Ilkley Harriers Virtual Christmas Relay 2020

There's a different look to the Harriers' Christmas Relays this year, but they still feature fancy dress and Festive fun - although you'll have to provide the mulled wine and mince pies yourself!

We've come up with a new format featuring three different 5km routes in Ilkley - one fell, one trail and one road.

You can do them at any point from now until Christmas Eve - in socially-distanced pairs. Choose whether to take on all three or be part of a team of six and just tackle one of them.

And there's the option to enter individually too as we'll pair you up with someone of a similar pace - just let us know whether you want to be in a team of two or six. The more, the merrier.

Just like Dan's popular weekly time trial segments, you can have as many goes as you like, with the fastest counting towards the regularly-updated leaderboard.

As well as fancy dress, socially-distanced selfie photos are also strongly encouraged. There are prizes for a range of categories, including best outfit, so it's as much about the taking part as being the quickest.

The Rules

1. Teams of 2 or 6 to run in socially-distanced pairs. Get into the Christmas spirit and wear fancy dress - anything from a Santa hat to a pantomime horse*! Outdoor, socially-distanced selfie photos are also strongly encouraged and required to qualify for the fancy dress prize (all team members must be photographed).

2. 3 legs of approx. 5k: one fell, one trail, one road. Each leg is a loop that starts at the Darwin Gardens Maze starting stone (the less fancy one, nearest the road) and finishes at the finish stone (the fancy one). Legs can be run in either direction (clockwise or anti-clockwise), but please take into account the route descriptions below when deciding.

3. All 3 legs must be run once (in any order). A team of 1 pair runs all 3 legs; a team of 3 pairs runs one leg each.

4. Strava/Garmin links should be submitted by each runner as evidence. Alternative "evidence" can be submitted by those without access to the relevant technology. You should run as a pair, but if evidence provided by each runner shows different times, the slower time will count.

5. The competition will be open from Sat 5th December until 24th December inclusive. A leaderboard will be updated regularly as results are submitted.

6. Legs can be run (and re-run) at any time during that period, but any re-runs must be run by the same pair in that team (i.e. no swapping partners!)

7. If any team changes are needed after entry (e.g. due to injury) please contact the organiser.

8. The winning team in each category will be the one with the lowest total time for the 3 legs (taking their fastest time on each leg, including any re-runs).

9. Pairs and teams of 6 will compete separately with prizes for fastest total time, fastest handicap-adjusted total time and best team fancy dress.

10. An individual can be a member of both a pairs team and a team of 6, provided you run each leg with the correct partner. For example:
. A pair can run all 3 legs as an entry to the pairs' competition, and be part of a team of 6. In this case, there is no need for the pair to run the same leg twice.
. An individual can run with a different partner in a different team. In this case, the individual must run the leg twice - once for each team with the correct partner.

Please contact the organiser if any clarification is needed: jeff@green7hw.plus.com.

The Legs

Note: you don't have to be a member of Strava to view the routes:

Fell Leg

Route

There is no fixed route for this leg, but you must visit the Badger Stone and the boulder at the head of Rocky Valley.

Hazards

. You will need to cross Wells Road twice - please cross carefully!
. At this time of year, the ground will be wet and muddy and therefore slippery - take care and wear appropriate shoes with good grip!
. It is also steep, uneven and rocky in places - take care!

Link:

https://www.strava.com/routes/2762799367854394028

Trail Leg

Route

You should follow the route shown on Strava, with the following guidance:
. The path down from White Wells is steep with steps, the path down Heber's Ghyll is steep and rocky at the top - take your pick!
. You should go around the outside of the paddling pool (near Darwin Gardens)
. The path between Old Keighley Road and the White Wells track is very narrow in places - please be considerate to others and give them time and space to pass at a COVID-safe distance.
. Please re-close the gate on the track parallel to Panorama Drive.

Hazards

. There are several road-crossings - please cross carefully!
. At this time of year, the ground will be wet and muddy and therefore slippery - take care and wear appropriate shoes with good grip!
. It is also steep, uneven and rocky in places - take care!
. The route crosses a cattle-grid - please use the side-gates, or take extreme care!

Link:

https://www.strava.com/routes/2762798106657643196

Road Leg

Route

You should follow the route shown on Strava.

Hazards:

. The grass around the start and finish stones is very slippery in road shoes - take care!
. There are multiple road-crossings - please cross carefully!
. The route crosses two cattle-grids - please use the side-gates, or take extreme care!
. Watch out for the speed bumps on Queen's Drive!
. The road surface between Queen's Drive and Parish Ghyll Lane is uneven - take care!

Link:

www.strava.com/routes/2762797033125734076

General COVID Guidance

. Please keep a safe distance from your running partner (unless you're from the same household or support bubble)
. Please keep a safe distance from others (both other competitors and the general public) in the Darwin Gardens car park and avoid gathering in groups.
. If another pair arrives intending to start at the same time, please stagger your start times by a few minutes.
. Please be considerate to other people that you may encounter while running and give them time and space to pass at a safe distance.
*Pantomime horse costumes should only be worn by members of the same household or support bubble!

Entries

Entry form with instructions can be found here: https://forms.gle/YuBQJnZ9Zmvtpqxd8

Leg and photo submissions

Please submit your run evidence using this form: https://forms.gle/jSyvR1HeeC244yGW9

Please submit photos using this form: https://forms.gle/sMxURu5Ga68TnTWGA. Unless you tell us otherwise, all images sent in will be displayed online in due course and could be used on the club's social media channels.

Results

Complete team entries and regular updates to the leaderboard can be found here once the competition is underway: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1R-GSantL7iGOkAbaD1nOFmi6qV9zUsAnTi0xXagi2wY

A gallery of all photos submitted can be found here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/YudEhqSCZUSNQ3mY6.