Northern Ireland Mountain Running Association
www.nimra.org.uk

 

Flagstaff Preview

Thu 10 June 2004 - Ian Taylor

This Sunday, at 11 am on 13 June is the Flagstaff to Carlingford race, the 5 th round in the Northern Ireland Championship series. This race has now been organised excellently by Armagh AC for so long that it is becoming a classic. It includes most types of mountain running challenges ? fast ridge running, heather, steep climbs, fast descents with a little navigation and route decisions on the second half. Indeed in misty weather it can be wise to track someone who knows where they are going. That is not the same as someone who is experienced ? in 2002 Jim Patterson led a group a merry dance over country they had never seen before and hope not to see again. At least he finished ? 10 did not!

Updated details of the Flagstaff race are elsewhere on this web site. Note that most people park in Carlingford and get the arranged bus to Flagstaff (leaving at about 10.30 am). Since this is a long category A race you should come expecting to carry some gear.

Since there are still five Championship races left in 2004 you can still complete the series this year. Hence the Championship is still wide open but in the men?s open category it is beginning to narrow down to Neil Carty (119 points), in the lead with three wins, to Brian Ervine (115) with one win and Mark Alexander with 103 points. First vet40 is currently Jim Brown on 118 points, followed by Jim Patterson (112) and Barry Wells (109). However Deon McNeilly is now coming back into form and as the current record holder and last year?s winner may wish to show them how it should be run. (See elsewhere on this site for further championship positions). In the Ladies? section Barbara Brown leads by reason of having three races completed, with Anne Sandford (60) and Violet Linton (59) following. Since neither Anne nor Violet has completed a long championship race, Flagstaff is probably the one they need to do to remain in contention.

In last year?s race 9 teams completed ? 5 open and 4 veteran male. Currently Newcastle AC is in the lead in the team Championship (see the Web News 26 May). However in the previous long race, Annalong, they came within one point of being beaten by ACKC. The latter?s increasing strength in depth is beginning to pay off. Just make sure your club has three or more athletes at the start on Sunday.