Lynch and Wilson take victory at Turkey Trot

With Christmas Day behind everyone and the turkey and ham devoured the time had come to burn off those calories so there would be room for round two of the eating. This year the Barf stalwarts had made a new course to make sure that the legs would be fully tested. The weather was kind on the runners and the spectators but the hills didnt get and easier.

Jim Brown gave the last minute instructions to the runners before setting them off for a 13km pain fest. It wasn’t long before a group of 5 runners containing Lynch, Pruzina, McGrady, Lennon and Stephens started to open a small gap from the rest. This would become quite a battle up the long drag out of Tollymore and the race would be decided on the descent back to the finish.

In the ladies race it was Megan Wilson from Dark Peaks and Shileen O’Kane who would push each other through out the race. Clearly neither had eaten enough turkey the day before as both made light work of the climb out of Tollymore to the mourne wall.

If the race doesn’t finish at Hare’s Gap and the descent to the finish is anything but easy and it would turn out to be the deciding point of quite a few runners races. There are many lines off hares gap and some can be particularly treacherous. Having seen a number of people with new war wounds and stories of how they decided to roll down the descent instead of running it.

On this descent from Hares Gap the five leading men would become narrowed down to Seamus Lynch from Newcastle AC and Eoin Lennon from Carnethy. Behind them the other 3 would battle over the last podium place. The race has a final sting to the tale with the legs sore from the descent and fast moving forest trails you get to turn up the final 400m climb to the finish. Seamus had made a small but significant gap before hitting the last climb and with one last effort he would dig in to hold off Eoin Lennon by a mere 18 seconds to take the victory. The last podium spot was snatched by a fast finishing Aaron McGrady from East Down.

The ladies race would be decided on the final descent as Megan Wilson would pull away from Shileen so that she could at least enjoy her finish. Aisling Allum from Carnethy would complete the podium having held of Bernadette O’Kane from Dub Runners right to the finish line.

With all 94 runners back safely at teh Tollymore Mountain Center it was time to fill up on Mince Pies/Mulled Wine and a few sandwiches. Many Thanks go out to Jim Brown and his BARF helpers who like every year make it a great festive event. Next up will be the Christmas Cracker on Saturday and then the New Year where the Race around the Glens will no doubt see many a Nimra members test themselves. The NIMRA membership for 2019 will open this week so get signed up ready for another fun and competitive year of fell running.

Photos can be found here on Flickr or here on Facebook

The results are below: