Touring about ....second bit!!!!!!!!!!!!!

......and another bit for you Blog,

‘Tours’ have been conceived in a variety of guises, some losing their impact because a soft option of offering a couple races over as many days was preferred to an event with several stages. Presumably organisational considerations played a significant part in any final planning decisions, it being far more difficult to structure competition over seven rather than three days? Other Tours increased in popularity because they were unashamedly promoted as a pleasurable break from the usual training and racing routines. Some struggled and were repackaged, the Isle of Man for example.

‘Tours’ do offer a different kind of challenge to athletes. Conveniently staged at holiday times, the largely local entry is supplemented by runners from further a field, using the races as an excellent excuse for a holiday visit to a different part of the country. However both the Guernsey and Isle of Man inevitably attract a large visiting entry.

 Fell race Tour of Fife.

A non inclusive list of tours would include the likes of the Guernsey, Isle of Man, Epsom, which came into being in 1985, not a southern copy of the northern ‘Tameside’, but with 5 midweek Fun Run stages, Derwent Valley and Fife…Some of the Tours are bastardised by using relays as part of the format, individual times counting towards the final calculation for the overall winners. Some tours allow entries for individual stages, the athletes having to pay a premium for the privilege; whether this takes the edge off the competition is debatable. The extra entry fees generated goes towards the overall income of the race as individual stage prizes are rarely given - unless the stage has been subsumed as part of an established road race (Hyde ‘7’ - Tour of Tameside and Wirksworth Road Race - Derwent Valley as examples).

Latterly the Marathon Tour of Fylde on the Fylde peninsula near Blackpool was born, taking place at Easter time, concluding with a road ‘10’ to have a cumulative distance of 26.2 miles.

    The Isle Man Tour came into vogue as a boozy weekend break for a few northern universities, but has since matured. It predates all other ‘Tours’. In its early days, if it gave out the air of a slightly bawdy none too serious competition then the Guernsey Tour conveyed the antithesis – a more gentile sophisticated affaire. Both impressions were probable far from the mark in reality. Because of their locations, effort has to made to organise a trip for the off shore events and as a result, they became an excellent vehicle for team bonding. The inclusion of a club relay contributed to this feeling. In the evening, some of the universities went a step further in their team building exercises by having extra curricula competitions of their own at the local hostelries!

  Four races in four days is the format for the Hilly Clothing Company Derwent Valley Tour staged around the Spring Bank Holiday period. Based in the cradle of industrial invention and innovation of the late 18^th and early 19^th centuries, the four events are either 4 or 5 miles in length, each traversing relatively hilly road terrain on the slopes of the Derwent river valley in the Derbyshire Peak District. Like Epsom, the infectious enthusiasm of Dave Denton is stamped all over the event. Dave makes no excuses for blatantly using the tours and his other race promotions for raising funds for his Indian Village project.²      

Final stage Tour of the Derwent Valley, the home of industrialisation.

The Derwent Valley Tour is the perfect example of combining a holiday with athletic races – besides the competition being short and sharp, the valley offers a wealth of interest in our industrial heritage with the Peak District doing the same for our National Parks.

A different surface over each of the five consecutive days is one of the attractions of the ‘Taut Tour of Fife’ in Scotland. Midway into the beach, fell, road and country stages, an innovative uphill time trial is inserted. Mimicking the Tour de France, runners are sent on their way at half minute intervals, the slowest being the first away. Although they set off in pairs, the couples soon separate, each trying to claw back a few valuable seconds. It might only be a couple of kilometres long, but two kilometres of unremitting steep climb is draining; taking its toll on the recovery powers of the fittest of athletes. The first race takes place along the beach famed in the opening sequence of ‘The Chariots of Fire’; commendably, the organisers have not been seduced into using the theme tune from the film! The Epsom Tour also has a time trial but their competitors are dispatched individually every 10 seconds, again the slowest sets off first. Smaller projects like the Colworth Marathon Challenge take place over a smaller time span, three days in this case; a ‘5’ mile opener, an eight mile cross country and a ½ marathon over one weekend. The beauty of this event is the free camping, the disco, the availability of showers and changing, and the sociability.

 Half marathon and final stage, Colworth Marathon Tour

 Of course, a glance through the fixture lists of the various athletic publications will reveal others events, but the article was not meant to be all encompassing.

Participation in any Tour is to be highly recommended. The reason for their popularity soon becomes apparent; although the fields are relatively small, they offer a framework for serious competition at all ability levels, as well as having a very pleasant social atmosphere in which to compete against ones peers. The contrast to normal competitive races is stark; athletes swiftly depart for home having recorded their own performance on their wristwatches while tour competitors invariably stay for the final presentations, enjoying the convivial company of their companions of the previous few days. New friendships formed, old rivalries to be renewed. Each runner is left with a wealth of memories.

1.     A copy of the flyer advertising the marathon from Coventry to the Aston Villa Ground – the race which inspired the 2008 N.P.Aerospace Tour of Coventry and Warwickshire.

2.     Refer to http://www.runningwithdavid.com/ for more information. Dave Denton is a member of Tipton Harriers and a long serving race official.

Table showing the variation of stages in the Tours

(it should be noted that each year variations in distance, surface and order do take place in some of the fixtures)

Race Title	Year of first race	Time of year	Number of stages	1	2	3	4	5	6
Tour of Tameside	1980 - 2003	Late July (order of stages changed later)	6 (+ rest day)	7 miles road	12 miles point to point road	6 miles steep road up, steep fell down	½ marathon road race	5 miles cross country lap course	8 miles canal bank point to point
Isle of Man	1963	Easter	3	10 km road race	4 mile men and 3 mile women fell run	Relay men 5km women road race
Guernsey Easter Runs	1981	Easter	4	10 km road race	4¾ miles country	4*2 team relay on road	½ marathon road race
Marathon Tour of the Flyde		Easter	4	6 miles road race	4 miles run along the beach	6 miles cross country race	10 miles road race
Hilly Clothing Company Tour of the Derwent Valley	1989	Spring Bank Holiday	4	About 4.2 miles road	4.2 miles road with a small amount of trail (part of open race)	5 miles road race	4 miles road race
Marathon Windows Tour of Epsom Fun Run Week	1985	June (Fun Runs)	5	Trail 3.3 miles	Road and grass 4.4 miles	4.4 miles off road	3 mile time trial on road	4 mile grass handicap
Taut Tour of Fife	2001	Late July(order of stages changed later)	5	5 miles out and back beach run	4 miles fell climb up and down Ben Lomand	2 kilometre uphill time trial on road	5 km road race	5 miles forest   path and road
Colworth Marathon	2002	June	3	5mile ‘road’	8 miles country	½ marathon trail