arriving just before 18:00. After that, while busy with fish & chips, recording arriving teams, working out times, and having a general chat, it started to drizzle, which added another level of complication to the logistics with times still being recorded on paper… but more importantly, it made the general socialising a bit less attractive and teams were ready to set-off for home maybe a tad sooner than had the sun been out. Never the less, it was another nice day for the relay!

It was good to see a different team win the event for a change and the win was based on a solid performance start to finish lead performance. Well done Marshhouse A! Less of a surprise with the winning B team as Loftus once again had a good 2nd team out and won the trophy back. On the ladies team, NYMAC defended their last years win. However, there was some criticism over the ladies team information (or lack thereof..) on the NYMAC website, which I accept and apologise for not having updated the information more diligently. I’ll get onto this in the next few days and hope this will be clearer in the future. Maybe with this information correct, the York ladies team would have provided more of a challenge. Apologies!

One more team had to struggle with the problems thrown at them during the day… the Mountain Rescue Team had a call out in the early afternoon, missed the mass start on Clay Bank, etc. In the end, they finished the relay but with the various issues, no final time was given, still a remarkable effort in keeping the team going while also attending the call out. Hats off!

Aside from the issue with the ladies team information, it was a nice day once again, and different from many other years, there was competition on the route, which made the day that more interesting. Hope we’ll have a repeat of this again next year!

Sunday 21 s t June 2020 , put the date into your calendars! See you all again then!

Final results:

TeamCatTotal TimePos
MarshhouseA13:12:581
NYMACA13:29:202
LoftusA13:36:553
Esk ValleyA14:18:244
YorkA14:42:115
Darlington HarriersA14:43:366
LoftusB16:03:467
Thirsk & SowerbyA16:35:358
ScarboroughA16:43:419
NYMACB16:51:2310
NYMACL18:10:4011
Stockton StridersA18:19:3112
PickeringA18:25:2813
MarshhouseB18:26:5014
LoftusC18:35:3315
Smelly HelleyA18:45:3016
QuakerA19:15:0017
QuakerB19:18:4818
YorkL19:57:4519
EasingwoldA20:29:0820
Swift-TeesA20:30:3421
Swift-TeesB20:52:3422
Cleveland Mountain Rescue TeamAxxx23

Full times

Cleveland Way Relay 2019 Results

Martin Dietrich

Date set for next year, 21st June 2020.