Following Tuesday's 8 miler on the road, the old knees were feeling a tad sore on the subsequent trips up and down the spiral in the house. By the evening I was icing and had the ultrasound out. Inevitably then Wednesday would mean a less punishing off road run and the Strid Woods weer once more beckoning.
Overcast conditions and a coolish wind dampened the enthusiasm of the walkers and for once the trails were fairly quiet.
On the run my mind went back to the 12 man relay. When I first ran it in 1967 I was under 20 as were others in the team and the majority were under 25. I was curious to see how that compared with the Sale team which finished 2nd last Sunday and how the ages compared with that of a team such as Ilkley Harriers who finished a commendable 29th of 46 teams.
The ages of the Sale H. team...27 18 23 24 35 18 33 36 26 28 30 25...average 26.9
The ages of the Ilkley team...27 47 28 52 39 55 37 36 41 30 42 40...average 39.5
Clearly in an event like this with the short legs less than 5k and the long leg not much longer clubs with the ability to call on fast juniors with a sound track training base are at a great advantage. I did talk at one time of holding a race for unattached runners, 18 to 30 years of age only, to try to uncover some talent in that age group; but with so many traffic regulations to overcome I think that would be impossible in Ilkley.
Terry, as one of the 12 in the Ilkley team (not admitting how old but over 40), it was a strange experience to be at the race with all the "youngsters". When we arrived it was like one of the team's set of Dads had turned up to watch (our ladies were similarly "experienced"). We have quite a good Vets scene in Ilkley Harriers, BUT WHERE ARE ALL THE YOUNG PEOPLE!
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