Hill and Dale Series 2014 Race 7

Race 7 Results
Photos by Ryan McDonald

Bailey hits a hat trick and Wilson sets the record straight!

By A Banker

Thursday 29th May 2014, saw some 164 runners from 17 various clubs with host club Newcastle & District AC leading the field with 23 so called athletes on show.  The race was the 7th race in the 2014 Hill & Dale Race Series and ran in conjunction with NIMRA as part of their overall series. This race was also my debut as Race Director, following a highly competitive recruitment and selection process, as previous debutants Mark King & Audie McVeigh will confess too.  The strategy which I adopted was to get sufficient people to volunteer and do the work, which meant that I didn’t have too!  This worked a treat.

The race covered the 4 peaks of Carn, Doan, Loughshannagh & Ott located overlooking the peaceful Spelga Dam and provided a challenge to runners of all abilities for what is one of the longest courses and open mountain races on the Hill & Dale Series.  The race which was, nearly 7K in length provided runners with some 500M of climbing across the four peaks.

In the week leading up to the race, my co-race director had concerns regarding the long range weather forecast, and was as optimistic as Angie Phillips predicting the weather on a Bank Holiday weekend, but thankfully the night presented itself with near ideal conditions.

Under the instruction of my co-race director, a pre race check was undertaken with all runners hoarded back through the gate like sheep, with race marshals checking everything including blood group, which resulted in 3 runners sent packing to their cars for respective kit much to the delight of PJ.  The importance of this kit cannot be over emphasised, so that the appropriate support can be obtained from the volunteers located on each of the peaks and along the course if required, so please bear this in mind.

The race started promptly along the track heading up towards summit of Carn, and within a short space of time, runners where scattered over the hillside seeking their own racing line with the usual suspects of Bailey, Steele, Lynch & Herron leading the field.

The men’s race finished in similar fashion to the previous Rocky race, with Ian Bailey first to break the skyline off Ott summit and no one else in sight.  Ian broke the tape in a super time of 40.48, just over 1 minute outside Jim Patterson’s 1990 record on the same course and still no one was in sight off the summit.  This was Ian’s 3rd win a row, having more recently secured the Donard & Rocky titles.  Soon, Mr Lynch & Steele battled through the descent to finish in 2nd & 3rd place respectively.  This difference between these two lads is a toss of a coin, and the respect and camaraderie at the finish line among all athletes is to be commended.

The ladies race had a ‘de ja vue’ feeling about it with Diane Wilson, fresh from her week off sabbatical, supporting hubby Brian as Race Director securing the ladies race in a course record of 51.59, previously held by Fiona Maxwell from 2006 by 1 minute, and finishing 24th place overall.  Well done Diane.  Also securing the remaining podium places were Catherine O’Connor, from EDAC in her debut Hill & Dale season, battling past established hill runner Shileen O’Kane on the final descent to finish in 32nd and 35th place overall respectively.

Having been a competitor over the past number of years it is evident that within any race, there are many more races fought out between runners.  Victories here secure bragging rights for the next week and this week was without exception.  In the battle between the two ‘Declan’s’, Rice secured this weeks victory, with Magee following close behind.  Declan Morgan in his 8th year as a V35 runner had another admirable performance, but Declan surely you must have hit 40 by now??

It always amazes me each week the length that our friends travel from each week to attend the Hill & Dale Series to include Ballymena, Larne, Castleblayney & Belfast.  Last week saw Dale Smith of Larne AC cover a total of 200 metres (this is not a typo) and climbed no altitude before getting injured crossing the river, allowing Laura last weeks victory, and returned this week to finish in a top 40 place.  We appreciate the efforts you folks go to each week to attend this series and generally arrive before the local lads.

Phil Hodge having cycled to the race on the same mountain bike he got for passing the 11 plus, secured a fine top 20 place chasing popular Hill & Dale competitor Richard Bell of Mourne Runners down the final descent.  Established runner, Aaron Shimmons’ proved what a gentleman he was by allowing everyone a 2 minute head start, and over the course of the race passed a total of 82 people to finish in 82nd place, a commendable action and result.  A first for the Hill & Dale series was achieved by Jerome ‘Jinxy’ Farrell who finally finished his first race with 2 shoes on! What we also established last week when he finished last week with one shoe on, that he didn’t in fact lose a shoe on the way around, he actually started the race barefooted and found one.

Hugh ‘I am always’ Suffern, a surname which is close to what we all experience during the Hill & Dale Series.  Well done Hugh on winning the MV55 category in 72nd place.  Brian ‘Pure Running’ Hamilton has nailed another MV65 victory and also secured first place in the race of the Maghera Inn for Food, well done Brian.  Eric ‘Safe as Houses’ Ruddle who had another consistent performance, securing 113th place.  Neil McVeigh had another victory over his nemesis that shall remain nameless, but Neil knows who he is!

Clare Galbraith of BARF, secured the FV50 title to chants of come’ on mummy by her loyal supporters & kids to finish in 108th place.  What I can only confirm as being a true gentleman of the Hill & Dale Series, Harry Teggarty of Mourne Runners returned to action following a recent illness which kept him out of the annual Slieve Donard race to secure a commendable performance, so welcome back Harry.  Ian Bates of Dromore AC can be seen on a Saturday morning attending the weekly Park Run at the Craigavon Lakes, with a PB of 22.04 recorded and never misses a Hill & Dale Event.  Ian stormed through the finish line and finally got stopped at Spelga Dam.  He generally attends these events in a tag team format with his pal, Ciaran McAleenan, who took a tumble at last weeks event, so we look forward to see Ciaran return to action soon.

This week’s sportsman award goes to Stephen Wallace, whose return to the finish was delayed by going to the aid of Dominic McGreevy during the race, to whom we wish a speedy recovery.  During the race, Stephen’s trusty Toyota Pick Up actually doubled in value when it was used as a storage facility for Phil’s bike.  Stephen has also requested if next weeks race Director Paul Watson could arrange to have the grass cut which is growing in the back of his Pick Up at next weeks race as it has reach knee height. Stephen, I have forwarded this request on.  Best wishes also go to Denise and Clive who where also unable to finish this weeks race.

Newbie’s, Katrina Pilatova & Victoria Orr travelled from Belfast in what was their maiden Hill & Dale Race, and duly received the baptism of the Mourne Mountains, so well done them.

I duly award this weeks ‘Spirit of Hill & Dale Race’ to 5 lady runners from Newry, namely Joy Morgan, Liz Graham, Annette Small, Dympna Magee & Lorna Murphy.  These ladies, after much competition managed to secure the final 5 places in a time of 1H30M.  They finished with much delight having completed the race, but my registration team did observe that at time of registration they where carrying calendars’ rather than watches! Well done girls.

This was the first race of the series that had no John Kelly, John ‘Butcher’ Kelly, John ‘Hen’ Kelly or Jonny Kelly running, but we did have two Brian Wilson’s.  Two of the JK’s, ably assisted by Joe McCann, fresh from his respectable 1H43M in the Liverpool Half Marathon and Debbie Kendall after her Edinburgh Marathon exploits in 3H57M securing a fine PB and with no tears, made as much noise as PA system on Cemetery Sunday to the delight of the runners after their mountain exploits.  Joe’s performance secured him a category finish in the Male 90/100Kg category, a first for a Newcastle AC runner.

The craic and banter at the finish line was second to none, and as the competitors returned, the smiles got bigger and bigger. Whilst it was one race, there were 164 different stories to be told.  Everyone was welcomed back to applause and abuse, but as part of the Hill & Dale Family, you would be disappointed to hear anything else.  Competitors then got duly cleaned in dirty water from nearby stream, and the gate policy we adopted worked a treat in terms of numbers returned to box, operated by our resident shepherd Jonny Ward.

Throughout the evening, I obtained various requests to include a cash machine, swipe card machine and portaloos.  I have fed this back to overall race director Martin McVeigh, who if anyone knows him has embraced these requests and shall endeavour to meet these requirements on a best endeavours basis.  In my opinion, I wouldn’t be holding by breath.

Patrons then relocated to the Maghera Inn for grub, and the every popular Hill & Dale mugs where allocated to 6 lucky competitors including Stevie Rice, John Keating, Shileen O’Kane, Clare Galbraith, Nathanial Shelton & Jonathan Scott.

By the time, we had all reached Maghera, special thanks must go to Ryan McDonald of Ryan McDonald Photography who had submitted the most recent portfolio of photographs to Social Media.  Ryan has been instrumental in his work on the series to date, having been a competitor in the series over recent years, he decided that photography was easier.  Whilst the photographic evidence of each race is unlikely to support any DLA application, they provide a valuable log of all runners’ efforts and race conditions.

Standing Orders

Having worked in Banking for some 20 years, a career which is now as welcome as Peter Robinson in a Synagogue, I know the importance of standing orders and with Newcastle AC, there are a number of standing orders without which, the success of the Hill & Dale Series would not be possible.

Firstly, Frank Morgan, fresh from his success at the local MOT Centre, thanks to sellotape & blue tac, he managed to hood wink the assessor to get a further 12 months grace on his trusty Renault Scenic.  He then began to set up a finish line, capable of landing a Malaysian Airline, which provided runners with a suitable run off after their endeavours throughout the race.  How runners become motivated, especially further down the field when they see his white tape is hard to understand until you stand at the finish line for the whole race.  Good man Frank.

Secondly, with Darragh McCrickard & Mark Kendall, they have the capacity of confirming entries and providing results in record time, a success which has now seen them make application to Stormont to provide the results for the next European Elections! Thanks lads.

Thirdly, with Tony Steele, he has been as reliable as a Volkswagen providing all races with suitable accommodation and catering facilities for all volunteers.  A big thank you to Tony for his continued support and assistance from all patrons.

Following my debut as race director, it becomes very clear very soon that the success of any Hill & Dale event relies on the volunteers who expose themselves to challenging conditions, and have the initiative and ‘can do’ attitude to get on with it.  This event relied on a TEAM of 25 volunteers who dealt with registrations, provided race marshals, collated results and collected numbers, which made the oversight of this race such an enjoyable job, along with my co-race director.  If allowed, I may reapply for 2015 Race Directorship!

This weeks race moves to Donard Park in Newcastle, for the Millstone Race, so we look forward to seeing you all then and thanks for your continued support to what is the most successful all terrain race series in Ireland!

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Race 7 of the Hill an Dale Series – Loughshannagh – takes place on Thursday, 29th May. Details are below :

– Race Registration is from 6:15pm at Ott Car Park.

– Due to the limited parking available, car sharing is preferable, so please use car park overlooking Spelga Dam.

– Race Route is as follows: Carn, Doan, Slieve Loughshannagh, Ott and back to start

– Race starts promptly at 7:30pm

– Pub is Maghera Inn.

– As this race is run on open mountain, please bring full body cover including, compass & whistle. There will be a pre race check.