Champion Running at Kilbroney
By The Non Runner
Photos by Declan Rice
A veritable hive of activity on Saturday 26th October awaited team Newcastle AC as we arrived for the NI and Ulster junior cross country even age group championships. 20 junior Newcastle AC athletes returned to the now familiar venue of Kilbroney Park and a great atmosphere awaited our runners. We could see folk attempting the climbing tower, groups of walkers, lots of mountain bikers and other people out for the morning, mingling with our own hardy bunch of junior athletes. The playground proved too much to resist for some young runners and the coaches hoped this would count towards the pre-race warm-up!
After downing what surely must be the smallest takeaway coffee in the world, the numbers and chips were distributed to the athletes and families. Yes indeed, our runners attached their chip (transponder) to their running shoes so that they “beeped” as they ran across the special mat placed at the finish line which recorded their time. All very high tech and perhaps challenging for those familiar with the various styles of kids running shoes…
The weather forecast for the day was heavy rain and wind. Fortunately most of our runners escaped the bad weather conditions. The weather remained dry but blustery for the first few races. One parent from another club commented that the sun would be out if Newcastle AC had been the organisers. (Perhaps a case of having a certain fair weather reputation for the McGrady Financial Services XC series). On the subject of comments, a certain coach from an unknown club later used an unfamiliar and unusual approach when calling out to their runners. Their comments shall not be repeated in this report, but safe to say they are filed under “things a NAC coach, or parent, would never call out to an athlete”.
The event began with the U10 girls race and we were represented by Sorcha McElroy and Celeste Forde. Celeste took off and dominated the race in the early stages. Her efforts were rewarded with a medal for her 10th place finish. Well done Celeste! Sorcha ran a great race to finish 20th. Next we had our biggest team from Newcastle, the U10 boys. They all ran with great gusto, a fantastic run from all the boys; Adam Hughes (30th), Finn Carey (31st), Louis Sheridan (38th), Finn Campbell (40th), Conor Campbell (46th) and Conrad Rice (48th). Next up were our U12 girls team, coming in first for Newcastle was Eve Kenneally (32nd) followed by Eabha Campbell (51st), Arizona Forde (62nd) and Taize Campbell (63rd).
We had unprecedented high drama in the girls under 14 race. Thankfully our runners Sarah Dougherty (26th), Lucy Kenneally (64th) and Áine Rice (80th) finished their challenging 2.5km race without incident. However, some girls were reported to have been physically ill on the way around the course. Our thoughts go to the young lady who valiantly finished her race after passing out near the finish line. She then got up and crossed over the line, only to collapse and remain ill for some time. Let’s hope she made a full recovery. Finn McElroy was the sole representative of Newcastle AC in the U14 boys race and he finished in a very commendable midfield position
The heavy rain was expected but didn’t show up until the very second that our Doyle girls started their U16 race! They were the first of the runners to be asked to climb the difficult hill as part of their run. First over the line for Newcastle was Eilis Doyle (33rd), followed by Niamh Doyle (40th) and Caitriona Doyle (41st).
Our last runner in the U18 boys race was Patrick Sheridan. Conditions by this stage were pretty miserable but our Patrick ran a great race to finish a medal winning 12th place and he has qualified for the All-Ireland Championships. Well done Patrick!
We saw mighty fine performances from all our Newcastle AC junior athletes over the various challenging courses. For some young athletes this was their first experience of running at championship level. They all did their club proud with sterling performances and confident running. Thanks to all the parents and grandparents who came to support our fantastic junior athletes!