Seamus ‘lynches’ the field to bring home the Malcolm Cup

Bogusboy reports from Ballyclare and Saul

Seamus Lynch showed his class on the country with an impressive and emphatic win in the Malcolm Cup in appalling conditions on Saturday 5 December. Despite the awful weather, a strong field had assembled and with City of Derry and Foyle Valley attempting to wrest the team crown from Newcastle AC, both were well represented. The course is familiar having been used for the McConnell Shield less than a month ago. However, on this occasion athletes only had 4 laps of 1 mile to complete. The ground was soft to say the least with mud puddles evident the whole way around the park.

The lead group of seven talented athletes was bunched for the opening 3 miles, but it was Lynch who had the most left in the final stages to win by 10 seconds, an impressive margin in a very tight race in which the top seven were separated by less than half a minute. Mark McKinstry won the scrap for second plane, holding off Brian Campbell be a couple of seconds. The shine was taken off the day for NAC with Foyle Valley winning the team event from City of Derry by a single point. Regrettably for Newcastle, one or two of the ‘big guns’ failed to load let alone fire and the team had to settle for 4th place overall. With two races in successive weekends looming, Captain David McNeilly has issued the rallying cry to all to get the vest on and support the team. An opportunity certainly passed by this weekend as only 15 took the line. However, Foyle seemed to have the same issue as they only fielded 13 athletes – perhaps all is not lost yet in the team event, but it will take a mammoth effort on the 12th and 19th to resurrect the fortunes of the team and leave something to fight for in the new year.

Only some for buns!

Notwithstanding the obvious disappointments, there were some excellent performances from the lads in red and yellow. David McNeilly ran strong to claim 13th place overall and Colum Campbell had a fine run to score third in 41st. The scoring quartet was completed by John ‘Hen’ Kelly who thrived in the conditions and had a great run. He even had enough energy at the end to engage in a debate with the finish marshals – all in a day’s work! Phil Hodge managed to find an on-course crèche and performed well, finishing just behind the ever improving PJ McCrickard. Well done to Luke McMullan in successfully managing to entertain the Hodge boys; he said it was the easiest £20 he had ever earned. Richard Rodgers had a very good run, leaving a few boys who usually beat him well behind. Such was his delight that he bought the coffee on the way home – while the others had buns and some even had a wee scoop of ice cream, this troglodyte is putting London 2016 above all else and abstained.

The Prophet was next home, followed by the McCann brothers, separated by Andy McMurray the lesser spotted Rory McMullan, Declan Magee, Stevie Rice and Ronnie ‘Sergio’ Horrox. In total 15 made it to the finished, all scoring points for the team and keeping the defence of the title alive, albeit in a fragile state of health.

Ladies continue to show good form

Earlier in the day the ever emerging ladies team claimed second place behind a very strong Dromore AC team. The NAC ladies, led by Joanne Mills in a very impressive 4th place, packed very well with Patricia McKibbin 22nd, Rita Devlin 23rd, Sam McNeilly 26th and Paulette Thompson 39th. All are putting their fine form down to the benefits that invariably accrue from attending weekly club speed sessions where words of support and encouragement are proffered continuously!!!

It’s a new day!

It’s amazing the difference a day makes. As Sunday dawned, conditions had improved significantly and the weather was positively balmy for the Griddle 10K in Saul. The hard work of the organisers and the reputation of the event for providing a ‘good feed’ afterwards have resulted in an increase in numbers. With chip timing now introduced and a good quality t-shirt thrown in (with Saul colours prominent), the race represents good value for money. However, for those looking for a PB, this is not the course to get one! After the initial scamper down the hill, the reality dawns that there is a lot of climbing ahead. Martin Melville was away like the proverbial scalded cat and was out of sight within minutes. North Down’s Stephen Wylie was the only man able to go with this blistering opening and would too strong for Melville in the latter stages. Wylie is a 32 minute 10k man and the toughness of this course is evidenced by his time of 34:43. Melville recorded a very impressive time for the second time in a week and was well clear in second. Aidan Brown had a great battle with Richard Coey of Ballydrain and again punched above his weight to finish very strongly in third place – a new division will have to be created for him to operate in!!!

They were too strong for me!

Part of the fun of racing is competing with those of similar ability over different distances and terrains and in very different conditions week on week. This week, after a slowish start, I managed to get into my usual racing group at 4k, joining Dee Murray and Robin Montgomery after making a big effort to catch my rivals. However, it was to be to no avail as both were noticeably stronger in the last two miles, running away from me as if I was not there – revenge is a dish both men enjoyed as they were ‘far too many for me on the day’. My frailty on the hills was further exposed when those behind closed all the time – one more mile and the Prophet would have soared past. The Prophet was happy with his performance and claims that he is beginning to find his ‘mojo’, having looked behind the sofa and under the bed for it. The injuries are abating and he is almost ready to declare himself ‘nearly fit’! Wonderwall put in a big shift and was only a further 25 seconds back – in ‘Hen-Like’ fashion he had recced the course three times in the week leading up to the big day. Knowledge is power and Wonderwall came equipped with both. With one eye on the weather he even left a wee man in a boat on the Quoile River as a contingency plan, lest the weather should deteriorate further and he should end up marooned. Hirsute Carson dipped under 41 and a rare appearance from Jim Johnston enabled him to Pace Jinxy home, both just over 47 minutes – respectable on a very challenging course.

Plenty to look forward to!

Next weekend XC is the main bill of fayre with NAC on the scent of the Cookstown sizzle! Kerry O’Flaherty runs for Ireland at the European Cross Country Championships in France. Finally, entries are now flying in for the Castlewellan Christmas Cracker on 27th December. With entries limited to 400 pairs, book your place now to aviod disappointment as there will be no entries taken on the day. Full preview coming soon.