It was then over to Boothman and Pete Beresford who managed to hold onto the lead for the first half however Boothman being the mad man he is and having raced the day before began to pay the price and they came in a respectable 7th amongst a strong field. For the mixed team it was full guns blazing for Scott and Paula, despite Paula taking what looks like a nasty fall mid race they managed to pull back 9 places and finished the leg 30th. Leg 3 saw Ben Hoyle fighting to get a gate shut whilst partner Paul Elcock waltzed through the fields whilst Danny and Karen chased a barge down the canal hoping they wouldn't open the bridge before they got there. Ben and Paul maintained 7th position with Danny and Karen pulling another to place back to finish 28th. It was a case of follow my leader on leg 4 as Swell and Nic Kendall soon realised the Keighley pair behind them had no idea where they were going, they tried to shake them off but no could do and they followed them like a pair of sheep for the remainder of the leg just sneaking past them as they closed towards the finish however they still remained 7th team. For the mixed it was the pairing of Heather and Fenty who had a strong run till the last 200m where Heather went over on her ankle but battled across the finish line in 30th place. Finally leg 5 which saw Bez and Cocks the keenest of runners for the relay and despite Bez's health issues and the fact they were not overly pleased with the scenery along the canal (Bez will explain) they had a strong run and brought the team home in 8th and what was eventually established as 1st Vets team. It was then down to team captain Scott and partner Hannah Watson for the mixed team, both had strong runs even with Scott carrying a very fetching pink water bottle and brought the team home 30th and 5th mixed team. All in all a good day out for the club.
1 Wharfedale Harriers 5:42:13
8 Barlick Vets 6:12:39 (1st Vets team)
30 Barlick Mixed 7:42:10 (5th Mixed team)
55 teams competed