For the last two years now, Vale of York has made dressing up for the PECO Relays our own little tradition. Inspired by our University of York members who have their “challenge week” at the same time as the relays, raising money for their University Athletics and Running Club as they run in fancy dress. The rest of us? We just got swept along, and now it’s just too much fun to miss.
And 2026 proved to be the best year for fancy dress participation we’ve ever had.
The standout costume this year had to be Bananaman, A.K.A James Leadbeater, father of Ewan and Isabella. His full length costume as the 1980s TV cartoon superhero, was accompanied by three giant size bananas (Sarah, Beverley and Steve) for good measure.
James’ daughter Isabella came as Taylor Swift. We had Zach as Deadpool. And we had the Spice Girls. Not just one Ginger Spice but two. Maia and Niamh both rocking Union Jack dresses around the course. Our Club Representative Team was the Cat in the Hat (Ian), Thing 1 (Katie) and Thing 2 (Tom) were also out in full fancy dress whilst still putting down serious performances to finish third overall in the club rep competition..
The course was one mile for juniors and 2.5 miles for seniors. It was a fairly hilly compact loop around the abandoned golf course at Middleton Park. The ground was firm, but still challenging with the ups and downs. Particularly the up from the start which had almost everyone going out too hard from the gun.
We were definitely on the nicer side of the park with the pond, café, and not a burnt-out car in sight.
The terrain was good, and the weather stayed dry and not too hot. Well… not too hot for most people. James in his Bananaman costume was sweltering by the end of his 2.5-mile lap. He still managed to put down a serious sprint finish, nearly airborne, and you can hear him breathing hard in his post-race interview with Vale of York TV!
The reaction from the other clubs was brilliant. Lots of cheers for our fancy dress runners, and plenty of kids said they’d love to give dressing up a go next year.
That’s the spirit. Cross country is demanding: running in all weathers, river crossings, mud, falling over, dragging yourself out on a dark morning when you’d rather not. But we do it because we love it. And at the end of the season everyone deserves to put on their Bananaman outfits on and have some fun.
So cross country season is now well and truly done and dusted and we bring on track and field. You can enter the West Yorkshire Track and Field League here to join the Vale of York team for some summer fun.
