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Wessex Ridgeway 100km Relay, 18^th May 2008 Miles Cudmore reports: Surfing the internet when thinking running is a bit like going into a supermarket when hungry …. your eyes and imagination make you greedy... and is how I found the Wessex Ridgeway 100km race. It is a gem of an event and takes in the whole width of Dorset and large chunks of the county’s glorious scenery, all in all a wonderful feast. The relay is split into twelve legs. Each team is allowed between two and six pairs of legs, with one pair of legs running each leg. With only two pairs of legs each pair of legs would have to run six legs, which seemed a lot.
So we elected to have one team of five pairs of attractive female legs (“Damsels in Distress”), and one team of four pairs of hairy male legs (“Knights in Shining Armour”). As the heads on our female legs declared themselves “navigationally challenged” we elected to run each leg in pairs with the head on top of the “Knight in Shining Armour’s” pair of legs guiding the “Damsel in Distress’s” head, body, soul (and pair of legs). Complicating matters, one of our females was in fact male. We cunningly disguised this by renaming Martyn for the day as “Martine”, and getting him to wear leggings to cover his hairy legs. Being Dorset, (s)he fitted in perfectly and no-one noticed. The night before the race, preparations were tough. Lucy and Jo filed their fingernails and compared shades of pink lipstick. Reportedly Lucy won the “Miss Pink” contest after trumping Jo with matching pink trainers, pink exercise drink and a pink mobile phone before heading outside to talk with some pink pigs in a nearby field. Not to be outdone, Tim went in search of pink peacock feathers for Martine. Yvonne checked out pink sun cream, and Mike + John had a gay old time in Shaftsbury. Meanwhile after too much champagne, Wendy tested some swings and learnt why driving on the mobile phone is a bad idea by falling off in mid call. Despairing, team disorganiser Miles consoled himself by testing various white wines.
The 7:30am start at Tollard Royal felt early and had a slight “morning after the night before” feel with our Knights and Damsels. We seemed to be the only ones not to have gone to bed at 6pm or to have recced the route, leading to a wide grin from the race organiser. All too quickly our starting pair, Miles and Wendy, were in last place and struggling on the first hill. After they clawed back two places, Lucy and John took over and injected some pace in the first “king of the mountain” section and put us back in the pack.
	The day soon hit a dreamy rhythm with one Knight + Damsel running whilst the others drove to the next checkpoint to savour the sunshine and food before changing over. The pre printed maps with marked route plus instructions kept us on track and the car sat navs had a good work out. The scenery was fantastic in the sunshine, and the running was challenging. Most legs were 5 or 6 miles long along footpaths and bridleways. Some were muddy, some uneven, some went through leg warming nettles and all had numerous gates and stiles. It felt like running back in time as we headed along the ancient paths and over famous old forts, their earthworks clearly visible. The day had a carnival atmosphere between the 20 teams and everyone helped each other out. In the last quarter of the “race”, a few mishaps crept in. Tim lost the Knight’s baton …. a dire mistake leading to potential disqualification, so Miles ran the leg in reverse trying to find it as the next pair carried on. Luckily another team had picked the baton up. Then John got lost. But being a good boy scout he had a GPS to hand and soon was back on track. Wendy had a fun time keeping ahead of a doddering ancient member of the Dorset Doddlers. A bit like the robots in Westword, the Doddler kept on chasing her down with deadly certainty and a steely gaze. But Wendy’s determination is legendary and she gradually established a lead.
After 11 hrs 37 min our Knights and Damsels completed the course to whoops and yells. We were all tired and buzzing from the superb day. Hearty food greeted us at the local pub as part of the race fee, with both Mike and Martine making good use of our spare meal tickets for seconds. As we started the long drive back, we were greeted with glorious views of the Dorset coast lit up by the setting sun. It was a superb event and magnificent day. I recommend it to anyone who loves running and the countryside. Damsels in Distress :- Lucy Allen, Wendy Davies, Yvonne Fossey, Joanne Smith, Martine Jenkins Knights in Shining Armour :- Miles Cudmore, John Hunt, Michael MacClancy, Tim Muir