Ekiden 2024 Review and Annabelle Reed trophy
7 July 2024 - By Jodee Mayer
Another fabulous Ekiden, and whilst the weather wasn’t quite as kind to us as it has been previously, the rain *mostly* held off. We are so very proud to field so many teams this year, and thanks to every one of you that stayed to the end to see our final runner in on their last lap.
We had our WRC gazebos set up in fine style, with massive thanks to Andrew Read, Angela Read, and Nat Lilley for the extra early start so that we could get a good spot on the field. The very much less twisty course made it more of a difficult decision about where to pitch up, but proximity to the coffee, beer, and toilets won over.
Despite the attempt to reduce the amount of food, Mick Conroy rocking up with his 3 Tesco carrier bags and everyone else’s kind buys and bakes meant this year we still had two tables that were groaning under the weight of the food keeping our runners fed and watered throughout the event.
Before we get onto the actual event, some more thanks from us:
- To Ben O’Leary for stepping in on Thursday
- To Geoff Reddin for swapping teams and for agreeing to run whatever distance was needed
- To Alex Stuckey who agreed to run a 10km instead of 7.2km
- To Rachel O’Leary for agreeing to run at 9pm the night before
- To Liz Stuckey for saving the day and agreeing to run 2 legs on the day (and also to Celine, Jenny, Karen, Natalie and Sarah who also agreed to run the additional leg)
- To DJ and Martin Weaire for stepping up their distance and running 7.2km instead of 5km when some of our runners got stuck in traffic
- To Mark Austin and Terry Alabaster for being so accommodating meaning that our Men’s O60 team could still complete the distance
Ekiden really is a team event and what a team we are.
The day was tinged with sadness as we learned yesterday of the passing of Arthur Whiston of CHAC who should have been running today with the CHAC Over 60s team. In fitting tribute to him, the team ran the leg he would have been running together.
Race
As the black and gold began to arrive, the travel chaos started, with two coaches from Norfolk stuck on the road and it was announced that the start of the race would be delayed. This gave some grace to our runners stuck in the traffic, as at 10.15 we had 3 of our 7.2km 1st leg runners still to arrive.
The team photo was also delayed by 5 minutes, but we were still unfortunately missing a few runners. Thank you to Martin Weaire for his photography throughout the day.
As well as the delayed start, we then learnt that the course had measured long, and so the start would be moved further up the course – there was some confusion about how the baton handover would work, but that seemed to resolve itself before the first handover.
Jodee’s nervous breakdown almost over, Geoff Reddin appeared just in time to run Leg A, much to the relief of Alex Stuckey as it had been mooted he run both the 7.2km leg and 10km leg… DJ and Martin were not as lucky, and they set off with our other Leg A runners to start the day.
Once the race started we made sure, in true WRC style, that we cheered on our runners (and other runners!) as they looped past us. Whilst the additional field meant the course had less twists and turns for the runners, it did mean that the spectators only got to see the runners once as they passed base camp.
But the runners didn’t disappoint their supporters, with smiles and waves as they ran past, Shane’s showboating, Anita’s airplanes, and Will’s, well, flying!
Owen, having injured himself in the first half a mile, battled on valiantly for 2 laps with Andrew Read joining him on the second before, much to our relief, handing over to Mark Austin. Owen, rest up and we wish you a speedy recovery.
The heavens opened slightly earlier than Jodee’s weather app had predicted, and most of the supporters dived for the cover of their marquees but WRC just donned their rain coats and kept cheering the runners past our base camp.
The hours seemed to fly by, and before we knew it Ian Cuthbert had returned to base camp, bringing the Men’s Open Team 1 in in 13th place overall, Lisa had missed her baton handoff, and Shane had taken a swipe at Andrew R’s beer as he ran past.
Our teams finished one by one, until we had Colsey as our last runner on the course, being encouraged around by Steven and cheered in by the black and gold masses.
The troops rallied once again to take down the gazebos and divvy up the left over food, and the sea of black and gold disappeared towards the car park, cheering the last few runners as we went, hitting the car park just as the heavens opened.
Team results
| TEAM | TIME | POS. | LEG | LENGTH | RUNNER |
| MEN’S OPEN TEAM 1 | 2:52:54 | 9/26 | 1 | 7.2km | Daniel Griffiths |
| 2 | 5km | Sam Hajder | |||
| 3 | 10km | Chris Pugh | |||
| 4 | 5km | Clive Smith | |||
| 5 | 10km | Will Radley | |||
| 6 | 5km | Ian Cuthbert | |||
| WRC MISFITS (MO2) |
3:47:00 | 26/26 | 1 | 7.2km | Luke Tanner |
| 2 | 5km | Ben O’Leary | |||
| 3 | 10km | James Attenborough | |||
| 4 | 5km | Shane Ketteridge | |||
| 5 | 10km | Glen Waller | |||
| 6 | 5km | Steven Alder | |||
| MEN’S SUPERVETS | 3:29:23 | 9/12 | 1 | 7.2km | Geoff Reddin |
| 2 | 5km | David Grainger | |||
| 3 | 10km | Alex Stuckey | |||
| 4 | 5km | Ian Lucas | |||
| 5 | 10km | Heydon Mizon | |||
| 6 | 5km | Mick Conroy | |||
| OVER 60 MEN | 3:32:29 | 4/11 | 1 | 7.2km | David Jobling |
| 2 | 5km | Andrew Read | |||
| 3 | 5km | Owen Dare | |||
| 4 | 10km | Mark Austin | |||
| 5 | 10km | Terry Alabaster | |||
| 6 | 5km | Graham Eyre | |||
| WOMEN’S OPEN TEAM 1 | 3:38:27 | 6/14 | 1 | 7.2km | Annalise Tye |
| 2 | 5km | Liz Stuckey | |||
| 3 | 10km | Claudia Baba | |||
| 4 | 5km | Liz Stuckey | |||
| 5 | 10km | Claire Collins | |||
| 6 | 5km | Fiona Collins | |||
| WARRIOR RACE CREW (WO2) | 4:19:15 | 13/14 | 1 | 7.2km | Jenny Layley |
| 2 | 5km | Nat Lilley | |||
| 3 | 10km | Sian Tate | |||
| 4 | 5km | Beth Shippey | |||
| 5 | 10km | Maggie Mason | |||
| 6 | 5km | Rachel O’Leary | |||
| WSV – HEAVY BREATHERS | 4:22:36 | 5/7 | 1 | 7.2km | Sarah Naughton |
| 2 | 5km | Anita Grainger | |||
| 3 | 10km | Céline Elson | |||
| 4 | 5km | Lisa Leader | |||
| 5 | 10km | Lysia Jiggins | |||
| 6 | 5km | Karen Flowers | |||
| THE ALSO RANS (O60Mi) | 4:38:47 | 11/11 | 1 | 7.2km | Martin Weaire |
| 2 | 5km | Kerry Townsend | |||
| 3 | 10km | Ross Silverton | |||
| 4 | 5km | Angela Read | |||
| 5 | 10km | Anthony Smith | |||
| 6 | 5km | Colin Short |
Individual results
Are by distance and are here.
The Annabelle Reed trophy
For those that weren’t part of the club at this point, Annabelle Reed is a familiar cheery face seen from the rotating album featured on our website. She was a really supportive WRC member, who sadly passed away too young a few years ago. Ekiden was one of her favourite events of the year due to it’s team spirit and comradery, and it is in her honour that we award the Annabelle Reed trophy each year. It goes to the member that most embraces team work and true WRC team spirit at Ekiden.
Again this year we weren’t able to award this on the day, as there were too many people nominated by various committee members.
The recipient this year was Rachel O’Leary 🖤💛 Rachel is our worthy winner this year, having she volunteered at the last minute to run a leg, despite still being injured, and stayed around all day to run the last leg.
A final thanks to everyone for the efforts and support today – rest up ready for the JR 5k Handicap on 18 July!
Will & Jodee
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