17th - 18th May 2008

Ken writes....

Many statistics and much analysis cab be done.and I am sure one or two you will.I merely take comfort from the following

* Beckenham entered and safely completed with two teams-a point well noted by many other far larger clubs

* Overall standards were incredibly high.evidenced by calculated speeds(sub 6 minute miling by the winners)) course records and international athletes still competing

* "A" team improved an incredible 10 places to finish 8 from 28 overall and 3rd in the Mixed category.Some awesome performances in challenging conditions.Craig..thanks for captaining and providing the motivation "every second counts" 14 of our A team stages bettered the group average.

* "B" team, most of whom new to this type of event and indeed quite a few very new to the club) completed safely(not counting bruises,cuts,grazes,swamp foot,severe exhaustion,Achilles..), running "well above their weight" surprising other teams, me and club performance analyst Craig. Indeed in some cases, turned the form tables upside down(Steve K !). Every one a winner though! In distance and difficulty, I asked a huge amount of all of you(well beyond your normal comfort zones).

* Individual exploits too numerous to mention but seeing Marc finish on a drizzly Epping Forest clearing, two minutes ahead of next runner, breaking the course record and even arriving before the next leg started was very special..and then within a vest's width of repeating the feat about 15 hours later.! I am sure this was one inspiration for that "next leg" runner Will,who finished an amazing 4th,despite losing the course several times and finishing as a muddy streak,head to foot,with matching cuts and,bruises ..and many more fine individual performances

* Relative to "average position" ,again a massive increase in number of Beckenham runners achieving this compared with 2007

Will take some time to recover from this one...and most of you never want to see a stage map again( in the short term maybe?)...but..let us revisit the long distance relay theme this autumn.Who know what next year could bring?I sense no shortage of enthusiasm.

19th - 20th May 2007

A great time had by all - thanks for Ken for organising - he's provided some quotes from the weekend...

         Food and Drink

      Driving/Navigation

"Glad we don’t have any of those in Beckenham"- a first sight of a Pedestrian level crossing!-Guess not so many trains in Aussie!

"You can’t start without me"…… Ian (Officer Dibble) Exiting his moving vehicle to catch the start of his leg. The marshal went of to check his pants as the car was aimed at him.

Technology            " More bars around here than on my phone"                             "  Hello,hello......anybody there?"  (memories of Offa's- Dyke)

.. and from the prize giving.

Ken has been organising a team ( or two ) to the green belt relay. All the info for the members is managed by him, but here is a map for those who are going to watch - be at Tatsfield about 1pm Im told.  ken writes... What could be of local interest is that on Sunday at approx 13.10 Beckenham has been asked to man a marshall point at top of Gangers Hill between Tatsfield and Merstham and could perhaps be the focus of a club cycle that day maybe and a chance to cheer our team.I have just cycled there and back and probably allow 40 mins to an hour each way from Keston area or could form part of a longer ride-Stage 17 of the run actually starts at ship Inn in tatsfield  at 12.54.The whole of this stage is under stage details-leg 17 on www.greenbeltrelay.org.uk...just a thought Just a quick reminder that a team from the club are aiming to circumnavigate the 220 miles of footpaths broadly following the M25 clockwise from Kingston area  round to just north of Dartford Tunnel on Sat 19th May completing the route nearer to home…lullingstone,tatsfield,merstham,box hill,Walton etc on Sunday completing the circle.The full route is shown above.        In a general sense if anybody wishes to spectate anywhere round the circuit the approximate  starting times of each stage are shown on the excel spreadsheet above(column E)  and the the individual stage maps are found on www.greenbeltrelay.org.uk. f particular local interest is the fact that about 13.0 hours on the Sunday, the “circus” passes through nearby Tatsfield with a changeover outside the Ship pub…maybe a venue for a possible club run or cycle..or  just some beers!We also have OS map references  references and full postcodes for tomtom fans for all the changeovers        We have spare seats in  John’s landrover for anyone who may want to help road navigation,mountain bike support,first aid,tea making,massage,photographer,statistician or just along for the ride(which should be very scenic) and with some drivers moving back and forth between Beckenham throughout the days,partial attendance is possible.   Leg Start Start Miles RUNNERS       time                 19th 1 Hampton Court 8.3 12.8 JM MAY 2 Staines 9.42 10 NF   3 Boveney 10.4 11.2 MW   4 Little Marlow 11.4 12.2 SE   5 Great Missenden 12.53 13.8 CW   6 Chipperfield 14.08 8.4 SF   7 St Albans 14.56 12.2 SW   8 Letty Greemn 16.03 10.6 AB   9 Dobbs weir 17.02 10.5 L   10 High Beach 18.02 9.75 CE   11 Toot Hill 18.58 7.6 I     FINISH                   20th 12 Blackmore 8 10.9 SE MAY 13 Thorndon park 9.04 6.9 MW   14 Thames Chase 9.44 8 NF     Davy Down 10.3       15 QE2 Bridge 10.4 9.2 JM   16 Lullingstone Park 11.34 13.3 AB   17 Tatsfield 12.54 10.5 SW   18 Merstham 13.53 8.9 L   19 Box Hill 14.44 10.5 CW   20 West Hanger 15.46 5.7 I   21 Ripley 16.17 8.4 SF   22 Walton Bridge 17.04 9.25 CE     HAWKER LEISURE 17.55                     Total Distance   220.6