Not to be outdone, the following race report was sent in by Dave Thompson. Following all the nice comments people have said about the other write up, I'm sure this one will go down equally well! As Dave said, next year...

Annette Clarke and myself entered this event at the last minute.Therefore we,unlike team Roy and Co,did not arrive until the Saturday morning courtesy of John Clarke.In comparison we were more "team slumming it" tents took all of 5 minutes to erect of course we did not have a seperate mess tent,massage tent,kitchen tent,zen zone tent,I want to be alone tent,butlers tent etc.Were we jealous you bet we were.

After registration and picking up tee shirts time to fuel up ,bacon buttyand fat rascal,we decided as with all races we must agree a strategy to avoid a complete fiasco.First major decision who goes first,and gets blown into the weeds by all the racing snakes in the 5 and 8 man teams.Easy solved according to my team colleague  I had the baton(plastic wristband)in my registration pack so it had to be me.After that I suggested the revolutionary idea of I will do a lap then you do one.That was thrown out as to simplistic.
After a brainstorming session,that did not take long,we came up with a cunning plan, which Baldrick would have been proud off,in order to get some shut eye during the night from lap ten starting at approx 9:00pm we would each run two double laps,giving the non runner two hours rest,reverting back to single laps after sun up.John then had the dubious task of holding on to this masterplan,to ensure when we got knackered we would know what we were doing and making sure non of the other teams picked up on this earth shattering strategy.Agreed an initial taget of 24 laps.

After a race briefing complete with demonstration of how to pass a plastic wristband from one runner to the next,what we go though for our sport,the first runners were sent on their way at 14:00 over the 10K course.  

In all through all the categories 201 teams started the race.Racing snakes being very much to the fore leaving us mere mortals eating dust.On a twisty hilly course one first lap being completed in a shade over 34 mins(bloody hell) I got dragged along with the usual mad dash on the first lap in a never to be repeated 49 mins.The race quickly settled down wristbands being exchanged without any mistakes,please note GB spint relay teams.The rest between laps enough to fuel up on the norm bannanas,mars bars,flapjacks and to change into dry kit,must be a better way of securing numbers than safety pins.

Via the chip timing the organisers were able to provide a leader board for all the categories plus by entering your number into a gizmo you also received your individual performance.Thus we were dead chuffed to see we were initialy in 7th place in the mixed pairs out of 18 teams, soon rising to 6th after the 5th lap.The only problem was that you had no idea who were in the teams that were ahead of you.No problem with the other teams recognising us as we had Quakers RC plastered over several changes of Kit.John was therefore sent undercover to suss out the opposition.

All was going well until the dreaded double laps as darkness fell.Having done races through the night before had no problem running in the dark but I usually have company,on this you were on your own.What made it much worse is that the runners from 8 and 5 teams still going hell for leather kept zooming past you with monotoness regularity which gave you a total inferiority complex.
Evil thoughts of sticking a leg out and blaming the trip on a tree root had to be supressed.By 2:00 am our hopes of completing 24 laps were beginning to slide.

However by dawn after the last of the double laps we had reached 4th spot the others suffering more than us.This gave us a much needed boost and the lap times came down.John had by this time a good idea of the teams who were ahead of us and tactfully put it that we were definately more experienced  and although we were not looking great they by comparison were looking like shi**.
As the race reached its conclusion we were now up to the dizzy heights of 2nd.More spying revealed one of our closest rivals had been got at by a wasp(note to self for future) and was out of the frame.In the changeover pen before her last lap Annette was collared by the lady team member in 3rd who quizzed her on how was it going etc.Although by now entering the completely knackered stage after the changeover Annette flew the first K like a ferrett up a tramps trousers which totally deflated the opposition and secured the 2nd place.

So in conclusion we completed 22 laps 137 miles.After 12 years of this running malarky this is the first trophy I have won albeit 2nd the winners completed 25 laps.So I was grinning like a cheshire cat and what was even more pleasing it would seem our team, combined age 106,was not as youthfull as the majority of the opposition.Slowly slowly catchy monkey.  

Agree totally with all Michael's comments re the organisation etc.A really fantastic event.

This is a must for a Quaker blitz next year.Points to consider.

• *Get on Roys team the facilities are fantastic.
• *Ensure everyone in your team has the same goals.
• *Agree a strategy.
• *Bring plenty of Kit.
• *Just in case bring your own wasp