By Joe McCann

Records tumble at Delamont as junior Series reaches the halfway point

Race 3 of the McGrady Financial Services sponsored Junior Cross-Country series took place in a damp and muddy Delamont Country Park, near Killyleagh on Sunday 20^th November.  Conditions underfoot were slippery as the recent heavy rain had saturated the ground.  Nonetheless the East Down crew, ably marshalled by Joe Quinn, did a magnificent job in marking out a challenging course for the young athletes.  Their efforts were well rewarded as a record 101 runners registered for the races, 63 from Newcastle and 38 form East Down.  The racing got under way as scheduled at 1.30pm and a large crowd of spectators were on hand to lend their support to all of the competitors.   First off were the primary 4 and under athletes and as was the case at the previous meeting at Tollymore there was some great racing and tense finishes.  As was the case on the previous occasion Eoin McCartan and Amy McCrickard were victorious but both by the narrowest of margins in extremely close sprint finishes.  In the P5 race Andrew McGrattan, making his debut in the Series, went out hard and opened up a considerable gap.  However Conor Murray, with two wins in the bag already, worked very hard in the latter stages and came through strongly to win by 3 seconds in what was a great race.  There was another dash for the tape in the girls’ race, with Eve Kennealley just managing to win by a second.

Quinn makes a winning debut

Caoilin Quinn of East Down produced what most considered the performance of the day in winning the P6 race.  In a master class of controlled fast paced running he dominated the race, leading from the gun to the tape to win convincingly.  Newcastle grabbed second and third places through Ben McGuigan and Josh Faulkner. East Down scored a double in this category as Ellen Boyd was equally convincing in the girls’ race. Tim Prenter employed different tactics on this occasion going out hard and maintaining a furious pace throughout in the P7 boys’ race.  These paid off as he recorded his second successive victory over Caolan Hawkins and Gabriel Corrigan.  Sarah Dougherty led the P7 girls home in considerable style, winning by 23 seconds.

Where are all the Year 8’s in Newcastle?

East Down had 13 athletes in the year 8 race; Newcastle had 4, so the outcome was perhaps inevitable!  East Down improved their chances in the overall charge for the team Series title with the top three places in each race.  Surely the Newcastle coaches will have to utilise their collective brain power to address this issue.  The year 9 race saw Laura Gardiner beat all of the boys to cross the line first having galloped all the way around the course at a tremendous pace.  The boys were left trailing in her wake as she emphatically tore apart a strong field of athletes.  Aidan Hawkins showed that his rehabilitation after injury has been successful as he cast aside the obvious disappointment of his previous outing at Tollymore to run stronger and faster and in doing so cross the line as first boy.  The year 10 and above races were won by Patrick Sheridan, who completed 5 laps (3500m) in 13:16 (few of the senior members could match such a time at present!) and Dearbhla Magee, who continues to improve with each race.  She will no doubt be confident in her ability to reach another All-Ireland Schools’ Final, though I suspect she will place a lot higher if current performances are anything barometer.  With the Down Schools’ Championships ran over a similar course in typically similar conditions in early February, the post-primary athletes will have found this round of the Series an extremely worthwhile venture.

Podium 4 Sport 2011 Seeley Cup 10K

The Seeley Cup is traditionally the ‘blue ribbon’ event of the Northern Ireland Road running year.  Fast times are taken for granted and the competition.  In previous years Deon McNeilly was usually in the mix and Dermot Donnelly, Gareth Turnbull and Joe McAllister are among the illustrious list of past winners.  This year saw one of the most exciting finishes as only a second separated winner Andrew Ledwith (30:47) and Paddy Hamilton.  Mark Christie from Mulingar made his journey worthwhile clocking just below 31 minutes to take 3^rd place in what was a very exciting race.  David O’Flaherty was the best of the Newcastle contingent in a race finished by 804 athletes.  In a race identified as the club 10k championship, O’Flaherty can feel proud of his achievement.  He ran steadily throughout, ensuring that his 5k splits were relatively even and can be pleased with his performance.  Mark Kendall showed that he is more than a one trick show pony with an impressive run.  Having recorded a new PB over the 26.2 miles of Dublin’s fair city, he ran a hard and fast paced race around Ormeau Park to record a classy 36:05.  Quail and Steele ran well to break 37 minutes and others packed in well, with 9 breaking the 40 minute barrier.  Congratulations to our neighbouring clubs. Murlough AC was represented by no fewer than 23 athletes and judging from the gossip after the race a local driving instructor could be their next recruit.  Allegedly fees have been agreed and the only remaining obstacle appears to be personal terms.  No doubt their PR machine will once again crank into life and a major photo-shoot will be organised.  East Down only had 9 runners on this occasion, but Brendan Teer (14^th) and Liam Venney (30^th) had exceptional runs and the usual cavalcade of supporters were on the side of the road to proffer encouragement to all and sundry.  Thanks guys; we all appreciated it.

There’s no show like a ‘Did not Show’

As one would expect with Newcastle AC, there were one or two who did not even make it to the start line.  Among their number was Ian Brannigan.  Ian had a genuine excuse as he had been ill and a note had been provided to the club’s disciplinary committee for inspection: it was accepted as genuine and we wish him all the best as he recovers.  His brother Damien, on the other hand, was unable to produce any documentation to excuse his failure to turn up.  Indeed his position was weakened when he contacted McNeilly and McCrickard on Friday evening to see what they were doing on Saturday morning and then, incredulous as it may seem, turned up to run hard with them on the day that he was registered for a race.  To exacerbate the situation even more, not that it needed to be, the same athlete had been registered for the race for several weeks and had been honing his speed in anticipation of the big day.  He was even overheard saying, ‘I love the Seeley Cup and never miss it.’ Club members have postulated several theories to explain this mysterious turn of affairs.  Could it be that the journey to the apparent end of the earth (AKA Belfast) would upset his routine and equilibrium, thus rendering him incapable of carrying out his meticulously planned list of weekend chores?  Could he guarantee that he would be home in time to rigorously fork the cous cous? Are the rising fuel costs to blame?  Had he heard that local scone purveyors were selling scones with unusually high fruit content on Saturday afternoon?  Was he afraid that I would run him into the ground over 10k yet again?  Perhaps the latter is a step too far, but the earlier comments undoubtedly considerations!

‘Come on Norn Ireland come on’

Equally conspicuous by his absence was paschal ‘Pockie’ Toner.  This is also incredible as he had even gone to the trouble of having a pedicure in preparation for his annual assault on Ormeau Park. He had his corns pared, his talons clipped and filed and lavish coatings of dusky pink nail polish applied.  Was there to be another suitor?  Apparently there was and Pockie chose the green and white of his country over the red and yellow of his club, lining out for the Northern Ireland Over-50s soccer team against England and Bear Park Newcastle.  Having said that, my sources, Audey (who is almost as nosey as ‘Hen’), tells me that Pockie had a really sound game at left back and never put a foot wrong; that pedicure was worth every penny!  Perhaps Brannigan was down watching the game, though I suspect eagle-eyed Audey would have spotted him!

Kerry shows great attitude at altitude

Kerry Harty completed her altitude training with a great run in an international event in Spain last weekend.  She sent me the following report: “My Cross Country race in Burgos, Spain went really well.  I was placed 22nd out of an international field of over 100 runners.  The winner was World Silver medallist Linet Masai from Kenya, followed by a number other leading Africans.  Finnuala Britton placed a superb 6th place in this race. I averaged 5:29 miling over the course which was flat and dry but made difficult by the strong winds on the day. This was my best XC race ever and I am looking forward to the Irish European Cross Country trial race in Sligo next weekend.”  Her final track session at altitude can only be described as horrendous, but she reported that it was a suitable finale to a period of intensive training.  She reports on the content of the session: 1 x mile (5:38) followed by 4 x 600m (average 1:53) – off 2 minute recoveries, 5 minute jog, 1 x mile (5:34), 6 x 400m (average 73 seconds) – off 2min recoveries 5 minute jog 1xmile (5:36), 8 x 200m (average 34 seconds) – off 2 minute recoveries.  Newcastle AC endurance coaching specialist Marty McVeigh commented, ‘that was a tough one and is the sort of session I have planned for the club members in the weeks ahead.  Alternatively I might stick to the ‘Yip’ and ‘Yep’ that I have been using to great effect for many years!‘  No doubt all will be revealed in the fullness of time!

Around the Griddle

Next week sees the Griddle race, around the town lands of Saul, organised by our East Down brethren.  For those who like a hilly, but scenic 10k, with great post-race refreshments this is the race for you.  There is a great atmosphere and the event is very well organised.  Brannigan and Toner have confirmed that they are definitely going, but then again they might not!