John Lucas 50 Mile Relay Race

On Sunday 16th August in glorious conditions in the Lanarkshire countryside Tony Rodden, Scott Lyden, James Wales, Connell Drummond and Mark Alexander competed in the John Lucas 50 mile relay race hosted by Strathaven Striders. This is quite a unique event where a 50 mile Ultra, 50 mile relay & 50 mile charity cycle all start within hours of each other and cover the same course.

On leg 1 from Strathaven to Drumclog for the Harriers was Tony Rodden who despite recent injury woes put in a solid run finishing in 4th place.
Scott Lyden was next up running from Drumclog to Sandford Hall. In one of the performances of the day, Scott took nearly 5 minutes out of the leader putting the team firmly into second place.
James Wales took up the 3rd leg from Sandford to Stonehouse Cross and kept the leader in sight and the team in contention as the sun started to beat down.
At over 14 miles and 850 foot of elevation gain leg 4 from Stonehouse to Auldhouse was not for the faint hearted so for the 2nd consecutive year the inform Connell Drummond was deemed the man for the job. That decision was fully vindicated when Connell made the leg his own finishing it 7 minutes quicker than the previous year and taking time out the leaders.
Mark Alexander took the final leg from Auldhouse back to Strathaven and despite having the leader in sight for the first half could never quite peg him back as the Harriers finished second overall, 4 mins behind the eventual winners – who were made up of a team of experienced Ultra runners including James Stewart who won and broke the course record at the recent Clyde Stride Ultra.

A great day out was had by all and plans are already being made for a revisit next year.

Thanks to the Strathaven Striders for a fantastically organised event and a tremendous selection of cakes afterwards.