Sunday 13 June 2021 meant many different things to different people. To some it was an opportunity to get out and enjoy one of the hottest days of 2021 so far. For others, it was a day where Croatia (almost) held their own against England in the EURO2020. However, for 650 runners, marshals, and supporters it was a long-awaited opportunity to stand amongst a sea of club vests and watch a race start on a not-so-virtual start line.
Bradford Millennium Way Relay is a race, hosted by Saltaire Striders, comprising five legs, each team with two runners per leg. It is almost 50 miles long, each leg between 8 and 11 miles long. The course starts in Bingley, and passes through handovers at Haworth, Laycock, Silsden, Addingham and finally finishing in Ilkley. Runners are required to recce their leg following a GPX and route description provided on the host club website.
This year 65 teams from across Yorkshire and Lancashire finished. Valley Striders AC put forward two teams to compete in the Open and Mixed categories. The Open team finished 9th in their category and 11th overall, whilst the Mixed team finished 1st in their category and 16th overall. Very strong running all around and many congratulations to the Mixed team!
The full results are available here:
A huge “thanks!” goes to Saltaire Striders for hosting the event – it’s a sign that the work going on behind the scenes is spot on when everything runs flawlessly, so well done! A big thank you, must also go to Jon Pownall, our Men’s Captain, for doing the thankless task of organising us bunch of misfits into teams. Cheers!