Results and Photos by Henry McLaughlin
In which order would you like your ‘Meels’?
by Bogusboy
Conditions were perfect for Meelbeg/Meelmore, the 8th race in the 2013 Hill and Dale Series. Starting at the Happy Valley (a somewhat ironic place for registration where crossing the very threshold of the entries vehicle is enough to get you a mouthful of abuse!) the course takes in two of the highest peaks in the Mourne Mountains. The air was still, the sky clear blue and temperature above twenty degrees; it was the warmest day of the year so far and the 155 runners assembled risked heat stroke rather than the usual exposure due to wind chill. To the amusement of some and the bemusement of others (obviously still smarting from the previous week) factor 30 cream was the only kit requirement! Declan McElroy was one of the first to register and came festooned with a bum-bag full of kit that even made Paul Fegan look twice. When told he wouldn’t have to carry half the contents of his house, Declan mused philosophically before delivering one of the great orations of the third millennium; ‘Ok, fair enough’.
It would not be the 2013 Hill and Dale without a little controversy and this week was no exception. Many arrived at the registration declaring that the order of summits on the website was different from the order of the summits declared at the registration. The initial response of the registration team was one of general indifference as none of the elite athletes committed to the stoic task of serving others on a voluntary basis had any intention of running.
At this point the finish man Frank Morgan arrived and proffered an explanation as to why things were the way they were. Frank said, ‘I carried all the finish equipment across the stream last year and got me feet soaked; this year it is staying down here. The start is across the river, up Meelmore first.’ This brought the debate to an abrupt close. Frank was spotted in a local DIY shop since buying a bin and has asked me to print of a ‘complaints’ sign that he wants to use next week – one wonders why?
The race was quickly underway with Ian Bailey setting the pace in the early stages followed closely by Stevie Cunningham and that is how things remained over the summit of Meelmore and on to the summit of Meelbeg. Despite his gallant efforts to distance his current nemesis, Bailey hadn’t managed to establish a commanding enough lead on the climb leaving Cunningham a firm favourite on the long, fast and uneven descent back to the finish, where Morgan’s feet were dry! Stevie managed to use all his racing nous to pull away to win by over a minute on the tricky drop off the shoulder of Meelbeg, Ian remained focused finished a clear and extremely credible second. With four wins to Bailey’s two, Cunningham must now be a firm favourite to claim a second title with only three races remaining. Deon McNeilly was next to the summit after the leading two, but he was quickly over taken by Neil Carty on the decent, followed by a steady stream of younger Newcastle AC runners, David McNeilly, Seamus Lynch, Sean Donnelly and David Steele finishing in that order. Perplexed by McNeilly’s (Deon’s, not David’s – David had a fine race – McNeilly that is, though Steele had a fine race too (so did Hen, but he is a graduate from the McVeigh School of Happiness and nothing pleases him!) lacklustre descending, one club official sought clarification from the ‘Big Fella’ himself, expecting to hear something like, I have a bit of a bug or I am carrying a bit of a hamstring injury. Alas no. He had been out for 80 miles on the bike in the afternoon and was a bit tired – Silly boy!!!
First lady home was Diane Wilson, with Shileen O’Kane taking second less than 20 seconds behind and Anne Sanford finishing 3rd lady. This was established as the finishing order despite much ado and annoyance during the post-race carousing – more on that below!
After the initial confusion at start the rest of the proceeding progressed like clockwork, with the results completed in record time and no errors. Frank appears to have found the secret to accurate result with his all-female support team at the finish funnel, Mary (I’ve my 6 races done already’) Knight, Gwenda Kenneally and Vicky Canavan.
Back at Maghera Inn for the presentation, pub landlord Hugh Davey (not to be confused with Al Murray!!!) had organised an excellent spread while the runners waited for the results. The category winners were read out by an elderly and capricious athlete overseeing the proceeding at the behest of the race director. However, as he has recently moved to the V50 category his eye sight isn’t as good as it used to be and a steady stream of errors added to his already lousy evening. The situation deteriorated rapidly, not helped by the fading sunlight (thiat’s his excuse) and he went on to declare Anne Sanford as second lady to the dismay of Shileen O’Kane. A bit of quick grovelling the situation appeared to have been recovered only to upset Shileen again by declaring Patricia McKibbin first female open which should in theory have been the first lady to finish overall regardless of age, Diane Wilson. Proceedings quickly moved on spot prizes before any further errors occurred to upset the already disgrunteled ladies. However for some reason the ladies seemed to miss out on the spot prizes as well. Let’s hope the situation can be recovered next week at Rocky. How much silliness can one man be responsible for in a day?
Race 9 of the series is the Rocky Horseshoe. Rocky starts at Leitrim Lodge near Santa’s Grotto (Grid 224256). This should be a fascinating tussle as this is a must win race for Bailey if he has to have any chance of challenging Cunningham for overall glory. It is also a big race for Cunningham who theoretically could wrap up the title with two races to spare if results go his way (feel a bit like a TV commentator explaining the permutations of relegation from the Premier League!). All runners are reminded to bring full body cover in case of poor conditions and all information about the race is clearly stated on the Newcastle AC website (newcastleac.org).
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Race 8 of the Hill and Dale Series – Meels – will take place on Thursday 8th June.
Registration is now CLOSED. Please remember that you only need to register ONCE for entire Series.
Start 293295
Any route to summit of Meelbeg 301279
Any route to summit of Meelmore 306287
Any route to finish 295294
Note : Full body cover is mandatory for all participants regardless of weather conditions. There will be a kit check at start and finish of race.