Hill and Dale Results 2006
Race 1
Race 2
Race 3
Race 4
Race 5
Race 6
Race 7
Race 8
Race 9
Race 10
Race 11
Overall
 


Race 6: Hen and Cock

11th May 2006

Maxwell breaks the record and is clear favourite for the title

Hen & Cock is the sixth race of the Blue Lough (www.mountainandwater.com) Hill & Dale Race Series, meaning that the series is now over half way and some of the titles are close to being sorted out. Race organiser, Frank Morgan has the joy of once again seeing pen and paper win over the new technology with this week’s glitch being a printer that wouldn’t print. Smiling all the way to Downey’s Pub in Rathfriland that played the congenial hosts to this week’s ‘feed the masses and prize giving’, Morgan sat quietly and gloated as the youngsters toiled with the technology.

128 souls turned up to race with 126 registering and picking up a number. One of the ‘difficult’ two made himself known to Morgan at the start, leaving 127 ‘official’ runners on the course. It is vitally important for safety reasons for all runners to register at the start and check in at the end, even if the whole course is not completed. The organisers need to know exactly how many people are on the mountain and how many leave the mountain.

Following last week’s torrential rain the weather was beautiful for Hen & Cock, with the ground still fairly saturated and ‘the boggy stuff’ still catching some runners out. The start of Hen & Cock is ferocious and a sight to behold as 128 runners quickly turn to a shuffle as the mountain climbs steeply to the summit. For the leaders the climb is over inside 7 minutes, for the back markers it takes nearly twice as long.

Newcastle AC’s Alan McKibbin once again took the lead from the gun and a snake wound its way up the mountain. McKibbin had won the previous two races, having missed the first three, and was now pushing hard to defend his series crown and make it a hat trick of wins. Behind him, the quiet style of Mourne Runners’ Des Woods, another who has raced sparingly this year so far, was making good progress ahead of the larger figure of club mate Andrew Stevenson. Stevenson is a novice to the Series, but belies his big frame as one of the strongest climbers. He had a great race at Binnian to the Top and the clue is in the title to that race – he does not like coming down. Climbing hard this week on Hen, the air was suddenly filled with the loud shout of ‘lift her out’, repeated several times. It was Stevenson, but what he was talking about was anyone’s guess – some thought it was self-encouragement, others thought he was encouraging others, probably he was not encouraging anyone at all and talking about something else. At any rate, his next proclamation was easier to understand, ‘I think I got out of the blocks too fast’ as he sensed Woods easing away into the distance. As the reader will know, ‘blocks’ are commonly seen at places like the Mary Peters Track, but the picture of Stevenson crouching low and exploding off towards Cock is an unusual one, to say the least.

Stevenson regained his rhythm on the climb of Cock and reached the summit in 7th place not far off the podium places. However, the climax of his entertainment was in having a discussion with everyone on the descent (all the 121 runners who had the mishap of being behind him on Cock) about how useless a descender he is, as he lost three more places – at least he was bringing a smile to all the climbers in the midst of their pain. For the record, he finished in 10th place.

Meanwhile, McKibbin, having eased off a little on the way to Cock, was romping home again in first place to make it a hat trick of wins. He is now favourite to win three titles in a row. Mid-Ulster’s Jonathan McCloy is in the climbing form of his life and has always been a very fast descender. After losing out on second place last week with a navigation error on the last descent, he made no mistake this week and secured the runner-up spot. He is clear favourite to take the junior title.

Des Woods came home a quiet third, not risking his ankle on the descents, a good result after finishing a close second the previous Saturday over the Annalong Horseshoe (a two-hour plus race). Newcastle AC’s Stevie Cunningham was fourth with colleague Eamon McCrickard, another awesome descender, next. Jim Brown took the vet45 category in 7th place.

In the ladies section, the big find of the season, Mourne Runners’ Fiona Maxwell, a vet45, won again, but this time securing her first record. She knocked 15 seconds off Anne Sandford’s record time from last year, winning in 36 minutes and 27 seconds. Shileen O’Kane took second 32 seconds behind with Alwynne Shannon third, a minute and a half further behind.

Finish of the evening came from Darren ‘Shaggy’ Herron – to the gasps of the watching crowd. The descent into the finish is fast and the funnel draws the runners in as it narrows. Not for the first time in his career, Herron was intent on picking up that one extra place that means so much. In his enthusiasm, BARF’s Patrick Lemoine took the full brunt of a rugby style tackle ending up sprawled on the ground – to no avail though as officially Lemoine was already over the finish line – battered and bruised but still in 56th place. As the crowd looked on in surprise all that could be heard were the strains of ‘it wasn’t me’ as Herron skipped off into the distance.

Now for more news this week of the continuing saga of ‘ACKC’ - Annalong Canoe & Kayak Club – after last week’s Davy Hughes misfortune of getting stuck in the Deer’s Meadow mud, Hughes was joined this week by two more colleagues who are refusing to take on the new Mourne Runners’ name. The Continuity ACKC, or CACK for short, finished in 11th place out of 11 teams with a record score of 329 points.

A celebrity runner of note joined the fray this week, one Terence Bannon, in a race that he has previously regularly marshalled, came home in 94th place. Known in popular culture simply as ‘Banjo’ he is best remembered for reaching the summit of Everest three years ago. Race seven is the Monument Race with registration in the Main Car Park in Tollymore Forest Park over 4.5miles with 1,100 feet of climbing, please try and register before 7pm.

BOGBOY

1 29.11 Alan McKibbin V35 Newcastle AC 100.00%
2 30.06 Jonathan McCloy J Mid Ulster 103.26%
3 30.18 Des Woods V35 Mourne Runners 103.68%
4 30.25 Stevie Cunningham O Newcastle AC 103.92%
5 30.53 Eamon McCrickard V35 Newcastle AC 104.88%
6 31.2 Don Travers O Armagh AC 107.18%
7 31.29 Jim Brown V45 BARF 107.49%
8 31.51 Richard Rodgers V40 Newcastle AC 108.24%
9 32.09 Richard Cowan O Willowfield 110.24%
10 32.22 Andrew Stevenson O Mourne Runners 110.68%
11 32.56 Kristofer Muldoon O Armagh AC 111.85%
12 33.25 Billy McKay V55 Albertville Harriers 114.22%
13 33.3 Jim Patterson V55 Unattached 114.39%
14 33.43 James McKee O Mourne Runners 114.84%
15 33.52 Stephen Begley V40 Albertville Harriers 115.15%
16 34.06 Sam Herron O Mourne Runners 117.00%
17 34.09 Mike Annett V40 Unattached 117.11%
18 34.13 Clive Bailey O Mourne Runners 117.24%
19 34.3 Ivan Millar V35 LVO 117.83%
20 34.47 Dominic McGreevy V45 Ballydrain Harriers 118.41%
21 35.01 Declan McElroy V40 Newcastle AC 120.27%
22 35.04 Mark Hanna O Mourne Runners 120.37%
23 35.19 Paddy Mallon V40 BARF 120.89%
24 35.48 Thomas Turner J Newcastle AC 121.88%
25 36.13 Andy Gregg V35 Larne AC 124.12%
26 36.17 Patrick Bradley O Unattached 124.25%
27 36.18 Charlie McAlinden V50 Newcastle AC 124.29%
28 36.27 Fiona Maxwell LV45 Mourne Runners 124.60%
29 36.3 Ronnie Rutherford V55 Ballydrain Harriers 124.70%
30 36.33 Neville Watson O Unattached 124.80%
31 36.44 Stephen Kennedy V35 Larne AC 125.18%
32 36.52 Gareth McKeown V40 BARF 125.46%
33 36.56 Michael Harty O Mourne Runners 125.59%
34 36.59 Shileen O'Kane LV35 BARF 125.70%
35 37.06 Jason Shelvin V35 Armagh AC 127.31%
36 37.13 Cecil McCullough V45 Mourne Runners 127.55%
37 37.23 David Bell V45 Mourne Runners 127.89%
38 37.27 Peter McGuckin V50 Unattached 128.03%
39 37.3 Vince McAlinden O BARF 128.13%
40 37.31 Wes Kettyle V55 Mourne Runners 128.17%
41 37.33 Cormac Muldoon V45 Armagh AC 128.24%
42 37.37 Kevin Murdock O Team Purple 128.38%
43 37.39 Declan McGrellis V35 LVO 128.44%
44 37.5 Sean Donnelly O Unattached 128.82%
45 37.52 Kevin Quinn V55 Mourne Runners 128.89%
46 37.55 Peter McClenaghan V45 BARF 128.99%
47 38.15 Eddie O'Hagan V45 Team Purple 131.05%
48 38.23 Tim Wilson O Unattached 131.33%
49 38.27 Alwynne Shannon LV40 Newcastle AC 131.47%
50 38.31 Marty McMullan O Newcastle AC 131.60%
51 38.37 Harry Teggarty V55 Mourne Runners 131.81%
52 38.39 Francis Nugent V40 Newcastle AC 131.88%
53 38.51 Mike Barton V50 Mourne Runners 132.29%
54 38.52 Barry Rankin V45 Mourne Runners 132.33%
55 38.58 Anne Sandford LV40 Newcastle AC 132.53%
56 39.01 Patrick Lemoine V40 BARF 134.01%
57 39.02 Darren Herron O Mourne Runners 134.04%
58 39.09 Ricky Cowan V55 Willowfield 134.28%
59 39.16 Richard Campbell O Mourne Runners 134.52%
60 39.33 Clive Coffey V40 Physio&Co 135.11%
61 39.51 Andy Bridge V40 BARF 135.73%
62 39.56 Richard Hanna O Mourne Runners 135.90%
63 40.01 Mael O'Hare O Newcastle AC 137.44%
64 40.02 Desmond O'Hagan V50 Physio&Co 137.48%
65 40.04 Mark Pruzina V40 BARF 137.55%
66 40.06 Ian Lockington O BARF 137.62%
67 40.15 John White V50 LVO 137.93%
68 40.2 Paul Fegan O Newcastle AC 138.10%
69 40.23 Ruairi Donnelly J Unattached 138.20%
70 40.26 Clare Galbraith LV40 Newcastle AC 138.30%
71 40.27 Frank Gorman V40 Unattached 138.34%
72 40.32 Gerard Morgan O Unattached 138.51%
73 40.57 Dave Goddard V50 Newcastle AC 139.37%
74 41.06 Paul Patton O Unattached 141.05%
75 41.09 Seamus Murray V40 Team Purple 141.15%
76 41.27 Fred Strickland V55 Ballydrain Harriers 141.77%
77 41.32 James Keown V40 Mourne Runners 141.94%
78 41.38 Denis Rankin V60 BARF 142.15%
79 41.41 Murray Cowan V35 LVO 142.25%
80 41.43 Brendan O'Hagan V50 Team Purple 142.32%
81 42.05 Willie John Brown V50 Mourne Runners 144.45%
82 42.08 Aidan Campbell V40 Unattached 144.56%
83 42.32 Martina Hawkins LV35 Newcastle AC 145.38%
84 42.36 Marty McVeigh V50 Newcastle AC 145.52%
85 42.52 Ed Smith 0 Lunchtime Legends 146.07%
86 42.58 John McDonald V35 Unattached 146.27%
87 43 Ian Conlon V40 Unattached 147.72%
88 43.01 Brian Spence V40 Larne AC 147.75%
89 43.09 Clarke Campbell O BARF 148.02%
90 43.18 Trevor Wilson V45 BARF 148.33%
91 43.35 Mark Breem O Unattached 148.92%
92 43.51 Kerry Iveston FJ North Down 149.47%
93 43.58 Gordon Stephens V45 Mourne Runners 149.71%
94 44.01 Terence Bannon V35 Unattached 151.19%
95 44.14 Wendy Findlay LV35 Newcastle AC 151.63%
96 44.2 Barbara Brown LV45 Mourne Runners 151.84%
97 44.25 Mark Hopkins O North Down 152.01%
98 44.4 Andrew McGibbon O BARF 152.52%
99 44.43 Brian Peters V40 Unattached 152.63%
100 44.46 Colm Kelly O Unattached 152.73%
101 44.5 Francis Boal V55 Ballydrain Harriers 152.87%
102 44.57 Violet Linton LO LVO 153.11%
103 45.01 Norma Rea LO BARF 154.62%
104 45.04 John McBride V50 BARF 154.72%
105 45.43 Paul McCormac V35 Physio&Co 156.06%
106 45.49 Adrian Barron V45 ACKC 156.27%
107 45.5 Paul Watson V40 Newcastle AC 156.30%
108 45.54 Paddy McCrickard V40 Unattached 156.44%
109 45.57 Dave Fulcher V45 Unattached 156.54%
110 46.15 Andrew Campbell V40 ACKC 158.54%
111 46.31 Roma McConville LV45 North Down 159.09%
112 46.53 John Adgey V60 Mourne Runners 159.84%
113 47.33 David Hughes V45 ACKC 162.59%
114 47.36 Ian Taylor V55 BARF 162.69%
115 47.39 Bill Hopkins V55 LVO 162.80%
116 48.01 John Findlay V35 Newcastle AC 164.93%
117 48.12 Glenn Murphy O Unattached 165.30%
118 48.3 William Cargo V45 Unattached 165.92%
119 48.53 Gary McLoughlin V35 Newcastle AC 166.71%
120 48.55 Conall Nugent V45 Newcastle AC 166.78%
121 50.46 Christine Hill FO Unattached 173.34%
122 51.09 Vaughan Purnell V35 Mourne Runners 175.51%
123 51.24 Elaine Hall LO Larne AC 176.02%
124 51.39 Michael Carol O Unattached 176.54%
125 52.15 Cormac Fitzpatrick V35 Unattached 179.15%
126 53.2 Pauline O'Hara LV40 BARF 182.76%
127 53.21 Peter Turkington V50 Mourne Runners 182.79%
128 55.12 Angela Beggs LO Physio&Co 189.35%

 

 

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