On the morning of October 26th while many were relaxing at home, two staff teams from the Senior School were preparing to compete in the 30th Anniversary 2010 Bahrain Marathon Relay. A total of 26 teachers manned the 32 available slots to form the two teams which raced the 47km distance against 155 other teams in the blazing sun. The teams this year had been organised by Chris Freeman who was determined to beat the student teams for the first time. Staff met for training on a weekly basis during the weeks preceding the event and times began to fall.

Team 95 consisting of John Myatt, Rachel Sangala, Vicki McGregor, Tom Vaughan, Kevin Stewart, Nick Wilson , Simon McInroy (Junior School), Chris Freeman, Dan Vickery, Keith Harrison Peter Cunningham were hopeful of a top 10 spot and on paper were expected to beat the students but this had not been done before. It was clear early on in the race that despite a few setbacks the planning had worked and the team finished in an impressive time of 3 hours 19 minutes and 23 seconds placing them in a record 8th overall and perhaps more importantly 24 places ahead of the student A team!

 Team 96 led by Carys Reimers consisting of Richard D-C, Marshall Hughes, Joe Mulleague, Louise Vaughan, Julie Johnson, Rola Hammoud, Paula Carr, Tom Pollard, Sebastien Gilhodes, Keri Page, Sally Thompson, Louise Brown, Steve Ward, Julia Richards, Sally Thompson and Carys Reimers had also been working hard during their training runs. It was great to see how their dedication to get out on the road paid dividend as their times began to tumble despite the oppressive heat. In the weeks preceding the race it was clear that Alosra were selling a few more salads and a few less pies during the lunch break in the staff room! On race day the team faced up to the distance and the difficult conditions and finished in a respectable 92nd pace in 4 hours 23 minutes and 22 seconds ahead of both the Saar Staff B team and Student B team.

A number of the runners keen to build on this success have now turned their attention to competing in triathlons as part of the newly formed Student and Staff STC Triathlon Club who are planning to compete in both the Amwaj Triathlon and the Abu Dhabi International Triathlon in March 2011. The target for next year’s relay is a top 5 placing and the planning has already started!

Chris Freeman