Running a virtual relay
Many of us foxes have managed our lockdown running virtual races which have really helped keep our motivation up. When we heard about the Seaford Striders Time Trial Relay it sounded like a great opportunity to run a virtual race but do it together as a team!
They were also raising money for a fantastic charity – The WOLO Foundation – who give help and practical support to families affected by cancer living in Sussex. https://www.facebook.com/thewolofoundation/
The Time Trial relay required 30 foxes to run at half an hour intervals from 6am on Saturday 25th July until 9pm that evening. Every 30 minutes a fox set off on their run and had to cover as many miles as possible in that time. All our miles were then recorded and totted up to give us a total number of miles for our day of running.
Race day
It was a glorious morning to start the relay and our first section of runners had a hot and sticky run. As the day progressed the weather got worse! We saw all four seasons in one day with our poor runners in the middle of the day facing wind, rain, and hail. As well as our 30-minute time trial, many of us foxes completed other runs including our normal Saturday foxy sessions and duathlons too. Our team managed to run a total of 89 miles across the day!
Team spirit
What got us through the day was the thought of covering 16 hours of running between us knowing that every 30 minutes we were virtually handing over the baton to the next team member. Along the way, we shared our distances, maps and selfies with each other – some in the heat, some in the horrendous wind and pouring rain. In true foxy style, we created a collage of team photos and a special video of all our runs which we shared with the rest of the foxy family.
In spite of all our cancelled races over the last 6 months, we have still managed to run together and share our successes. Thank you, Seaford Striders, for a fantastic team event!
For more information and for future events please click on the following link. https://www.facebook.com/SeafordStriders/
By Emma Hill
