Bogusboy rounds up the action from the weekend

The GR8 is now firmly established as one of the ‘must do’ events in the annual NI calendar. Organised with military precision by our neighbours, Murlough AC, the race has grown exponentially as the years pass by. Now in its 8^th year, entries reached the magical 1000 for the first time and just over 900 completed the unique distance of 8.2 miles (or slightly longer or slightly shorter depending on the calibration of your satellite driven timepiece!).

Regrettably, the weather was a little dull and dreary in the morning, but as 1pm approached, there was a noticeable rise in the temperature. Mindful of this, an occasional layer was left in the environs surrounding the start as the runners went to the line. NAC was well represented with 20 runners in the pack. Rising triathlon star, Ryan McMullan would prove to be the strongest on the day, recording an impressive 51:24; good enough for 12 place overall. He was made to work all the way by his club mate Paul Byrne, who would finish 18 seconds and 2 places further back. Byrne had targeted this race and has been putting in a shift on Tuesdays and Thursdays in preparation; the hard work certainly paid off.

Gareth Mcauley was with his club mates at the 2 mile mark, but tailed off a little in the later stages. Nevertheless he did hold his form and finished 34th overall. Next home was Sinead Murtagh in an epic 54:11, which was almost good enough for the third podium spot. Alas, on this occasion, Murtagh would be pipped by a really strong closing few miles by Ballydrain’s Amanda Perry. Nonetheless, this result is still remarkable, a mere 6 months after giving birth. Bob Brown was as solid as a rock and recorded an impressive 56:10. Despite finding the conditions on the beach tough, Patricia McKibbin showed all her class in the closing two miles and finished strongly. Invariably her leg speed will improve further with all the speed sessions planned for the winter months.

 

Thick and Fast

Then came a glut of NAC athletes in rapid succession. McCann and McKenna are in the final stages of preparation for the Dublin Marathon and declared they were taking it ‘handy enough’. Phil Murdock is on the road to recovery from injury and formed an unholy threesome as the motley crue set of the company of the designated pacer Declan McCormick. Needless to Say, the pacer was given lots of advice on pacing, much to his chagrin. In fact, at one point, things go so technical that Sean Looby (son of Dick Looby) dropped off the pace, feigning an injury to escape their musings. A few others were dragooned in as the wind on the beach proved to be in the faces of the athletes (when is the wind not in the faces of athletes!). Buoyed on by the task of supporting others, this team worked really well together and enjoyed the challenge of keeping things steady while encouraging others.

They proved so effective that three of their own, messers Gilroy, Graham and Morgan went sailing past and tore off towards the finish. Murdock was delighted to beat McCann for the third time in this race, albeit by thousandths of a second. Still the camera does not lie and Murdock has temporary bragging rights. Eamonn Mallon was in the next little group, just over half a minute back and reaped the rewards of his commitment to tempo running for the last number of Thursdays.

John O’Higgins was a little further back, finishing just over the 60 minute barrier in his first race for a while. Angie Kerr made her racing debut in red and yellow and did not let the side down with a strong run, clocking 68:30. Harry ‘race a week’ Russell was next over the line, though his chip time would record 68:21. Harry continues to embrace all that is good about local racing; getting out there and giving it your all. Just behind Harry was Kerri Valentine. Kerri is in that transition stage from Junior to senior and is working hard to bridge the gap between shorter junior and longer senior races. Honorary Dundrumian Gary McIlhennon spent half the night looking for his vest. It was last seen in the 2014 Hill & Dale Series. Gary gave it a sniff and declared that it had self-cleaned in the interim and was ‘good to go’. Both man and vest turned in a good show with Gary 344^th in 1:10:10 – a time of great symmetry!

 

There is no show like a ‘Big Ron Show’

Coach Horrox, sponsored by Joop, was once again on pacing duty and a certain book famous for verifying records are believed to be interested in ascertaining if Ron has set a new record for the most excessive use of the phrase ‘Come on Hazel’ in an 80 minute period. The encouragement was such that many were asking ‘who is this Hazel?’ More sinisterly, some of the other ‘Angels’ were left feeling underwhelmed by the lack of attention they were given. Ron, a man dedicated to improving the performance of others crossed the line with an entourage in just over 72 minutes. Moreover, sources report another attempt on a record; this time for most people following Big Ron in a straight line as he led the pose along the beach. Jack O’Hare was spectating and remarked, ‘Good lad Ron. You got it sorted.’ The biggest cheer of the day came when EMAC outkicked GMAC up the home straight. Fed up with his constant droning the whole way round, she unleashed an almighty kick with 200 to go and powered through to burst the finish line with some considerable aplomb.

 

Position	Name	Category	Finish	Chip time	2 Miles
12	Rory McMullan	MO	00:51:24	00:51:24	00:11:02
14	Paul Byrne	M45	00:51:41	00:51:42	00:11:02
34	Gareth Macauley	MO	00:53:57	00:53:57	00:11:03
39	Sinéad Murtagh	F35	00:54:12	00:54:11	00:11:40
54	Bob Brown	M50	00:56:10	00:56:05	00:11:48
77	Patricia McKibbin	F35	00:57:42	00:57:40	00:12:25
94	John Gilroy	MO	00:58:25	00:58:22	00:12:38
95	Stephen Graham	MO	00:58:26	00:58:24	00:12:43
96	Peter Morgan	M45	00:58:27	00:58:23	00:12:32
100	Philip Murdock	M45	00:58:35	00:58:34	00:46:14
101	Michael McKenna	M35	00:58:35	00:58:34	00:12:32
102	Joe McCann	M45	00:58:35	00:58:34	00:12:32
113	Eamonn Mallon	M50	00:59:09	00:59:05	00:12:38
133	John O’Higgins	MO	01:00:39	01:00:37	00:12:38
306	Angela Kerr	F35	01:08:46	01:08:30	00:15:04
308	Harry Russell	M45	01:08:48	01:08:21	00:16:25
322	Kerri Valentine	FJ	01:09:17	01:08:26	00:15:27
344	Gary McIlhennon	M45	01:10:10	01:10:05	00:14:05
405	Ronnie Horrox	M50	01:12:27	01:12:22	00:15:39
624	Gerard McAuley	M35	01:21:19	01:21:02	00:17:03

 

The Comber Cup

While some were treading the sand on Murlough beach, others were ploughing through the mud at the Billy Neill playing fields between Comber and Dundonald. This could only mean one thing, the start of the 2017-18 Cross Country season. NAC have been eminently successful in this in recent years, winning the XC league in two of the last three seasons. On Saturday a modest crew of 4 represented the club in conditions that deteriorated greatly as the day progressed.

The traditional curtain raiser was won by in-form Springwell AC athlete Neil Johnston; Johnston had ran superbly in recording 9:29 for his 2.1 leg of the relay at Victoria Park last Saturday. Newcastle’s 18 year old rising star, Patrick McNiff was second, a mere 6 seconds in arrears with club mate Seamus Lynch claiming fourth spot behind third place finisher Mark McKinstry, as 22 seconds separated the top 4 men. David McNeilly, 34^th and Francis Tumelty, 60^th completed the scoring for the team in a field of 178.

Position	Name	Time
2	Patrick McNiff	0:27:33.8
4	Seamus Lynch	0:27:49.3
34	David McNeilly	0:30:58.5
60	Francis Tumelty	0:32:49.4

 

Two is a start

One important objective for the club is to get more ladies participating in XC. In a field of 121 ladies in the senior race, there were two NAC females. Nicky McKeag, a stalwart of XC, was 36^th and ‘newbie’, Donna Daly was a highly respectable 55^th in her first outing on the country. Both enjoyed the race and are committed to filling a ‘bus full of maybes’ for the next outing in Kilbroney Forest Park at the Bobby Rea Memorial.

In the same race, Evergreen Jim Patterson was second overall to Springwell’s Gerry O’Doherty in the V60+ race and first in the V70 category which he dominates.

Earlier in the day, Ronan McVeigh competed in the U15 Race. The race was a step up in class and distance for Ronan who finished 8th in the 3km event in 11:31, a great time for a 13 year old competing against athletes almost two years older. The experience of such a competitive race will stand Ronan in good stead in the future.

 

Castlewellan parkrun

On September 23, Castlewellan launched the 25^th parkrun in Northern Ireland. This worldwide phenomenon which began in Bushy Park London in 2004 with 13 athletes and 4 marshals has really captured the imagination of locals. In the 4 events to date in Castlewellan, a total of 1391 have crossed the line with runners, joggers and walkers of all abilities taking part in a free and fun 5k run/walk. This included the record turnout for a parkrun anywhere in Northern Ireland (567 on the inaugural morning). This week John Craven from Newsround or Countryfile (depending on your age!) took time out of filming to meet and speak with some of the marshals.  He said he was impressed by the impact of the event and the large numbers of people making use of the beautiful natural landscape of Castlewellan Forest Park.

There will be an information session on parkrun volunteering in Life Adventure Centre in the courtyard of Castlewellan Park at 7pm this Friday (20 October). Everyone welcome – come along and become a part of the parkrun revolution.