Record Turnout for Our First Race
by The Non-runner, who’s going to take up running, for surely it’s easier than this.
A dry and pleasant day awaited our runners and their families at the “Figure 8’ in Castlewellan Forest Park on Sunday 14th September. The forecast was pleasant and the race conditions were as close to perfect as they come. A record number of junior athletes participated in the first race of our ever popular junior cross country series. This year saw 158 junior runners compete for their clubs and it was a warm welcome from the host club Newcastle AC to juniors from East Down AC, Burren AC, Dromore AC and 3 Ways AC (Newry). The registration tables were set up, coaches were ready and the course was marked out, our 2014/15 series was underway!
“Can anybody hear us?”
Despite numerous pleas by emails to pre-register ahead of our races, we had a bafflingly huge number of runners turning up whose parents hadn’t gone online. Almost 70 juniors had to be registered on the day, out of a total of 158, it’s clear that it was a significant proportion of the runners. Perhaps one day our requests will be listened to by all parents, not just those who took the time to go online in advance of the races.
Our wee runners
Brian from Burren AC took to the microphone and performed his duties with his usual aplomb. We began our racing with the littlest of them all, the brave P4 and unders. Our races are team events, with each and every runner clocking up points for their club as they cross the finish line, regardless of where they finish in the race. The boys set off around their route and first home was Noah Sheridan, a familiar surname in NAC’s junior racing successes! Second was Donal Coffey from our guest club 3 Ways AC and third was Enan Fitzsimons of NAC. The girls’ race saw Laura Hanna claim victory for NAC, second was Anna McDonagh and third was Anna McPolin-both from Burren AC. In the P5 races James McVeigh of NAC held a clear lead to finish first, followed by Cathaoir King also NAC and third was Jamie McDowell of East Down AC. In the girls race we had our first non-NAC winner and that was Anna Gardiner of East Down AC. In second place was Eva Murdock of 3 Ways and third was Alex O’Hare of NAC. The P6 boys race had an East Down AC 1-2-3, first was Mackenzie Murray, second Michael O’Connor and third was Patrick Harkin. The girls race was a different story with a winner from Burren AC, Lara McCarthy, second was Molly Murdock from 3 Ways and third was Orla Fitzsimons from NAC. P7 runners took off and we had a win from Odhran Hamilton of 3 Ways AC, second was Callum McDonagh and third was Tom McKeveney both from Burren AC. P7 girl race was a 1,2 for 3 Ways (do you see what I did there?) with the winner Caitlin Coffey, second was Ellie Murdock and third was Izzy O’Farrell of Burren AC.
Uh oh, it’s the big-schoolers!
Race numbers dip sharply for the post-primary races. We have such large numbers running in the Primary races the organisers think its a shame that all too often we see entries drop at this level. First off were the Year 8s and with only 5 boys running the organisers amalgamated the races to have one race. It was excitement for the spectators as these guys did 2 laps, we were able to cheer our runners on, and encourage them from the sidelines as they passed us before leaving our sight to complete the loop. There was a charge for the finish line between Ryan McDowell of Dromore AC who was the victor, and Patrick McCarthy of Burren AC-with only 1 second separating them at the line. Third in the boys race was Odhrán Doyle of Burren AC. Then came the girls and what a finish from NAC’s Eve Kenneally! She charged up the hill (yes readers, you read that right, it’s an uphill finish…) to claim victory ahead of Aoife McGreevy from 3 Ways. Third was Maeve Murdock from Burren AC. On to the Year 9s and again the boys and girls ran together. This time the runners passed the spectators 3 times as they did the small loop followed by 2 large laps…phew! First boy home was Oisin Coffey of 3 Ways, second was Adam McKibbin of Dromore and third was Darragh Connolly of 3 Ways. First year 9 girl home was Chloe Galloway of East Down who stormed around the course to finish in third place overall. Second was Edie Carroll of East Down and third was Eabha Campbell of NAC. Year 10 boys and girls headed off on their race and first home was Jack O’Farrell of Burren AC, followed by Owen Edwards of East Down and third was Gabriel Corrigan of NAC. Gabriel had already played tennis that morning, ran the cross country and returned to the courts after the races to play more tennis, maybe a triathlete of the future? In the Year 10 girls race saw NAC take the podium places, that’s if we had a podium…eh which we don’t. First was Lucy Kenneally, second was Laura Molloy and third was Meabh Fitzsimons. In our last races we had year 11+ boys and the winner by a clear margin was Ethan Dunn of Dromore AC, second was Caolan Atkinson of East Down and third was Daniel Molloy of NAC. The girls Year 11+ winner was Laura Gardiner of East Down, followed by Aoife Cochrane also East Down and third was Eilish Doyle of NAC.
Starters orders-Commonwealth Games Style
Did you know that Kerry O’Flaherty of NAC Commonwealth Games fame was the lovely lady at the start line who got all the kids ready for their races? No?! Well, you know now! Thanks to Kerry for her start line duties and belated congratulations to Kerry on her performance in Glasgow, from all at NAC juniors! As I compile this report I find myself recognising many of the names of our junior athletes who run year after year, and it’s interesting to see the younger members of some families also taking part in our P4 and under races. It really is a great family event and our thanks go to the parents who take time out of their busy weekends to attend our races. A big welcome also to the newest members of our Junior Cross Country family, thank you for joining us and we hope to see you at many more races to come.
That’s a good cup of Joe/Aren’t Burren AC lovely
If you’re still with me and have managed to read this far, congratulations! Also regular readers (I’m told there are more than 1) will know that I always like to include some of de craic and indeed write about food. So far I have managed to contain that aspect of myself in writing this report, but NO MORE! The good cup of Joe referred to was provided courtesy of Dominic King and the staff of Hillyard House. Dominic was very generous in providing flasks of filter coffee for our parents to avail of, a big thanks to Hillyard House for their refreshments. So, moving on with the coffee theme to our friends from Burren AC. OK, I’m ingratiating myself with the lovely folk at Burren AC who once were lampooned about their lack of refreshments in these very reports, but of course that’s all water under the bridge. I was on the lookout for a suitable table to take the weight of the flasks and our pasting table wasn’t up to the job. I spied a sturdier table (Burren’s) and while no-one was looking we nabbed it and with great stealth moved it over to magically transform it into the refreshments table. Burren AC showed us their patience by having any annoyance of us “borrowing” their table being assuaged by the temptation of a biscuit. Thanks also to Brian Lavery from Burren AC for his great job on the mic.
And finally….
Thanks to Graham McAuley for taking the photos, and a word of caution here folks. Both Pauline McAuley and Nigel McKinney asked me the foolishly dangerous question, “can I help?”. Before they had time to draw the next breath, I had hauled them in behind our table to assist with registration. I send them both a big thanks for their very valuable help. Also assisting the team was Áine Rice, who did a great job in race number allocation. Our races could not go ahead without the very generous sponsorship of McGrady Financial Services. Thanks to PJ McCrickard for the continued support and to his son Darragh, who is rightly known as the brains of the organisation! Darragh’s work doesn’t stop when the races are over and he worked very hard to provide us with provisional results a short time later. It’s a family affair as Catherine McCrickard and her mum Marie Savage did a great job manning the refreshments table, thank you ladies! Thanks also to Frank Morgan for marking the course and for the finish line results, to all the coaches and their families for their tireless work each week at training and at every event. Last but not least, thanks to the Rangers and staff of Castlewellan Forest Park for patiently facilitating our races every year.
We’re back for more excitement on Sunday 19th October at Tollymore Forest Park at 1pm. Kindly note that registration will CLOSE at 12.45pm SHARP I have my serious face on now, I really mean it! This cut-off time is to allow for time for the essential pre-race warm ups. Please try to arrive in good time!
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The first race of the McGrady Financial Services Junior XC Series 2014/2015 will take place on Sun 14th Sept 2014 at 2:00pm in Castlewellan Forest Park.
Online Registration is now CLOSED
Further dates in the Series will be confirmed soon.
A huge thank you again to PJ McCrickard for his support and sponsorship of the Series.
Thanks to all those who have volunteered to help at the races to make the Series a success again.