Blayney is full of Rockets!

Blayney 10

A review of recent races by Bogusboy

The Castleblayney 10 mile road race is promoted by the appositely named ‘Blayney Rockets’. A few ‘Newcastle Rockets’ were persuaded to board the bus to travel to this increasingly popular race, now in its third year. David O’Flaherty was a ‘50-50 definite/maybe until he was cornered during a moment of weakness and dragooned into committing.  With the sangria flowing, he was full of pre-Olympic joy and thought it would be a good idea to compete in his first ever 10 miler. Thankfully, the club captain knows best and after a week of intensive physical and mental preparations, the in-form athlete was ready to go. Mental preparations had included frequent renditions of the infamous tale of the ‘Armagh 10’ and had left O’Flaherty ready to run through walls as he alighted the team bus. David would have a magnificent run and come home second in a field of 217. Moreover, the only man to beat him was the newly crowned Irish national 5k Champion, Conor Duffy of Glasslough Harriers stormed home to win in 53:45.  David’s time of 54:37 equates to sub 5:30 miling was described by the Prophet as ‘tramping on rightly’. Not to be overshadowed by recent events, David was quick to point out from the podium that his sister does a wee bit of running as well.

They won the team prize as well!

To add to the occasion and achievement, NAC also took home the team prize with O’Flaherty in 2nd, O’Hare 15th and Byrne 17th too hot to handle for the other teams present. Both O’Hare and Byrne produced great performances on a course that was undulating and at times challenging. Both ran negative splits, much to the pleasure of Coach Podger, who is always encouraging caution in the early part of a race to ensure a strong finish. A little further back McCann was 30th, the Prophet just beat his age in 51st, Horrox beat the speed limit on his truck in 55th and Rita Devlin made a welcome return to racing after recovering from injury. The 8th athlete on parade was Gary McIlhennon who was delighted to get some fresh air and take in the stunning scenery of rural Monaghan.  He added that he might train a bit for next year and his name should be put down for the bus, although in pencil at this stage. 15 other maybes are also thinking of going as well. The day ended more positive note than the last sojourn to the South as no one ended up in the ambulance! Having said that the unfortunate chap who gave the Prophet’s legs a rub after the race was left scratching his head in bewilderment having learnt about ailments hitherto unknown to the hoi polloi!

Earlier in the week, 5 NAC athletes had travelled to Portaferry for the traditional gala week 10 mile road race. Patrick Higgins was a very credible 9th, posting a time just over the hour on a tough and often hilly course.  The heat on the evening also mitigated against really quick times. Sinead and mar were close together throughout the race and secured second and third places respectively. Trisha McKibbin was not too far behind, finishing 5th lady overall, highlighting unreservedly the benefits that accrue from regular and consistent training with one’s club. The Spartan heard the words ‘gala’ and ‘festival’ and was really excited as he got on the ferry. He was only told at the last minute that there was a 10 mile run involved, at which point his mood dampened!

Racing ahead!

There is plenty of racing ahead for the ‘probables’ and the ‘maybes’ in the weeks ahead with highlights including the RGU 10k, the Crawfordsburn 5k and the Carlingford 5k to name but three of the races on offer. Parkruns are also available at 21 locations through NI each and every Saturday.  These events are free and great fun as the ethos is very much a run by the individual against themselves and the clock. Visit www.parkrun.org for further details.