Long Distance Relays
Six to twenty runners, a minibus, and a very long day. The relays are how most people end up knowing the rest of the club.
Early June · two days · 20 stages · teams of 20
The Welsh Castles Relay
Caernarfon to Cardiff over a weekend in June, twenty stages, and our biggest turnout of the year. Twenty runners to a team, one to a stage — some flat, some emphatically not — and the rest of the team leapfrogs ahead in vans to feed, shout and hand over.
It is two days of Welsh hills, roadside picnics and a great deal of sitting in a minibus, and it is the single fastest way to go from knowing three people at the club to knowing forty.
First Saturday in July · one day · 10 stages · teams of 10
The Cotswold Way Relay
Ten runners, 104 miles of trail from Chipping Campden to Bath, starting at seven in the morning and finishing around six in the evening. It is not a baton relay — ten separate leg races add up to one elapsed time, so every runner gets a proper hundred-person race of their own as well as a share in the team result.
In 2025 we took two teams. The Mixed team won their category, first of thirty-six and tenth overall; the Vets came fourth of fifteen. Twenty runners went, six of them women, aged from early twenties to early seventies — which is rather the point of a relay.
First Saturday in June · one day · 18 legs · teams of 6
The South Downs Relay
Beachy Head to Winchester in a day — eighteen legs, ninety-seven miles, fifty-two teams, and the only one of the three that finishes on home ground. Six runners to a team, three legs each across the day and anything from 8 to 18 km a leg — and since it is the South Downs the whole way, not one of them is flat. Drivers leapfrog between handovers to get everyone to their next start.
On our debut our Mixed team came home in 11 hours 20, forty minutes inside their own estimate and second in category by 3 minutes 29 seconds. Our Vets team took the prize the organisers care most about — the most accurate predicted finish time of the day, within four and a half minutes over the full distance.
Second in category by 3 minutes and 29 seconds. Over the 100 mile distance that is just 2 seconds a mile.
And the rest
Those three are the big ones. We also enter the Test Way Relay, a shorter local option in August.
The club separately enters teams in the national and regional relay championships, on both road and cross country — sharper, shorter and rather more serious. Watch the club WhatsApp group for those too.
Getting a place
Teams are picked from members who put their names forward, and the club handles the entry. The organisers do a formidable amount of work behind the scenes; the Welsh Castles entry in particular has earned its unofficial description as herding cats. Watch the club WhatsApp group and this page for when entries open.
And if you are not running
Relays need drivers, marshals and people to shout. Plenty of members do a day of that and enjoy it as much as the running.
Fixtures and results
Relay events the club has entered, most recent first.
Fixtures
No fixtures scheduled at the moment.
Relay honours
Team results and club relay awards from the annual awards dinner.
2025
Cotswold Way Relay — Mixed team
- 1st of 36 Mixed teams, 10th overall
- Vets team 4th of 15
2024
South Downs Relay — Mixed team
- 2nd in category on our debut, by 3 minutes 29 seconds
- Vets team: most accurate estimated time of the day
2025
Club relay award winners
- Men: Adrian Fautly
- Ladies: Sam Parkinson
2024
Club relay award winners, by event
- South Downs Relay: Magnus Gregory and Alex Lane
- Welsh Castles Relay: Stan Parkinson and Jackie Ducker
- Cotswold Way Relay: Paul Horler and Sam Parkinson
- Road Relays: Adrian Fautly and Lucy Elliott
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- Teams of six to twenty, all abilities used
- Two-day trips to Wales and the Cotswolds
- The fastest way to get to know the club
At a glance
The three big relays
Each one is a different shape — how long it takes, how many legs, and how many runners you need.
| Relay | When | Legs | Distance | Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Welsh Castles Relay | WhenEarly June, over two days | Legs20 stages | Distance204 miles | Team20 runners, one per stage |
| Cotswold Way Relay | WhenFirst Saturday in July, one day | Legs10 stages | Distance104 miles | Team10 runners, one per stage |
| South Downs Relay | WhenFirst Saturday in June, one day | Legs18 legs | Distance97 miles | Team6 runners, three legs each |
Distances are the sum of the club's measured legs, which run a little under the figures the organisers advertise — the South Downs is billed as 100 miles.