Relay blues Written on October 19, 2009, by johnh.
The FRA relays, which took place on Sunday, marked a disappointing end to what has been a fairly good season for me. The first three teams in Sundayâs event were all disqualified for missing a checkpoint on the final leg of the relay, and this included mine and fellow SSOT member Rob Hopes team, Pudsey and Bramley. Although there can be no complaint with the disqualification, I did think that there was too much emphasis on navigational ability in the event, clearly benefitting those with local knowledge, or the opportunity to go and recce a location that was a seven hour round trip away for me.
To my mind although navigational ability is a key part of fell running it should not be the primary factor deciding who wins or loses races, and courses should not be designed to be âtrickyâ, but to test the ability of the runner on upland terrain. Fell running is about following the lie of the land, traversing ridge lines and reaching summits, not having to try and determine the best line through a forestry plantation, or reach an indistinct pile of stones. If I wanted that type of challenge I would take up orienteering! Although this may sound like the ramblings of a bitter looser, itâs not, it is simply my take on how a competitive fellrunning event should be organised.Â
Although the outcome of the relays was disappointing, the season has generally been a fairly good one for me. I have been in the top three in a number of championship races, I won the Inter-counties championship, ran at the World Championships, had some enjoyable races abroad and was part of the British and English fell championship winning team. There have also been some less enjoyable moments such as suffering like a dog in Andorra and getting lost at Pikes Peak but all in all it has being a really good year, running for both the Saab Salomon Outdoor Team and domestically with Pudsey and Bramley. Now I am going to have a break from serious racing for a couple of months before competition starts again in earnest at the cross country championships in the New Year.
John
