Newcastle AC at the NIMRA Championship
Saturday 21st May was the staging of NIMRA’s first long category race of the 2022 championship and the fourth out of nine so far this year. Hosted by BARF, the Annalong Horseshoe race has been a permanent fixture over the years and takes in the loop of the six dominant peaks overlooking the Annalong Valley, namely Chimney Rock, Donard, Commedagh, Cove, Lamagan and lastly Binnian’s North Tor, with the start & finish at Carrick Little. With over 20km in distance and at least 2000m of ascent ahead, this would be beyond the limits of quite a few, however 3 fellas who took it on last year were back for similar punishment! Luckily the weather was on their side this time with a largely clear & calm day, with cloud cover limited to the summit tops, and this gave the runners a refreshing cooldown before going back to the warmer climate on the cols as the day heated up.
Pete Grant’s 2021 time was 3hrs 15mins and at present is on great form. A 20th place finish on Slieve Donard last Saturday, just 25 seconds shy of taking his age category, was followed by a fantastic run of his local Hill & Dale at Rocky just 2 days before, coming 16th overall and 1st in the age category. Tired legs were not to prove any bother, and in trying to reel in East Downs Niall Gibney & Newry’s Paul Le Blanc to the finish, Pete came in 15th place with an overall time of 2hrs 54mins, a good 20 minutes off last year. A great week’s work in the bank and that didn’t stop him getting out for a pedal on the bike on Sunday morning either! Continue reading