Autumn Relays 1996

The tenth running of the Top House Autumn Relays was held on Wednesday the 18th of November, in atrocious conditions at the Kitty Brewster Industrial Estate. The intermittent rain and sleet, and the strongish north westerly wind, combined with the -4 degree temperature prompted several people to ask Ron whether the event should be renamed, since the word "Autumn" didn't seem very appropriate.

There was a short delay while Ron made some enforced personnel changes due to several people being absent, unfortunately this meant that two of the teams had only two runners each and so would have to run for the pure pleasure of it.

Included in this year's teams were Steve Gillespie, maintaining his 100% record for the event, also Matty Brown and George Young, who have each done nine of them. No, I don't know why they missed one (1994 for Matty, 1990 for George) - you'll have to ask them yourselves.

As last year, twelve teams lined up at the start line, including the two teams of two as mentioned, and set off into the dark. The wind direction was such that it was in the runners faces on the way out, and in the last 200 metres to the finish. At the end of the first leg it was team L in the lead, they were to remain in first place throughout and take the first prize. The team members were: Robbie Barklay, Fred Aniolkowski and John Mallon, in a time of 42:17. In being on the winning team, John Mallon becomes only the second male to win two years in a row, the only other time this was done was in 1990 & 1991 when Dave Kitching achieved the same feat. In second place were team E; Tony Brown, Ron Ingram (in VEST and SHORTS!) and Paul Smith. Third home were team C; Ralph Dickinson, Joe Frazer and Dave Morris. Fastest overall was Andy Brown (12:26); this is the fifth time from six starts that Andy has been quickest on the night. Most people's times were down on what they would have hoped for because of the poor conditions.

Ron would like to thank the following people for their help with the marshalling and timekeeping (in the dark!): Michael Black Snr., Michael Cole, Ken Gibson, Jimmy Jones, Rob Marshall, Denis Moss, and Jimmy Pawson. In recognition of their help over the years, Ken Gibson and Denis Moss were asked to present the trophies afterwards at the Sports Centre, they both performed like true professionals (especially Ken, who tried to kiss one or two of the prizewinners, who were all male). Thanks and sympathy go to Aynsley Herron, for standing in at short notice for team H's absent second leg runner, despite being injured, and making his injury worse.

I am sure everybody will echo my thanks to Ron, who as ever, and despite the lack of light, managed once again to organise an excellent event.

For those of you wondering about the Winter Series, there is a possibility that something will be organised for early in the New Year, involving four events, not six as in previous years. Watch the notice board for details.

Finally, on the next page is a complete listing of the winners from the last ten years along with some facts and figures from the event. Here's to the next ten years.......
Eddie