Castle Combe Road Relay

The Grand Prix of running… a relay around the Castle Combe racetrack with Allrunners cheering you on from all sides.

On 3rd November, a group of us from the junior club took part in the relay: one lap for Under 16s and two laps for anyone Over 16, this was one of the most fun races ever!! And you (adults) can join in when they host another on a beautiful (hopefully!) summer evening in 2020.

The racetrack itself seemed fit for Lewis Hamilton (although I am definitely not a Formula 1 expert !!) with huge sweeping tarmac straights, tyres lining the bends and pit stop bays to look at as you race past. The track was pretty much flat the whole way around (easy peasy after all the hills at intervals!) and it was an interesting course to follow.

It is set up as a relay with four people per team: you can have teams made up of only girls, only boys or a mix of both and ANYONE can do it. The changeover was easy with a timing chip around your ankle that you undid and passed to your team member after your lap(s) were completed! The running itself was rewarding and fun but the team spirit and support really made the day special- everyone cheered everyone and the younger runners were more than ready to get your time slips afterwards so you could see just how well you had done!!

Free sweets and water on the way round and at the finish (name a better reason to take part) and some amazing medals upon finishing.

In the juniors we had massive success with almost every team coming first in their category, winning a large box of chocolates EACH, a rucksack (extremely fancy) and another medal!! An amazing morning of crazy cheering and speedy running- let’s hope we see some adult teams next summer for another incredible relay!!

Find out more at https://www.dbmax.co.uk/events/arc-south-west-chilly-road-relays-2019/

By Poppy Halliwell