The Bradford Millennium Way Relay is an off-road relay of 47miles and 6300’ of climbing split into five legs 8-11miles long, with two runners per leg, on paths and trails, over fields and moors, and through woods and valleys. Starting from and returning to Bingley, taking in Wilsden, Denholme, Oxenhope, Haworth, Oakworth, Steeton, Silsden, Addingham and Ilkley with some stunning scenery en-route.
In 2021 after 15 months in & out of a Covid lockdown world there was higher than usual demand for places in the event and we were allocated 4 teams – 2 Open (Men) and 2 Ladies – 40 runners. With only 20 men initially saying Yes, Dave Stephenson made the brave decision to enter two teams. After managing to fill the first couple of team losses he hit the buffers. Fortunately I had spare reserves for the Ladies teams – even after a couple team changes, so a lady filled the Open team. Announcing the teams is a fine balancing act – the earlier the team goes out – the more potential there is for having to deal with changes. The Ladies teams are good at holding but life happens and sometimes unavoidable drop outs occur. Also pairing people up to run together was difficult this year – without race performances and regular running activity to gauge likely running speed and capability some of the pairings weren’t perfect. Must try harder next year 😉.
Dave & I had been organising general recces for a number of weeks – to get as many people out on as many legs as possible – especially newer people who may not have done this sort of relay before. Lots of new things to get used to – the logistics of point to point running, navigating, maps, and some pretty cold wet weather in May. It’s always good to see confidence building, with many people getting out on their own recces too – especially once the teams had been announced so they had a particular leg to target. I was super impressed that some ‘vests got ironed’ in preparation, and I am sure there were plenty of ‘lucky socks’ out there too 😉.
In the 4 teams it was great to welcome 9 ‘new’ runners – new to Bingley Harriers, new to being old enough to join in, and mostly ‘new’ to relays of this nature. I promised the ones I came across a fabulous day out in a Bingley team & vest, in beautiful countryside, with a race target to go for and a running partner for company and confidence. A warm but breezy day completed the set, if a little too hot in parts, so, for me, it lived up to expectations.
On the day itself, after a 7.30 am team change to fill in for a van breakdown in the Lakes and a vest delivery to Wilsden everything and everyone ran. I will let the picture, the smiling faces (mostly!) and some comments from those involved say the rest :

• That was such an awesome experience. I’m totally buzzing. We did it in around 1.28.30. Looking forward to the next race. Thanks for all the good wishes.
• I absolutely loved it, still buzzing from it. Thank you for giving me the opportunity! I think we would have been quite a bit faster without the heat!!
• It was great to be out competing again after a very quiet period for races (since the start of the Covid pandemic). Leg 2 was the only leg I hadn’t done previously, so it was good to try that one out. It was hot and sticky, but really scenic and nice to catch up with other runners at the changeover points.
• A message of thanks for organising such a lovely day! I really enjoyed racing again and coming along to support everyone!
• Really pleased with our result. Makes the effort worthwhile. I was fine until we hit the fields at the valley bottom and then just felt hot 🥵. Luckily Stephanie was able to keep a good pace and I just focused on keeping up and shouting out directions. Once we got to the golf course I picked up and also knew the end was in sight! I have to say it felt good passing so many pairs.
• I was so nervous yesterday running 10.8 miles in the Millennium Way relay race with a new running partner, for a new club and with a forecast of hottest day of the year. Shouldn’t have, so pleased with best 10mile pace by quite a way and brilliant company from Jo encouraging me on…. Thank you also to Zoe For getting me there at the last minute and to Becky for putting me in the team…. Had a brilliant day, still buzzing now
• I really enjoyed it yesterday it was a great first experience of a relay race. Definitely up for doing another.
• Thanks for the good news about the award. It didn’t feel like we were running an award winning leg! I guess the heat was making it feel so much tougher. I could barely walk for days. I can’t remember feeling deep muscle soreness like this. I think it was the steep road descents.
• I really enjoyed it yesterday it was a great first experience of a relay race . Definitely up for doing another.
The results : A record number of teams took part with 65 teams out on the day. Barlick took Open (Men, 5hrs 50) and Ladies (7.26) prizes, with Pudsey Pacers taking the Vets and Valley Striders the Mixed team categories. Bingley Ladies A were a close second coming in just 16 minutes after the winning ladies team. Denise and Stephanie were the fastest ladies on L3. The men were pleased with their results especially as a number of runners had not been available with the Ennerdale Fell Race (long & hard) the day before; couple of them ran both!

Bingley Harriers A/56 Open 18
1 Kev Garlick 01:39:28 25
Pete Stephens 25
2 Andy Brown 01:16:52 14
Martin Peace 02:56:20 19
3 Matt Leedham 01:15:15 22
Alastair Jewbury 04:11:35 17
4 Will Duggan 01:27:51 21
Callum Imeson 05:39:26 15
5 Robbie Williams 01:34:31 23
Greg Truselle 07:13:57 18

Bingley Ladies A/58 Ladies 29
1 Lesley Watson 01:38:38 24
Ruth Thackray 24
2 Shona Stone 01:40:08 45
Mandy Dye 03:18:46 38
3 Denise Wright 01:09:26 12
Stephanie Robson 04:28:12 32
4 Mary Green 01:40:30 40
Jenny Holmes 06:08:42 30
5 Jo Buckley 01:33:36 20
Sarah Flaherty 07:42:18 29

Bingley Harriers B/57 Open 36
1 Josh Spencer 01:38:28 23
Simon Jones 23
2 Paul Spencer 01:28:43 32
Dom Goldthorpe 03:07:11 28
3 Pete Shoard 01:28:26 42
Richard Dawson 04:35:37 35
4 Ian Storey 01:45:50 47
Alison Marks 06:21:27 38
5 Paul Crabtree 01:32:51 19
Tom Gomersall 07:54:18 36

Bingley Ladies B/59 Ladies 55
1 Sarah Hey 02:12:12 58
Alice Horsey 58
2 Meryl Levington 02:09:23 63
Caroline Francis 04:21:35 60
3 Julie Burns 01:42:07 52
Michelle Langley 06:03:42 62
4 Nicky Clay 01:44:59 45
Mari Johnson 07:48:41 57
5 Jo Henry 01:47:36 45
Vanora McCullagh 09:36:17 55

Full results at https://saltairestriders.org.uk/site/bradford-millennium-way-relay/
A massive thanks to all who took part, including the reserves who held their day free to step in at the last minute, or those who would have run but life took over, and all who supported in the run up and on the day. See you all for the next team event and the next relay.
Becky Weight and Dave Stephenson
Thankyou to S Brown, B Carney, R Weight, T Akhtar and R Thackray for the photos.