For some years now, the Henty Relay has signalled the end of our annual fixtures; being as it is the last event to be organised for the participation of all club members. It’s always a delightful affair, with Ranelights of all ages gathering from far and wide (well, Oxford) to take part.

A bit of digging in the history books has revealed that the origins of the Henty is equally as delightful as the convivial atmosphere of this year’s event. Paraphrasing the entry in Ron Dassett Callis & Steve Rowland’s illuminating ‘The first 125 years of Ranelagh Harriers 1881 – 2006’, it seems that one Chris Henty, a rather ‘lively character’ had come up with the idea of a Boxing Day relay to fill a gap in the 1966 cross country calendar.

The format – retained to this day – saw teams of 3, comprising a ‘fast‘, ‘medium‘ and an 'improving‘ runner, take on 6 laps of approximately 1.3 miles per lap around Sidmouth Woods. ‘Fast’ runs three laps, ‘medium’ runs two and the ‘improver’ has the blessed relief of a single lap of the course, with the running order left to the discretion of each team.

The 1966 event was well received as a one-off, and that would have been that had it not been revived in 1975. When Chris Henty found this out, he was so delighted, not only by that news but also by the fact that it’d been named after him, that he donated a trophy. And as he’d emigrated to New Zealand by then, it was logical (to him, we’re sure) to present a wooden statue of a Kiwi bird.

49 years later, and we’re still going in circles around Sidmouth Woods. Thankfully no longer in deep midwinter as the event has been moved to summer for a few years now, with its popularity clearly intact; judging by the 23 teams that formed.

Competitor Ed Perry had this to report:

The first (slightly shorter) lap tends to be a bit of a showdown of the faster runners - and this year proved no different. And despite everyone giving it their all, no-one could match the pace of Joe Killip, who emerged up the hill to the manhole cover changeover point in a blistering first lap of 6:39!

His medium runner turned out to be young Thomas Lane (clearly following in, and fast overtaking, his father Mick Lane’s footsteps), with club stalwart Deborah Blakemore making up their team. Somehow, the handicappers had overlooked Thomas’ meteoric recent improvements and when Joe took back from Tom on Leg 3, the gap grew still further.

At one point just before halfway, some teams were in danger of being lapped by the Killip/Lane phenomena, but the beauty of this event means that often it comes down to the performance of the ‘improving' runner. So, there was a glimmer of a chance for the other teams to catch up when Joe handed to newly announced lifetime member, Deborah Blakemore. The chase was on. However, no one underestimated Deborah’s experience and commitment – if anyone could hold off a chasing pack, it would be her.

The break came when Shaun Griffith handed over to Lukas Appenzeller at the end of Lap 4, clawing back just under 6 minutes from Deborah. Lukas ran his heart out, but Thomas ran brilliantly, bring that time gap down by 17 seconds. And those 17 seconds would prove vital.

At the start of Lap 6, Shaun ran for his life, not daring to look back. He later recounts that he ran as fast as he could, knowing that Joe was chasing him down. Everyone waited with bated breath for the bobbing heads to emerge, and despite Shaun’s best efforts, it was Joe who led, gliding up the hill, taking his team to a worthy victory – and crossing the line ahead of Shaun… by EXACTLY 17 seconds.

At the Roebuck, Shaun said he was overtaken at the last turn, just before the tarmac path. Shaking his head, he uttered the words, “Silent Assassin", bemoaning the smooth Killip gliding style that made him undetectable, even across gravel!

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Blessedly no one got lost and while the intensity of friendly competition was such that race officials were moved to issue, time and again, stern threats of penalties for being on the wrong side of the cones during the handover; it was a wonderfully supportive atmosphere with everyone cheering on their teammates and in true Ranelagh spirit, everyone else running too.

After some fabulous racing all round, the winning team was Joe Killip, Thomas Lane & Deborah Blakemore. Close behind was Shaun Griffith, Lukas Appenzeller & Clare Fowler and third place was taken by James Stokes, Jacob Cavendish & Carol Aikin.

A huge shout out to everyone that participated; with an extra special mention to the timekeepers and other volunteers. From Andy & I, a HUGE THANK YOU to everyone for coming along to and supporting the events we’ve organised this season. It has been a real pleasure for us to put on these races, on behalf of our club, for your enjoyment. We look forward to doing it all over again – for you - in September.

Race report written by Narissa Vox; contribution by Ed Perry
📸 Hadi Khatamizadeh & Narissa Vox

💙 Team Results: HentyRelay2024.RESULTS.Team_.pdf
💛 Lap Times: HentyRelay2024.RESULTS.LapTimes.pdf
💙 Individual Speed Order: HentyRelay2024.RESULTS.IndividualSpeed.pdf