Hereward Relay Gavin Long reports: What a day. 4 different stages and 4 different lots of weather. It was bitterly cold for stage 1. Bryn appeared to be the only one of the 120 starters to have opted for just a singlet. This (and his weight loss of one stone) obviously helped as he produced Saffron Striders first ever stage win. Nick, despite injury, amazingly finished in 22nd position, Janet got the girls team off to a flyer with 37th place and Paul got Sprint into the top 50 with his fantastic effort which left him with absolutely nothing to spare (apart from his ‘bambi on ice’ impression which will live long in the memory). The worst conditions of the day confronted the stage 2 runners. Settling snow, a blizzard and a strong headwind made sure it was not a stage for the faint-hearted. But how tough are the Striders ? All three men finished in the top 20 and Fiona was the 4th quickest female……. and she doesn’t even like cross country running. The road conditions from Whittlesey to March were atrocious and many teams failed to have their stage 3 runners in place when their stage 2 runner finished. Unfortunately Superstars were one of these teams. Slipstream’s Toby thrived in the pressure of such a lofty starting position and only conceded 10 places. Spurred on by his career ‘nett loss’ position, Chris was devastating quick as he clocked the 8th fastest stage time and reeled in 13 runners. Welcome to the ‘nett gain’ club Chris. John James (with the 15th quickest time of the stage) pushed Sprint into the reckoning with his capture of 23 places. Fiona finished with the 48th quickest time of the stage and more importantly, kept the Superstars in the hunt for the female team prize. The weather improved for stage 3. It warmed up, the snow was melting but there was a stiff, cold wind across the Fens. Nigel, in typical Nigel fashion, was oblivious to the tough conditions underfoot and stormed to the 15th fastest time of the day. Amazingly this was Nigel’s 9th consecutive Hereward Relay and he has never finished outside the top 20. As if to emphasise the quality of the field, the 3rd stage winner was a staggering 14 mins faster than Nigel. Gavin (21st in the stage) moved Sprint up to the top 20 and Keith, running in this first Hereward Relay, did well to keep Slipstream in the top 25. It was inevitable that Claire would thrive in the tough conditions and her time of 1:23 was the 2nd quickest female time of the stage. Brilliant blue skies and bright sunshine greeted the stage 4 runners as they finished their leg by completing a lap of Ely football pitch in front of the gathered spectators. Nick’s unfortunate withdrawal meant that Spice left the race in 11th position after stage 3. Steve produced the Striders performance of his life, by dragging Sprint from 20th to 13th in the notoriously difficult to overtake final stage and gave Sprint the 2nd placed vets team (I know we don’t look old enough). Margit (powered by Frida) brought Slipstream home in a fantastic 28th position, which gave them 2nd placed mixed team. Rebecca started like a woman possessed in stage 4 and brought the Superstars home in style. Without question, Superstars lived up to their name by not only breaking the 5 hour mark, but also finishing as the 3rd placed ladies team.