Mote Park, Maidstone 29th February 2004

Our first tentative steps into the chaotic world of Relay Running produced some good entertainment on a generally sunny but cold day in Mote Park. Ground conditions were excellent, but a wintery shower made things rather unpleasant for some of the later runners.

Medway & Maidstone produced a strong team including the husband and wife duo of Steve and Kerrie Clarke. Kerrie Clarke set the pace with a fast lap in the ladies-only first leg, handing over to Tim Alexander with a time of 14.19 for the 2.4 mile circuit, the fastest ladies' time of the day. Michelle Flaxton was almost a minute behind when she handed the Dartford Roadrunners baton over to Dave Hall. Medway & Maidstone's B team was third across the line in 15.47 when Emma Harraden handed on to Clayton Barratt.

The second and third legs produced no change in the order of the first three. Andy Green started the 4th leg for Dartford with a deficit of 59 seconds on M & M's Dave Morris, but he pulled out a 13.22 lap to take the lead by the end of the stage. Meanwhile, Invicta came into the picture as Jon Wigleys 4th leg run took him ahead of Stuart Nice from the M & M B team and David Castle's 12.49 lap (fastest of the day) pulled Istead into the top 5.

So the anchor leg saw Neil Ayrton set off for Dartford with a 14 second advantage. Despite a brave run, he could not hold off Steve Clarke, who went around in the second fastest time of the day 12.56 to cut the tape a full 53 seconds clear for M & M. Martin Forder produced a 13.17 lap to take the Istead team into 3rd place - a great effort for the team to move up from lying 28th after the first lap - and Andy Girling held on to take third place for Invicta.

Dartford Roadrunners can possibly claim a moral victory in fielding a team of regular KFL runners - but the real winner on the day was the competition itself. Huge thanks must go to Maidstone Harriers for their on-the-day organisation and particular thanks are due to the team of finish line officals, headed by Dave Lindsey, who managed the changeover zone with firm authority and enabled us to calculate all the results relatively quickly on the day.

My thanks to all those who turned up on Sunday - both to the race and to the presentation event which followed at Turkey Mill - and for your continued support of the Kent Fitness League throughout the winter. I have pencilled in 17th October this year at Knole Park for the start of the 2004/5 season.

ROB BRIGHT