Sponsors

This year's Series major sponsor was Blue Lough www.mountainandwater.com the outdoor activity, adventure and water sports centre based in Castlewellan Forest Park and a big thank you to them for agreeing to continue their support for the 2006 season.
Also supporting the Series was the Hill Trekker, Newcastle's trusted outdoor life shop, Brian Ervine supporter of many runners throughout the Series with better-studded footwear to improve the confidence, Down District Council and the Forestry Service and many more un-thanked and un-named volunteer supporters.
The marshals led by Mark Hanna deserve a special mention with this year having to stand out on exposed mountain summits in all weather conditions and this year must have been the worst for years.
Thanks also go to the hospitable pubs led by the Avoca Hotel who put on a fantastic spread for the plague of locusts on the last night this week before the prize giving and to Frankie's in Castlewellan, the Glenside in Rostrevor, Downey's in Rathfriland, Doran's Mourneview near Hilltown, the Mary Margaret's Horseshoe Bar near Hilltown, the Anchor Bar, Newcastle & O'Hare's in Burrenbridge.

Series Numbers
The 2005 Series was another very popular one with 118 completing at least six races, one less than last year, to win the valuable Climacool Zee. A total of 274 different runners - 17 more than last year and a record number of participants - ran at least one race and already many are looking forward to 2006. A new race record of 150 was set back in race two on a very wet night from the Tollymore Mountain Centre.

Winners
Perfect six scores were registered by:

• Newcastle AC's Alan McKibben, overall winner (he won 8 out of the 8 races in which he participated, can anyone stop him in 2006?)

• Newcastle AC's Kerry Harty (running next month in Austria for Ireland in the European Mountain Racing Trophy) who won six and also had a third place plus several Personal Bests on the track in between

• Newcastle AC's Wendy Findlay in the lady vet35 category

• Newcastle AC's Anne Sandford, also off to Austria next month after a fine run in the trial three weeks ago in County Kerry, winner of the lady vet40 title

• ACKC's Barbara Brown winner of the lady vet45 title

• Mid-Ulster's Jonathan McCloy to win the junior category for the third time in a row, challenged to the end by Adam Mitten who had to be content as bridesmaid again

• Newcastle AC's Deon McNeilly who despite his 43 years is intent on winning this title again, second overall but won the vet40 title

• Ballydrain's Dominic McGreevy who narrowly pipped BARF's Jim Brown to win the vet45 title, McGreevy freely admits that he is like a duck out of water on the rough mountain, but the record books will show that he is also a winner

• Albertville's Billy McKay, three times in the top ten in a race this season and very comfortable winner in the vet50 category and category winner in the ten out of eleven races in which he competed

• Willowfield's Des McHenry the guitar playing proprietor of the Original Gas Company and former Ironman Triathlete

• Larne's Billy Magee, a category winner for the umpteenth time and still flying at sixty.

All category and overall winners scored the perfect six, but that does not reflect how competitive the races were.
Next year the organisers have pledged to mark the official completion of 100 races entry into a roll of honour. Recently turned 60, one of the founder members of mountain racing in Northern Ireland Denis Rankin has now completed 100 and many more will be identified before the start of next season.
BARF's Trevor Wilson was a notable absentee from the second half of this Series when he was struck down by injury. Trevor had completed an amazing 96 races in a row when he was forced to stop.
The 'Runner's Runner' Award this year broke with tradition and was awarded to the two brothers, Francis and Connel Nugent from Castleblayney. The former is a quality motocross racer and uses the races to help his endurance whilst the latter won't run again until the first race of 2006 - both have enriched the post-race celebrations for many years now.
Despite the wet conditions there were no true mountain candidates for 'lost in the mountains' but plenty of candidates from 'lost in the forests'. Winner was Mark Hopkins, for his efforts in Tollymore early in the season. Mark has been taking some navigation lessons from his father Bill, a Lagan Valley Orienteering veteran, but probably to no avail.

BOGBOY

Men Overall

1	Alan McKibben	Newcastle AC	O	6
2	Deon McNeilly	Newcastle AC	V40	12
3	Eddie Hanna	ACKC	O	17
5	Stevie Cunningham	Newcastle AC	O	22
4	Neil Carty	North Belfast	O	22
6	Gary Bailey	ACKC	O	24
7	Richard Rodgers	Newcastle AC	V40	29
8	Des Woods	ACKC	O	33
9	Paul Mawhirt	Newcastle AC	O	53
10	Andrew Niblock	ACKC	O	55
11	Damien Brannigan	Newcastle AC	O	59
12	Jonathan McCloy	Mid Ulster	J	60
13	Adam Mitten	Newcastle AC	J	63
1	Billy McKay	Albertville	V50	64
15	Don Travers	Armagh AC	O	65

Ladies Overall

1	Kerry Harty	Newcastle AC	L	6
2	Anne Sandford	Newcastle AC	LV40	9
3	Alwynne Shannon	Newcastle AC	LV40	12
4	Clare Galbraith	Newcastle AC	LV40	15
5	Helen Cassidy	Physio&Co	L	20
6	Barbara Brown	ACKC	LV45	25
7	Wendy Findlay	Newcastle AC	V40	29
8	Angela Beggs	BARF	L	35
9	Anne George	Newcastle AC	LV40	37
10	Pauline O'Hara	BARF	LV40	40

Junior

1	Jonathan McCloy	Mid Ulster	J	6
2	Adam Mitten	Newcastle AC	J	8
3	Thomas Turner	U/A	J	16

Male Veteran 40

1	Deon McNeilly	Newcastle AC	V40	6
2	Adam Mitten	Newcastle AC	V40	10
3	Thomas Turner	Newcastle AC	V40	13
4	Steve Begley	Albertville	V40	14

Male Veteran 45

1	Dominic McGreevy	Ballydrain	V45	6
2	Jim Brown	BARF	V45	7
3	Peter Howie	Larne	V45	16
4	Charlie McAlinden	Newcastle AC	V45	17

Male Veteran 50

1	Billy McKay	Albertville	V50	6
2	Peter McGuckin	ACKC	V50	11
3	Mike Barton	ACKC	V50	15

Male Veteran 55

1	Des McHenry	Willowfield	V55	6
2	Ricky Cowan	Willowfield	V55	8
3	Francis Boal	Ballydrain	V55	13

Male Veteran 60

1	Billy Magee	Larne	V60	6
2	John Adgey	ACKC	V60	8

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