June 2021: Virtual Washlands Relay

The Washlands Relays is a 2-mile virtual relay race where teams of four compete in the inter-club competition. The race is the third in the BDSL series.

Another victim of Covid restrictions, the Washlands Relays became a virtual event where people pushed themselves hard over a 2-mile course of their own choosing. Dave Sanders then grouped the results into the best teams of four runners and submitted them to the BDSL. A group decided to turn the Wednesday session into a full race attempt at the distance, using the loop of roads around Darwin Park for the course. This proved to be most fruitful, with everyone feeling the benefit of actual racing to push on harder.

23 runners entered times to be considered for the team results. There was a massive number of 11 runners who recorded age gradings in the 70%+ club; Joe Goodwin, Hermione Green, Esther Hunt and Dan Floyd all managed to record over 75%. In the BDSL league for the club rankings, the men finished in positions 6, 8, 9, 10, 15 and 16 to give them 2nd place overall. The women finished in positions 2, 5, 37 and 53 to give them 4th place overall. After three races, the men are currently in 3rd and the women in 4th.

For the individual results, the men were headed by Dan Floyd, who bettered his time on the Wednesday with another attempt on the Saturday. In second was Jimmy Pickering who showed that his new-found fast pace extends to the shorter distances too. Third place was won by only one second by Matt Orford over John Doyle. Matt submitted his time from some training runs in preparation for 3k track races.

Hermione Green posted the fastest 2-mile time for the women, using the Wednesday night session to complete her strong time. In second place was Esther Hunt who ran her two miles as part of a 5k race at the Midland Masters track championships where she won the Silver medal. In third place was Ruth Kennedy-Green who ran the same Darwin Park route as Hermione but in a clockwise direction.

Well done to all who took part.

Results may be found below:

2021 Washlands Relay results