A willing volunteer for Northern 12 man relay....once again!

One good aspect of our sport is that participation generally does not discriminate  against age or ability.  I say generally if there are runners of my generation who are not computer literate they may struggle to actually participate  in  races in the future as so many race are going "online entries only". 
 That aside, many events allow us lesser mortals to share the stage (I deliberately avoid the word compete) with world stars or national top flight athletes.  For example, in the Great Manchester 10K Run I'll join thousands of others as we follow in the red hot footsteps of the great wee man, Haile Gebrselassie and top Aussie Craig Mottram.
 Tomorrow, it looks like I'll witness at close quarters the speed of some of the fastest Northern middle distance runners as they flash past me on their leg 11 of the N.Of E. 12 man relay as I plod around on leg 10 for the Sale Harriers "B" team.
 Yes, I "got the call".  Actually,  I made the call Friday a.m. to beleaguered team manager Dave Rodgers to see if I was needed.  He said it would be useful if I could turn out to complete the team.  This will mean running a late leg   where the slower runners will do least damge to the team's position!
  Having been in the position of having to organise a 12 man team with Bingley I have sympathy for Dave R.
who may well end up running himself. You know your best 12 but if one or two drop out the team can suffer a real "domino" effect.  So, it's an   unenviable task trying to produce one team let alone 2.
  At my age I am of course way,way down the pecking order over 5K (the leg is 4K) I just hope that the reasons for failing to support the club are genuine rather than indifference.  But I can guarantee that several faster men will have run Park Runs this Saturday morning.
 Still, it gives me the chance to participate once more in this regional  relay which I first ran in back in 1968 when I was just 19. That day in my first spell with Sale we "medalled" in 3rd place.   Later appearances were with Bingley (a silver in 1978) , Valley Striders and Ilkley Harriers. 
  With tomorrow in mind  I thought it sensible to give this week's track session a miss on Friday and as
today enjoyed a leisurely 5 mile run to leave something in the tank for Sunday's 4K sprint.  I say sprint. I don't get going until 4K in a race so the warm up will have to be a thorough one and well timed. Which could be difficult given the nature of the event.  Time will tell.