Nopesport

Purple Thistle ’05 – Relays

With only a small number left on Monday the PT relays were an even more informal affair than the individual: more resembling a regional squad training than a serious competition. But IMHO that is no bad thing and the banter between teams – most of them formed by lottery – was rare.

Glen Nevis was the venue for the relay, a detailed tussocky boggy open area in the shadow of the Ben. The format was two man teams each running two legs each, and virtually the whole race was visible from the start area.

The early leaders were Team INVOC Ally Brunton and Brooner Brown the individual day planners and overall coordinators. Ally took the lead from Shane Lynch while Murray Strain spent five minutes hunting for the first control within sight of the start. At the half way stage Team INVOC were a few minutes clear of Team Majumdar running shorter womens courses. Alex Ross, teammate of Murray held strong in his position about 5 minutes behind Brown.

On the third leg Brunton held the lead but the gap to the next team closed to around 20m by the end. However some strong hill running by Brown was too much for Ross who had to settle for second, or so it seemed, until it emerged that Brown had run with another teams map on the last leg. They promptly disqualified themselves (a descision which had nothing to do with the quality of prizes on offer) giving Strain-Ross the title. Team Majumdar won the womens race while Team Pyrah (ESOC) were uncontested on the Veterans relay.

A splendid end to a splendid weekend – and the sun shone!

Results Coming Soon