Race 7 : Monument Race

18th May 2006

Maxwell & McKibbin clear favourites to win Hill & Dale titles

Despite some people resting up for the All-Ireland Championship & European Championship Trial race in Kilbroney Forest, Rostrevor on Saturday, 134 runners turned up for the Monument Race in Tollymore Forest Park, the seventh race from 11 in the series. Torrential rain had lashed down during the previous 24 hours, but conditions overhead remained reasonably kind, but underfoot the ground was very wet.

The start is very fast as the crowd sprinted away from the obelisk monument along the grass and down to the Shimna River. Newcastle AC’s Alan McKibbin sprinted off as ever and the rest trailed in his wake. New face this week was Stephen Duncan from Omagh Harriers, a useful 32-minute 10km operator on the road, I’m not sure that he really knew what to expect as he followed McKibbin in his road racing flats.

This year Eddie Hanna has had an up and down year (I know most hill races are like that) and this week he was back on form and in the leading bunch. Behind him, rasta-man Mid-Ulster’s Jonathan McCloy was once again leading junior, but finding the going tougher this week with the descents being less steep. Armagh’s Don Travers also deserves a mention. Travers managed 16 minutes 50 seconds for 5km on the road in February and has shown flashes of brilliance in the Hill & Dale series so far, but tends to struggle as the race goes on. He runs like a Kenyan, in spurts, and one day soon he will produce a very fast race.

Once again, new find of the season, Fiona Maxwell was out on her own in the ladies race to make it another easy victory and now it seems that no one will be able to stop her securing her first Hill & Dale title in only her first full year of running. There will be much more to tell about her, no doubt, in later weeks. She was 45th overall in 36 minutes 47 seconds over a minute clear of Shileen O’Kane in second and Clare Galbraith coming into great form in third place. Kerry Iveston was once again leading junior lady in 42 minutes 11 seconds.

McKibbin is a danger to himself. He gets out in front and then panics about the course and despite the best efforts of race organiser to mark the course carefully with tape and sawdust throughout, McKibbin took an early walkabout on Curraghard but still emerged on the mountain in front. He took another short detour on the summit of the mountain but made no mistakes on the way back to win in just two seconds over the half hour. Hanna was 54 seconds back with Duncan in third another half minute behind.

BARF’s Jim Brown continued his fine run of form with 9th and first veteran 45 with Jim Patterson (now unattached) in 24th the first veteran 55. Team Purple’s Brendan O’Hagan was leading vet 50 in 31st place and BARF’s Denis Rankin in 87th took first vet 60.

Newcastle AC continued its domination in the team series winning again with 12 points from Mourned Runners with 30 pipping Omagh with 31. Twelve clubs completed a team this week with the continuity ACKC unfortunately a ‘no show’.

Declan McElroy runs for Newcastle AC and a mere 12 months ago he didn’t run at all. However, now 43, he had read about the Hill & Dale series and heard about mountain running in general. Among the 250 different people who participate in the Hill & Dales each year there are many different motivating stories. However, it mainly comes down to the challenge – the races are like nothing else. Once a basic fitness is in place, each race is unique and tests different parts of the runner’ make-up.

McElroy finished 53rd and over ten minutes behind the winner in his first race in the Hill & Dales – which was actually the last race of the 2005 series. Since then McElroy and his trademark blue coat have rarely been separated as he put in a summer and then a winter of training to set off at the first race of this year’s series. Whilst others worry about where to put their car keys while the race is on (code for whether the race organiser is trustworthy enough to look after them), McElroy seeks out a safe place for his coat. The partnership is paying dividends. At the Monument, he arguably produced his best race ever, and there is more to come, to come home in 25th place with that ten-minute deficit now cut in half to five minutes. Personal challenge and achievement is what this series is all about – from first to last.

Meanwhile, McElroy’s club mate Joe McCann, race organiser for next week’s Loughshannagh Horseshoe, showed the meaning of team spirit when he stepped into the breach to do the prize giving this week at O’Hare’s in Burrenbridge. Always capable of bringing a smile to the room with his witty repartee, his words of wisdom are not unfortunately, repeatable here. McCann, for the record, was disappointed with his 21st place at the Monument, till recovering from the London Marathon. He was, it turns out, lucky to be here at all for as part of his marathon recovery he had taking to cycling with ‘mate’ Damien Brannigan and exploring the leafy lanes of County Down.

One evening as the pair swept through Clanvaraghan, Brannigan heard the yelps of his mate. Turning around he saw him lying on the road, underneath the bike with its wheels in the air. Now, thank goodness they are not taking up cycling for real – for the sake of motorists. Anyhow, clip on pedals are designed to hold the feet in while pedalling but allowing a swift exit by rotating the foot in sticky moments like this. Unfortunately McCann’s mistake was to tighten then too tight and his feet were stuck.

Thinking on his feet, well not actually his feet, to avoid the oncoming traffic (so this is why they cycle on quiet country roads) he pulled his feet out of his shoes. Now though how was he getting back to Newcastle? A quick visit to a friendly resident (well actually half an hour) eventually uncovered the right ‘tool’ and the pedals were loosened and the pair finally got on their way. Next time you see him, for your sake I hope he hasn’t got his bike with him. McCann will be directing operations, lord help us all, from 6.30pm at the Spelga Pass on Thursday for the longest race of the series – the Loughshannagh Horseshoe – in the anti-clockwise direction.

BOGBOY