On Sunday 23 May, both VCG-Connect Teams ran and completed the Marathon RELAY event. The weather was even hotter than last year and reached a sweltering 25 degrees (77F) by midday! 

Out of 837 Relay Teams which finished, the CONNECT 4 YELLOW Team (The Oldies!) finished in 120th in 3hrs 38mins and the RED Team (The Young Pretenders!) in 133rd position only 2 minutes adrift in 3hrs 40mins.  

This year there was plenty of competition and some good natured rivalry between the 2 Teams. The YELLOW Team comprised of the 'old guard' who ran the event last year who were up against the 'Young-Uns' who were bravely lead by their RED Team Captain, Mark Willis.

On paper, the REDs had the win but some shrewd 'last minute' Team changes by the YELLOWS threw the gauntlet down to what proved to be an exciting and competitive race right to the finish!!

Both Team Captains ran the first leg of 8.1 miles. Mark Willis, possibly smarting from the YELLOWs last minute changes, ran a blistering leg to record a PB of 54:24. Clive Roberts, in an attempt to keep the Team within range also recorded a PB of 60:57 - surely the YELLOWs were too far behind??

The 2nd leg of 5.4 miles saw Paul Starling take off for the REDs with Mark 'Tinners'  Tindale in pursuit. Tinners made up the deficit and found time to give Paul some encouragement to keep digging in as he handed over to Ady Moors after recording a time of 42:30. The gesture from Mark summed up the comradeship of the day.

Ady Moors and Pieter Molenaar took over for the 3rd leg of 8 miles. The time was now approaching midday, the temperature was hitting 77F and the course was pretty much exposed along the waterfront with no shade offered. Both runners found the going very difficult, and they weren't on their own. There were plenty of Team drop-outs along this leg. Much credit goes to Ady and Pieter for digging deep and battling through the exceptional heat. Ady also had an injured knee to contend with but even that wasn't enough to stop him! - brilliant, well done guys.

Ady handed over to Pete Gaskill on leg 4 (4.7 miles) with a 7 minute lead over RED Team runner Mark Faulkner - surely too much to make up? In his first running race, Mark Faulkner took the bit between his teeth and got to work.! He ran down the lead by nearly 5 minutes recording a PB of 34:42 in a vain attempt to chase down Pete and win the glory for the REDs. Pete hung on in with a solid 39:07 and crossed the line first to the screaming support of both Captains who had made their way to the finishing line.

A fantastic effort from both Teams with some exceptional personal achievements. The biggest achievement, however, is the amount raised so far.

We originally set out with a target of £1500 for Francis House Children's Hospice but thanks to everyone's fantastic support we have surpassed £2200 with more to come! 

Thanks to everyone who have supported us with the fund raising and a special thanks to all VCG-Connect runners and especially Paul Starling and Pieter  Molenaar who made it such a special day and event.