Flagstaff to Carlingford

Tue 22 June 2010 - Ian Taylor

Course Record holders McNeilly and Shannon dominate at Carlingford Race.

Deon McNeilly (Newcastle AC) and Alwynne Shannon (Mourne Runners) were the winners of the sixth round of the NIMRA Grand Prix Series in the Cooley Mountains south of Newry. The annual 11 mile Flagstaff to Carlingford race was promoted by Armagh AC and covered 5 peaks with a total climb of 3,000 feet.

The race was held in favourable weather conditions with excellent visibility throughout giving runners a rare opportunity to see the spectacular terrain of the Cooleys and Slieve Foye.

Course record holder McNeilly made all the running over the first four peaks to the Windy Gap. The Newcastle man was in dominant form and continued to forge ahead on the second half over Slieve Foye to secure a resounding win in 1 hour and 38 minutes. Kris Muldoon of the promoting club was runner up some 7 minutes adrift with Paul McAnespie making it two in the top three for the Armagh club. Willie Marks took fourth and lead Mourne Runners to a win in the team race ahead of Armagh AC and Newcastle AC.

Alwynne Shannon continued her winning form as she notched up her third consecutive win in the event. The Mourne Runner clocked 2 hours and 42 seconds as she finished 4 minutes ahead of Shileen O’Kane (BARF) with Diane Wilson (Lagan Valley AC) a further 4 minutes behind in third.

The various masters age categories all provided good competition, with the following winners: M40 Peter Grant (Newry City Runners), M45 Dale Mathers (Newry City Runners), M50 Jim Brown (BARF), M55 Mike Barton (Mourne Runners), M60 Ricky Cowan (Willowfield Harriers), W35 Jackie Toal (BARF), W40 Denise Mathers (Newry City Runners). Full results are available on www.nimra.org.uk

The Slieve Donard race on Saturday is the next event in the Grand Prix Series, with the Lurig Challenge Run (14 August), Downhill Donard (21 August and Slieve Gallion (2 October) completing the 10 race series.

Brian Ervine

Teams

Team Prizes based on male athletes only were:-
1st Mourne- 4,5,7=16
2nd Armagh- 2,3,20=25
3rd Newcastle-1,14,34=49

The full list, based on all competitors is
1 Mourne- 4,5,7= 16
2 Armagh- 2,3,20= 25

3 BARF 11, 12, 19 42
4 Newcastle-1,14,34 49

5 Lagan Valley 17, 22, 40 79

Ian

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