The warning was Yellow on Meelbeg

From Yellow warnings of Thunder & Lightning, changing to warnings about rain, the Met office just couldn’t make up its mind.

Once the race organisers had contented themselves, that neither Thunder & Lightning, strong winds or heavy rain were any longer a threat to the athletes, the decision was made to mark out the Course, running over Meelbeg, with that long glorious ridge as the descent to the finish.

However, by the time the final markers had been placed, the fog had become so thick, that it was becoming a serious danger that the junior athletes would miss one of the 300 markers on the course and veer off in the direction of Fofanny Dam.

Plan B. Sadly this route too was ruled out, as the stream crossing near Meelmore lodge required wading!

Plan C.

The race start was moved back half an hour to allow a rapid course re mark by the fantastic race Marshalls and it was all systems go for the Trial.

The new route, started the runners from the open space just above the carpark at Happy valley, following the lane up the right side of the river, parallel to the wall, before rounding this at its corner near the quarry huts and descending back down the normal track on the other side of the stream.

As the athletes approached the finish area, they took a right onto the Mourne way, for an ‘Out and Back’ route to the Stream near Meelmore lodge, before finishing at Happy Valley.

Not to be perturbed by the slop and fog, Tom Crudgington of Newcastle AC lead from the gun, to run a lonely race, out of sight of his competitors, finishing in a fantastic time of 28:46, 3 mins exactly ahead of the new face of Mountain Running, Oisin Toye of Finn Valley. Oisin was followed by his club mate Diarmait, who had come home early from a family holiday in Spain, just for the U20 trial.

Nuala Bose of Finn Valley reversed the result from Ambleside 4 weeks previously with her clubmate Sarah Bradley, to win the U20 race in 33:27. Claragh Keane, already selected for IMRA, travelled up for the experience, to come home in 3rd place. Rebecca Magee, still tired from her longest run to date, the Seven 7’s, achieved 4^th, securing her spot on the Team for the B&I in the process.

In the U17 race, Joshua Muckian of Slieve Gullion Runners, did something similar to Tom, winning by exactly 2 mins – you would think the time keepers were being lazy, but the back-up time keepers confirmed this apparent anomaly of timing. Ben Acheson, in his first Mountain Race, and first appearance for North Down AC, had a fantastic run to take 2^nd. Ollie Robinson took 3^rd in some borrowed mudclaws and Ethan McMullan secured 4^th, despite stopping to help his fellow Ambleside teammate, Michael Houston, who had fallen. Ethan blew his whistle, while getting to Michael to get his out, with the instruction to keep blowing it until help arrived. Thankfully Michael suffered only cuts and bruises, but had to drop out of the race at that point.

Eimear McCarroll, fresh from a stunning 4^th place in Ambleside, fell heavily on the initial climb, but managed to compose herself to win the U17 race. Meanwhile Lucy Cheatley made it the second 2^nd for North Down AC, with Ciara Savage in 3^rd and Mac Eager 4^th.

Eimear’s brother, delighted to get the chance to race in the hills was the only U15, but he managed to place 12^th overall – one to watch!

Next up we welcome teams from England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland for the U20 and U17 British & Irish Championships. The teams will stay in Greenhill YMCA and race on Meelbeg.

RANK	TIME
1	28:46:00	265	Tom	Crudgington	Newcastle AC	U20 M
2	31:46:00	251	Oisin	Toye	Finn Valley AC	U20 M
3	33:00:00	252	Diarmait	Keogh	Finn Valley AC	U20 M
4	33:11:00	260	Joshua	Muckian	Slieve Gullion Runners	U17 M
5	33:27:00	257	Nuala	Bose	Finn Valley AC	U20 F
6	35:11:00	271	Ben	Acheson	North Down AC	U17 M
7	36:05:00	255	Sarah	Bradley	Finn Valley AC	U20 F
8	36:40:00	267	Oliver	Robinson	East Down AC	U17 M
9	36:59:00	259	Ethan	McMullan	Newcastle AC	U17 M
10	37:24:00	266	Claragh	Keane	IMRA	U20 F
11	37:35:00	256	Eimear	McCarroll	Finn Valley AC	U17 F
12	37:37:00	258	Ciaran	McCarroll	Ni Unattached	U15 M
13	38:07:00	264	Rebecca	Magee	Newcastle AC	U20 F
14	38:38:00	270	Lucy	Cheatley	North Down AC	U17 F
15	39:21:00	254	Ciara	Savage	Newcastle AC	U17 F
16	42:01:00	268	Mac	Eager	North Down Athletics Club	U17 F
17	44:43:00	269	Hollie	Massey	North Down AC	U17 F
18	45:03:00	261	Yasin	Brannigan	Newcastle AC	U17 M
19	49:27:00	263	Patrick	McDaid	Newcastle AC	U17 M
20	51:44:00	253	Aoibheann	O’Gorman	Newcastle AC	U17 F
21	DNF	262	Michael	Houston	City of Derry	U20 M
		U20 Male
		1	Tom	Crudgington	Newcastle AC
		2	Oisin	Toye	Finn Valley AC
		3	Diarmait	Keogh	Finn Valley AC
		U20 Female
		1	Nuala	Bose	Finn Valley AC
		2	Sarah	Bradley	Finn Valley AC
		3	Claragh	Keane	IMRA
		4	Rebecca	Magee	Newcastle AC
		U17 Male
		1	Joshua	Muckian	Slieve Gullion Runners
		2	Ben	Acheson	North Down AC
		3	Oliver	Robinson	East Down AC
		4	Ethan	McMullan	Newcastle AC
		5	Yasin	Brannigan	Newcastle AC
		6	Patrick	McDaid	Newcastle AC
		U17 Female
		1	Eimear	McCarroll	Finn Valley AC
		2	Lucy	Cheatley	North Down AC
		3	Ciara	Savage	Newcastle AC
		4	Mac	Eager	North Down Athletics Club
		5	Hollie	Massey	North Down AC
		6	Aoibheann	O’Gorman	Newcastle AC
		U15 Male
		1	Ciaran	McCarroll	Unattached