Race Directors Report - 2019

The weekend of 14th and 15th September saw more than 1000 dedicated club runners and 59 teams compete in the annual Round Norfolk Relay, now in its 33rd year. We had the first appearance by a wheelchair athlete, as well as a new headline sponsor in the form of Watlington based design company Officescape.

Fastest round the course were Riverside Runners from St Neots, whose Club class team stormed around all 17 stages in just 20:40:10, making for a very convincing win. Second fastest were reigning champions City of Norwich AC, just 18 minutes behind in 20:58:07, with Cambridge and Coleridge placing third in 21:45:26. Fastest Mixed team were City of Norwich in 23:59:01, very closely followed by Wymondham (24:00:05) and March AC (24:22:24). The first of three Ladies-only teams home were Norwich Road Runners in 26:21:08. The winning Masters team (male runners aged over 40, and women over 35) was Coltishall Jaguars in 25:02:04, while first prize in the Open category went to Ely in a very fast 20:58:40, who beat Norwich Road Runners into second place (21:06:03) and Wymondham into third (21:14:34).

The youngest competitors were five junior athletes aged just 15, among them Billy Life of Coltishall Jaguars and Holly Bunn of City of Norwich. The oldest runner was 73 year old Glyn Smith of Cambridge and Coleridge, who ticked off the penultimate 5.49 mile stage between Downham Market and Stowbridge in a sprightly 50:31.

The first wheelchair athlete in the history of the RNR was Claire Connon, also of Cambridge and Coleridge, who negotiated the 9 mile road leg between Mundesley and Lessingham in 1:06:18. The trophy for best overall performance by a small club went to Bure Valley Harriers, and the Ron Hill Trophy for best family showing (3 members in a single team) went to the indefatigable Webbs of St Edmund Pacers.

The results tell only part of the RNR story. Behind the headlines there are individual stories and experiences that are taken away and never forgotten. For me, in my first year as race director (I have run, cycled and driven it many times) it really hit me how invested everyone is in the spirit of the RNR. It seems that once you have taken part (ran, cycled, driven, officiated or marshalled) you become a custodian of the race. The feedback I have had post race re enforces this point and brings it into sharp focus. Keep it coming, we want to continuously improve and evolve the race whilst keeping the spirit of the RNR intact.

I have also made some new friends, Ealing Eagles invited me to their club run this week followed by a pint afterwards with their RNR team – so, there we were in a pub in West London on a Wednesday night chewing over the finer points of a relay race in Norfolk.

I would like to thank the outgoing Race Director Neville Knights, who has guided me through my first year on the Committee and will now be taking a step back. We hope to see him running the RNR for Dereham Runners next year. This race would simply not happen if it were not for the brilliant RNR Committee. We are meeting next week to start it all over again….

We look forward to seeing you all next year for another go.

Cheers
Martin Ive