Cleveland Way Relay 2018 Report & Results
It was probably one of the nicest days ever for the Cleveland Way Relay. Wall to wall sunshine, and some very hot conditions later in the morning and all afternoon. I spent the usual few hours on Clay Bank, checking on the morning teams finishing, sitting in sunshine and working on my tan. What a difference to the last time I came though this place and with water frozen in the bottle…
In the run up to the event, it came to light that several teams were aiming for a fast time this year to challenge Loftus A. So, for a change, there was a group of 4 runners neck on neck arriving at Scarborough after the first leg. The theme continued throughout the day with Darlington Harriers taking an early lead, but never too far off from NYMAC A. By Clay Bank, NYMAC A had re-gained the lead with Loftus A in 2nd position by about 13 minutes. It was not the dream morning that Esk Valley was hoping for, and a twisted ankle of the runner on the Skinningrove to Slapewath leg on Saturday, a dislocated shoulder of the runner on the RHB to Whitby leg and some navigational struggles at Staithes meant that the team fell further behind than hoped for. A solid performance in the afternoon got them into Helmsley first, but with an insufficient lead to make up for lost time in the morning, still good enough for third in the overall position.
A solid and consistent performance of the B team saw Loftus’ team winning the B team trophy. NYMAC B came 2nd by about 8 minutes, the difference of the first leg runner’s best times and his current performance. Maybe time to swap him out..
With little challenge, the NYMAC Ladies team won the lady’s team trophy.
But eventually, all teams made it into Helmsley, to the finish and the well earned Fish& Chip and a sit out in the sun. It was a nice day once again, and different from other years, there was competition this year and fast people out on the route. Hope we’ll have a repeat of this again next year!
Sunday 23rd June 2019, put the date into your calendars! See you all again then!
Martin Dietrich
Final results:
1. NYMAC A – 13:31:37
2. Loftus A – 13:44:57
3. Esk Valley – 13:58:02
4. Darlington Harriers – 14:01:32
5. York A – 14:38:33
6. Middlesbrough & Cleveland – 15:29:40
7. Loftus B – 16:16:54 B1
8. NYMAC B – 16:25:16 B2
9. NYMAC C – 17:00:55 B3
10. York B – 18:00:55 B4
11. Pickering – 18:07:15
12. Smelly Helly – 18:08:25
13. NYMAC Ladies – 18:29:50 L1
14. Marshouse – 18:39:54
15. Quakers – 18:55:00
16. Swift Tees A – 20:05:00
17. Swift Tees B – 20:21:00
