Photos (by Graham McCauley) / Race 4 Provisional Results
It’s a dog’s life
by The Non Runner
Our last race in the popular McGrady Financial Services junior XC series was held on Sunday 22nd March at a sunny and warm Kilbroney Park. Our hosts were Burren AC, the course was marked and the stage was set for our race which had previously been postponed due to bad weather. Along with NAC and Burren AC we were joined in our series by East Down AC, Dromore AC, and 3 Ways AC.
As we set up our high tech registration area (a pasting table) I mentioned to Pauline McCauley and Catherine McCrickard that I was in dire need of some fresh material for my reports. There are only so many times you can talk about the weather (see intro) and lampoon the hosts (see below). Our athletes and their families arrived in good time for registration, although numbers from NAC were disappointingly low and overall our field was down by approximately 80 fewer runners than in previous races. The organisers would like to thank all who made the effort to attend our last race of this series to run for their team and earn points towards the all-important awards night coming up!
Prior to the P4 race I had time to chat with a young man I know well, Oliver Corrigan. We had our usual banter and then he told me how he had recovered after being poorly for the last week or more. We agreed that a run in the fresh air would be the best medicine of all. How true our words were, because not only did he win his race but I’m told he was ahead the whole way. Needless to say a high 5 was duly administered to the victor!
And so to our podium placed runners on the day, in this report we only have space to list the first three, please see below for the full results. We congratulate all of our runners for their enthusiasm and competitive spirit. Club spirit was also in evidence with all of the support given to each and every runner, especially to the big-schoolers who had long laps to run and were cheered on at every opportunity.
P4 and under, boys 1st Oliver Corrigan NAC, 2nd Donal Coffey 3 Ways, 3rd Tiernan O’Hare 3 Ways. Girls 1st Laura Hanna NAC, 2nd Anna McDonagh Burren AC, 3rd Lindsay Kelly EDAC
P5 boys, 1st Cathaoir King NAC, 2nd James McVeigh NAC, 3rd Jamie McDowell EDAC. Girls 1st Anna Gardiner EDAC, 2nd Aoibheann Mynes Burren AC, 3rd Aoife Monaghan 3 Ways.
P6 boys 1st Mackenzie Murray EDAC, 2nd Caolan O’Hare 3 Ways, 3rd Brian Watters 3 Ways. Girls 1st Lara McCarthy Burren AC, 2nd Orla Fitszimons NAC, 3rd Seren Sweeney 3 Ways.
P7 boys 1st Callum McDonagh Burren AC, 2nd Tom McKeveney Burren AC, 3rd Ronan McVeigh NAC. Girls 1st Caitlin Coffey 3 Ways, 2nd Eva Sloan Burren AC, 3rd Izzy O’Farrell Burren AC
Year 8 Boys 1st and only runner was Patrick McCarthy of Burren AC, girls 1st Maeve Murdock Burren AC, 2nd Eve Kenneally NAC, 3rd Lucy Bradshaw Dromore AC.
Year 9 boys 1st Darragh Connolly 3 Ways, 2nd Aidan McCauley NAC, 3rd Adam Mckibben Dromore AC. Girls 1st Chloe Galloway EDAC, 2nd Edie Carroll EDAC, 3rd Eve Dunford Burren AC.
Year 10 boys 1st Owen Edwards EDAC, 2nd Tony Carson EDAC, 3rd Sean Watters 3 Ways. Girls 1st Lucy Kenneally NAC, 2nd Laura Molloy NAC, 3rd Mary-Jo Tumelty EDAC.
Year 11+ 1st Ethan Dunn Dromore AC, 2nd James Smyth EDAC, 3rd Jack Ferguson Dromore AC. Girls 1st Laura Gardiner EDAC, 2nd Aoife Cochrane EDAC, 3rd Chloe Johnston 3 Ways.
Burren AC have been at the receiving end of the usual NAC lampooning in the past for not having provided us with refreshments. But they have retained their clean slate by providing us with tray bakes, tay and coffee, thanks to the Burren AC parent who supplied us with our treats on Sunday.
And so to the title of this report, all the junior athletes run in their club vest and we had our box sitting out with NAC vests, some in the clean pile and some in the used pile. A little dog decided to approach our area and having sniffed around to chose a spot to leave its “scent”, decided to have a sprinkle on a pile of vests. Which pile do you think he picked? Murphy’s law was in force as he picked the clean pile. He must have thought that Catherine McCrickard hadn’t enough to do with washing and sorting all the used vests, along with everything else she does for us! Her son Darragh McCrickard was marked absent, but he had a letter from his mum and was given some annual leave for the afternoon, only to clock up some overtime later in the evening when presented with the results, information complied by Pauline and Catherine.
An important reminder to NAC junior members; there will be a membership registration night for existing members and new members on Monday 30th March at 7pm at St. Malachy’s School, Castlewellan. NAC juniors are moving to a new membership system from April 2015. This is to be in line with the Athletics NI registration system which runs from April-April. The aim of the new system is to simplify membership for both parents/guardians and coaches/volunteers. Yearly membership will be £40/child.
Thanks to all of our junior athletes, we are so proud to see you all get into the spirit and race for your club to compete for those all important club points! The excitement is building as our series is now over, cast your mind back to Castlewellan and our first race of the series. Points have been accumulating throughout the series since our runners raced around the figure 8. Who will win the shields? Who will win the individual prizes? Will Joe Quinn wear a hat on awards night?
Thanks to Kilbroney Park for the use of their park with such a beautiful backdrop to running races! A huge thanks to PJ McCrickard for the continued support of the McGrady Financial Series. Thanks to all athletes, families and coaches of EDAC, Burren AC, 3 Ways AC, Dromore AC and our very own NAC. Without you all there would be no races and thanks to the registration teams from all clubs who helped us over the series. Your help is invaluable. Thanks also to Brian of Burren AC who is now our resident MC whether he likes it or not! Also to Frank Cunningham and all those who helped out at the finish line. Thanks as ever to Martina Hawkins for organising us all, to Darragh McCrickard for his efficiency with the results and to his mum Catherine McCrickard for all of her work behind the scenes and behind the registration table. Spare a thought for her as she was the one who had to tackle the washing of those dog scented vests! A big thank you to Pauline McCauley who has been such a great help at registration since the series started. Thanks to Graham McCauley for his photography. If I have forgotten anyone please consider yourself thanked as it’s impossible to list all those by name who contribute to the races.
Our next races are the junior Hill and Dale. Details on website.