Did I ever tell you about the Armagh 10?
A nostalgic trip down memory lane by Bogus boy

Six hardy Newcastle athletes (Mark Kendall, Jerome Farrell, Aidan Brown, John Kelly, The Prophet and The Spartan) made the now annual trip to the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland for the Armagh 10 mile race around the rolling orchard county roads with five of them using this as the final preparation race for the Dublin Marathon on 27th October.

The race was started by the Lady Mayoress on the stroke of noon and the stampede of runners headed down past the Navan Centre in full cry!

The much talked about Newcastle AC club Armagh 10 record was again never under threat, and the current record would of the placed the current holder in 6th place in Sunday’s race….alas if only! The record had withstood the annual onslaught for a tenth year and the record holder has suggested that the course was a little longer in 2004 and the technology of running apparel less conducive to fast times! Additionally, the conditions were nothing short of wretched on the day in question and the clock had inadvertently added two minutes to all the times by some bizarre twist of bad luck!

Back to the present and Mark Kendall was first NAC runner home in 59.45 just sneaking in under the hour, and was closely followed by Aidan Brown in 1.01.57 just three seconds slower than last year’s time and has every chance in his quest for a sub three hour time at a Dublin: his confidence will be brimming over after this run.

Colly ‘The Spartan’ Murtagh was on pacing duty for the first 6 miles taking Jerome ‘The Prophet ‘ McCrickard, and John Kelly under his wing before being kindly asked to move on as the roads undulated. Colly finished in 1.04.03, Jerome and John finished strongly in 1.05.15 and 1.05.41 respectively.

Jerome Farrell had a great run in his first 10 mile race finishing in a credible 1.18.09. His pre-race tactic of thinking about Man Utd winning the premier league when the race got tough seemed to work!

The athletes retreated to the Navan Centre for tea and triangle sandwiches and the MacMillan Calculator was discussed in great detail! Some runners are now under more pressure than others! Watch this space next week for the NAC Form Guide to the Dublin Marathon.