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!
Declan McElroy’s time last year was 3hrs 36mins and whilst he was also out last Saturday at the Donard race coming in a good 57th place just under 1hr 17mins, he left Rocky out to keep the legs fresh for this harder challenge. This proved a smart ploy as he held back from the frantic start up the track and over the Annalong river to begin the contour of Rocky, steadily increasing his work rate as each peak passed. A great attack up to Binnians North Tor and leaving a few behind him, he chased Blayney Rockets Frankie Nugent down along the wall strong to the finish in 37th place with 3hrs 26 mins, taking 10 minutes off 2021.
Pearse Brogan took the 2021 version out in 3hrs 54mins and was keen to reduce that as much as possible. After a good show on Donard racing to 48th position with 1hr 14mins, this was followed by a slower completion of Rocky Hill & Dale after a rolled ankle coming off his namesake Pierce’s Castle put him back to 77th place. Not to be deterred with the niggle, he remained steady throughout, despite some expletives on the odd step when descending! Following the Millar son & father around and down the Binnian ridge, he finished in 40th position in 3hrs 32mins, reducing the previous years effort by 22 minutes.
The lads returned to HQ satisfied with their well-earned times. With some lingering cloud on the summit, but not the whiteout of the previous edition, navigation was spot on from the three all the way, tackling the tricky route choices such as getting around Rocky onwards to the first checkpoint on Chimney Rock, and the line from Commedagh towards Cove, which caused havoc last year, sending some unlucky runners back up the mountain they just came from! The race was won again by last year’s victor Adam Cunningham of Mourne Runners in 2hrs 19mins, whilst the first lady home, in a hugely impressive season thus far, was Alice Flint from the host club BARF in 2hrs 42mins.
No doubt Pete, Declan & Pearse (as well as a few others) will be well placed in this year’s championship. The next championship race is the returned medium category Flagstaff to Carlingford race on Sunday 19th June, and highly likely some will use the Meels Hill & Dale that week as a loosener a few days prior!