Club notes for week of 18th March 2012

by Joe McCann
He may look nifty, but Dermy is 50!

A fresh faced and still youthful Dermot McGonigle paid a visit to his homestead on the Tollymore Road last weekend for belated celebrations of his 50th birthday, which he apparently celebrated in some style in his adopted home of Scotland on 12th February. While the main event for family was on Saturday, the hoi polloi of scoundrels and reprobates from the local housing estates descended on Jim and Kathleen on Friday evening for an night of running nostalgia and sharing of craic.
Upon arrival several small tables were produced and these were soon festooned with an array of exotic beers, a selection of freshly cut sandwiches and a fruit cake laced with whiskey! Billy McNeilly brought a portfolio of scrapbooks, dating back as far as 1980 which documented the early days of the running club. The assembled mass was astounded at the level of performance and achievements of some of the greats of the club, among whom the birthday boy stood tall (metaphorically speaking!). Equally impressive was the level of contribution to the local press; how standards have slipped in recent times! Much of this was due to the creative hand of Edna McNeilly who took a keen interest in chronicling the club archives and achievements. On trawling through the annals, I was amazed by the times recorded by some of our athletes. In the early days, runners of the calibre of Paddy O’Neill, Deon McNeilly, Dermy, Robbie Bryson, Ian Brannigan and the Rodgers brothers, Richard and Paul were giants among men in Northern Irish running circles, dominating races and achieving times that many of the current crop can only dream about. In those halcyon days the club even did a continuous 189 mile relay to the twin New Ross. Marty McVeigh recalled rolling through Dublin at around 2am and being greeted by the drunks who were rolling out of the pub, incredulously observing men in vests clipping along through the capital’s streets at 6 minute mile pace! The local club came out to meet our intrepid heroes and join them for the last few miles. Regrettably our men were psyched up to the hilt and left the locals, who had got up early for the sole purpose of forming a welcoming party, trailing in their wake!! McGonigle himself was at the top of his running game in these early days, recording in particular some impressive times and results in the Ben Nevis race. It will come as no surprise that neither Deon nor Damien Brannigan appear not to have aged a day since many of the snaps were taken. In fact Damien’s 1980s clothes still fit him! How do we know? The answer is simple: he still wears them! A great evening was had by all and we are grateful to Jim and Kathleen for their warm hospitality and forbearance with some of the more vocal members who attended and shared stories that were unsuitable in the holy season of Lent!

Jimmy’s 10k
One of the traditional components of the St. Patrick’s weekend is the annual Jimmy’s 10k road race. Joe McAllister recorded another impressive win on a fine sunny day. Newcastle AC was well represented and a few of the maybes discarded their usual indifference and turned up. Best placed Newcastle Athlete was Mark Kendall, who recorded an impressive 35:58 in finishing 16th overall. There were also good runs from other Newcastle athletes as indicated in the results below. Full results here.

Place Number Name Club Gender Time
16 261 MARK KENDALL Newcastle AC Male 00:35:58
17 39 BRENDAN QUAIL Newcastle AC Male 00:36:23
22 87 DAMIEN BRANNIGAN Newcastle AC Male 00:37:23
26 38 BRENDAN DONNELLY Newcastle AC Male 00:37:34
40 320 PAUL WATSON Newcastle AC Male 00:40:04
41 187 JEROME MCCRICKARD Newcastle AC Male 00:40:11
113 193 JOE MCCANN Newcastle AC Male 00:45:06
135 357 SAM MCNEILLY Newcastle AC Female 00:46:18
234 110 Declan Rice Newcastle AC Male 00:51:45

News from Tadworth AC
Since moving to the mainland our very own import from Montrose (up the Gable-enders!), Big Alan Strachan has been running as a second claim athlete for his local club Tadworth AC. To celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in exile the ‘Yin’, accompanied by many other fine Tadworth trotters set out for the daunting prospect of the Worthing 20 mile road race. Big Alan has been training hard but recently is plagued by a recurring foot injury. However he is determined to continue his assault on London 2012 and is working through the pain barrier to ensure that his toe is on the line on April 22nd. Having missed some training in the past two weeks, Alan was using this stern test as a barometer to ascertain if he was still in contention for a 2:50 London. He performed exceptionally well on the day, recording an impressive 2:10:23, a time good enough to secure 18th (the race attracted a field of 489 athletes) place overall in a race won convincingly in 1:49:10 by Mark Jenkin of Bideford AC. Alan was through the 10 mile marker in 1:04:29 and despite slowing slightly in the second half ran consistently to record an average pace of 6:32.5 per mile, an impressive achievement for the distance. On hearing the news his regular Saturday morning road running partner Damien Brannigan hinted that he would love to take part in the race next year and is already making plans that will undoubtedly never come to fruition! We all hope that Alan’s injury will abate and allow him the opportunity for a serious assault on London in the company of Kendall, who is running better than ever before.

They love them there mountains!
For the more rugged club members training continues in the mountains. With the arduous Annalong looming on 28th April, Deon, Eamon, David O’Flaherty and Gene McCann took on this beast on Saturday morning as a fitting tribute to the endeavours of St. Patrick. Eamon, in typically busy fashion, was only able to complete the sections over Chimney Rock and Commedagh before returning to his domestic chores. The others continued steadily and completed the 18 mile course in around 2:48. Gene tells me that he ran around the same time in the race last year, so it was a hard training run!

Hill and Dale registration is live for 2012
This year registration for the Hill and Dale series is an online affair. From Monday 19th March entries can be made through the Newcastle AC website for both senior and junior athletes. The registration covers athletes for all of the 11 races in the series. Upon entering online a 4 digit code will be sent to the athlete via e-mail. No payment is required in advance. Athletes can collect their number at their first race and payment is made on the night for each race. Full details and instructions are available on the website (www.newcastleac.org). In the weeks ahead there is a cornucopia of local races. The action begins next weekend with the Larne Half Marathon on Saturday 24th followed by Castlewellan GACAC organised Spring Lake 10k and 5k at 1pm on Sunday. On the same day a more gentle option could be the Down District Sport Relief Mile. This event is at 12pm and is organised by Joe Quinn and his East Down colleagues. The event in aid of worthy causes starts and finishes at Ballymote Sports and Wellbeing Centre in Downpatrick and includes a 3 mile option for the more enthusiastic. The following Saturday sees a wealth of racing with the Leitrim 5 mile road race and 2 mile fun run, the Slieve Donard Downhill only race and the Omagh Half Marathon.