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

 

Seven Sevens

Wed 4 August 2004 - Ian Taylor

Next Saturday, 7 August is the Seven Sevens race, the 8th round of the NIMRA Championship. The race information has been updated, with the race starting at 10 am. As a long category race appropriate gear must be carried. If conditions are very warm as last year, you would be recommended to carry a water container and fill up where possible.

In the Senior Mens section of the Championship Neil Carty and Brian Ervine tie on 148 points, with two races to go. Gary Bailey is third on 134 points, just ahead of David McNeilly on 133. However Deon McNeilly on 108 points for 4 races could jump into third place with a good result from next Saturday.

The Ladies section again will be decided on the final two races, with Violet Linton on 146 points and Barbara Brown on 143. If Barbara completes the Seven Sevens and Violet does not, then Barbara will move into the lead, with the final result then depending on Lurig. Other leading female runners have not done enough races to overtake either Violet or Barbara.

In the veteran categories, Jim Brown leads the vet 40 group, but as organiser of the Sevens Sevens, could be passed by Deon McNeilly. Jim Patterson leads the vet45 category, with the first "proper" vet45 being John McBride. Jim also leads the vet50 and vet55 categories, with Billy McKay second vet50 and Denis Rankin second vet55. Billy Magee has a clean sweep of the vet60 category but needs to complete another race to qualify.

Five teams have completed enough races for the series, with Newcastle well ahead of ACKC, with the latter only just ahead of Ballymena Runners. BARF and Larne tie on 134 points.

To date 22 athletes have completed the championship with a further 23 runners capable of completing the required number of races.