Relay good fun

Were you one of the many school children who did their utmost to get out of cross country running?

You certainly wouldn’t have been alone; in fact, it’s a common memory, it seems, to have researched traditional ‘get out’ options to avoid the inevitable (perceived) hell that was high school PE in the cold wind and driving snow! All that taken into consideration of course, it’s fair to say that the situation may have been exaggerated on an exponential level as the years have passed by.

In complete contrast, I bet you jumped at the chance to be part of a relay team in your school sports week. I’m not sure whether the appeal was that you weren’t solely responsible for your success (or demise), but you shared the experience with a group of friends, class mates or school house mates, for example.

There was a realistic chance you wouldn’t be the quickest, but in a standard relay quartet you had a one in four chance of not being the slowest either. It’s amazing what good odds can do to your confidence.

There’s also an element of good old-fashioned fun involved in team competition – it can bring the best and worst out in people, but when you’re all in it together you can share the agony and ecstasy. What’s more, the opportunities to run together don’t end with inter-school competitions at the end of college, you can enjoy running relays off road, on road, uphill and down, for as long as you’re fit and able.

Read the full blog in our Editor’s blog section!