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

 

McKibben, Carty, Harty & Sandford make Irish Team

Tue 1 June 2004 - Bogboy

Lugnacoille is the highest mountain in Leinster and for the travelling team from the Mournes it is ironic that the nearest village to the start of the race up its steep flanks is the village of Donard, near Blessington in County Wicklow. Known locally simply as ?Lug?, the annual race this year took on the mantel of the one-off All-Ireland Championship Race and also doubled up as the trial for the Irish team to go to Poland to compete in the European Championships on the first weekend in July.

In total 21 travelled from the Mournes, a mixture of ACKC and Newcastle AC odds and sods; 17 in a hired minibus and 4 in a car. The minibus was fun, acquired from a local hire firm, which shall remain anonymous, 115,000 miles on the clock and capable of only 25mph on any sort of incline and a drift that was like being on the Irish Sea in a Force 8 storm. Just as well the bus left Annalong at 6.30am for the midday start in Wicklow. As well as the local crowd, Belfast based Neil Carty, Brian Ervine and Ian Taylor also made the trip south.

It was a glorious day with the Wicklow Mountains as dry as the Mournes after the recent spell of excellent weather. The race starts in the Glen of Imaal and climbs first steeply up Camara Hill and onto the main ridge of Lug. The ridge is quite fast at times before the final pull up a steeper scree slope onto the wide open summit plateau of Lug. At just over 3,000 feet it is a couple of hundred feet higher than Donard, but with the race starting at around 750 feet, the statistics for the race are 6 miles and 2,300 feet of climbing.

John Lenihan from Kerry won the race. The twice world hill running champion is now in his mid-forties but is still as strong and fast as ever. He stormed down the hill to move from fourth to win, in 49 minutes 31 seconds just outside his own record, with none of the youngsters able to match his leg speed. Behind him came former Ben Nevis race winner from Fort William in Scotland, John Brooks. Hill & Dale series champion, Alan McKibben once again showed his sparkling form and competitive spirit to come home 4th in 50 minutes 19 seconds only 3 seconds off 3rd with Neil Carty a further 4 seconds back in 5th.

In the ladies race, Dublin?s Beth McCluskey was literally a country mile clear coming home in 30th overall in the 105-strong field in 60 minutes 12 seconds, over 6 minutes inside the ladies record. Local Newcastle AC runners were nip and tuck all the way round with Anne Sandford 3rd at the summit some 30 seconds ahead of Kerry Harty in 4th and veteran and newcomer Tish McCann in 6th. On the way down Harty showed once again her dogged determination and sheer leg speed to come past Sandford and take 17 seconds out of her, with McCann, on the fastest ladies descent of the day, only a minute further back.

Other notable runs from the locals came from Deon McNeilly in 7th in 51 minutes 59 seconds, Brian Ervine in 9th in 53 minutes 34 seconds and another brilliant new find of the season, Ed Hanna in 10th in 54 minutes 36 seconds. Hanna is in his first proper competitive year in the sport and has massive potential just like Stevie Cunningham and Gary Bailey. He is a man who, if this day trip is anything to go by, likes to race hard and play hard ? his ability to play comes as much as an eye-opener as his ability to race.

At a brief selection meeting after the race, convened at the site of the race registration and presentation and handily situated at a classic pub, McKibben, Carty, Harty and Sandford got the nod for the European Championships. After that, there was much celebrating; what else should be done after all that thirsty exercise and it?s 2pm and the sun is out? The Guinness goes down well, but in some cases it did eventually struggle to stay down.



There is much more that could be said, but it will be left unsaid, that is the principle of ?no tour talk?. It is sufficient to say that the combined efforts of Newcastle AC and their brethren from ACKC will leave an indelible mark from place to place between the Wicklow Mountains and the Mournes. Blessington, for example, is a pretty village, where the ACKC boys, downed chips and fish and chicken nuggets and burgers (and that was only one of them) like they were going out of fashion. The Spirit Store in Dundalk has never seen the like of it, but the difference in arriving at the Central Park in Newcastle with the smoky atmosphere compared to the clean air in the pubs in the south where smoking is banned is incredible; why have we put up with it for so long up here?

BOGBOY

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