The Birketts Round Norfolk Relay is an annual demanding team relay race around Norfolk. Each team consists of 17 runners who cover 197 miles in 20:30 to 28:30 hours with stages varying between five to 20 miles.
The first teams leave King’s Lynn at 5.30am on Saturday morning, racing through the night into Sunday morning, with runners passing the baton on at each stage of the route which traces around the Norfolk coast and then along the county borders.
Since its inception, over 700 teams and almost 13,000 runners have contested the race with competitors running approximately 150,000 miles.
Neville Knights, Round Norfolk Relay race director, said “The original concept was to create an event that would foster an esprit de corps in the newly formed Ryston Runners. What eventually emerged, after some heated discussion in committee, was a continuous relay following as near as possible the Norfolk county boundary. We view the relay as the ultimate club challenge and a unique experience with some challenging off-road sections, generating an excellent club spirit. There really isn’t anything quite like it. Teams run a 197 mile continuous relay in 17 separate unequal multi-terrain stages.”
Pete Goddard, a partner at Birketts and Round Norfolk Relay participant, said: "The Birketts Round Norfolk Relay has become an established event in the British Athletics Calendar and it attracts top runners from across East Anglia and further afield. It is the longest continuous running relay event in the UK and teams will be expected to complete the course in a maximum running time of 28:30 hours which is an impressive pace of 8mins 40 seconds per mile."
For regular updates please visit www.roundnorfolkrelay.com or follow events on Twitter @rnr_race
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