The Leeds Country Way Relay is a 64 mile race organised by Kippax Harriers.

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There are six legs, taking in the sights of Stanley, Golden Acre Park and every Morley runner’s favourite, Scotchman Lane. Each leg must be run in a pair, so in total there are 12 runners in each team.

 

Morley managed to recruit 24 runners to make up two teams for the event on 1st September. Logistically the route can be a bit of a challenge, as pairs start and finish in different places. Pairs should do a recce of their leg in advance of race day to check the route and terrain.

 

I was on the first leg from Garforth to Stanley with Rachel McDonald, who was a brilliant navigator, having downloaded the route onto her watch. On the day, our team used WhatsApp and the Life360 app to track our fellow Morley runners. It was an early start for leg 1, leaving at 8am from Garforth Leisure Centre.

 

Our fantastic team organiser, Rachael Kearns, kindly dropped us off at the start and we had some photos with other leg 1 runners from Morley, Ellie Jackson and Luke Senior. Rachael did so well to sort out the paperwork and get teams together, with Liz Ibbetson-Bristow doing a great job leading team 2. Promptly at 8am, we were off, along with another 60 teams! Rachel and I started quickly on the downhill first km, but then we settled into our pace.

 

The leg shortly joins the Lines Way before diverting on to the Leeds Country Way. Our leg was the longest at 11.75 miles, but it was also the flattest, going through woodland, farmland and on some tarmac. There were some great marshalls helping with road crossings and luckily we were mainly running through fields and on proper trails! The narrow trail paths can be undulating and overgrown, meaning that there can be congestion in places as runners take it more steadily. Rachel and I both took tumbles, Rachel on the recce run and me on race day; both falls were in the same place, 500m from the finish and we now have matching right elbow wounds! Clearly we were meant to be partnered up!

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Although our legs were heavy as we approached Bottom Boat (such a great name!) and Stanley, we managed a sprint finish to pass the relay baton on to Paul Redfearn and Kelvin Travers to take it on leg 2 to Keelan Henry and Graham Kitchen, who were patiently waiting on Scotchman Lane. They all did brilliantly on very hilly routes.

 

Our team was completed by Paul Smith, Oliver Harrison, Andy Matthews, Dean Lamb, Wayne Doherty and Claire Plunkett, all putting in fantastic performances! We had a lot of fun exploring the trail route from Garforth to Stanley, as well as chatting to runners from other clubs.

 

We saw Ellie and Luke finish in time to pass their baton on too; as there are cut off times for each leg, it is very hard to get the baton round the whole loop, but every team is still able to complete the route and be given a time, as pairs will be set off at a mass start even if the baton hasn’t been received.

 

This was a lovely and unique local event. I would definitely recommend it as a great way to meet new people, try something new and challenge yourself! Hopefully we can get a team together next year too!