Meelmore Meelbeg

Hill and Dale Race 10

Thursday 7th May 2007

Shannon Wins Hill & Dale Title

Meelmore and Meelbeg (‘The Meels’) sit majestically alongside the ‘Devil’s Bite’ above the Trassey Area of the Mournes. Scorching summer is back with us and the ground is as dry again. This made for fast times in the 10th of 11 of the Blue Lough Hill & Dale Series.

From humble beginnings several years ago now, Newcastle AC’s Alwynne Shannon has matured into a more confident runner and has competed many times for Northern Ireland in the annual World Championships and for the Irish team in the European Championships. In her first year in the Hill & Dale she took an early tumble breaking her arm, but this did not deter her. Now in 2007, she has realised one ambition, this week by winning at the Meels, she won, what has been the most competitive Women’s Series in years – in all there have been five different winners in the ten races, but Shannon’s fourth victory this evening secured her the title. Behind Shannon came last week’s winner Shalene Ward followed by Anne Sandford in third place.

In total 125 runners toed the start line on the glorious summer evening, including expected in the leading group evergreen Newcastle AC’s Deon McNeilly, club mate, ‘no relation but actually the nephew of Jim Hayes’ David McNeilly, the bridesmaid North Belfast’s Neil Carty Armagh AC’s Don Travers and Mourne Runners’ Stevie Cunningham & Eddie Hanna.

As the leaders struck out on the steep climb of Meelmore, BARF’s Jim Brown, true to form chose his own route. Always confident that he knows a better line, he is rarely wrong and this canny approach coupled with breakneck descending ability was to see Brown record another high placing this evening, coming home in 6th place.

McNeilly though ran with dogged determination and always had the edge on Carty once again winning with Carty in his favourite second place, only four seconds down. Behind them Cunningham and the other McNeilly had their own battle emerging in 3rd and 4th places and clear of the rest. Both these runners are now in considerably better form than the same time last year and are going from strength to strength as the weeks progress.

The trouble with institutions as they grow bigger is that they tend to lose their local feel and it seems that this might just have happened to Mourne Runners. Everyone knows Rugland’s Willie John Brown and Deramore’s Wes Kettyle, one of the founder members of the clubs forerunner ACKC and even, Harry Teggarty – have you bought his book yet? But a strange thing happened at last week’s 10km Road Race in Craigavon. Mourne’s Eamon White is improving all the time and finished well up in around 34minutes. Chatting to a couple of Newcastle AC runners afterwards, the man’s ambition is obvious, but it seems that no one in Mourne AC knows him. So Wes, Willie John et al, if you want an introduction to your club mate just speak to anyone in Newcastle AC and we will do the necessary.

The plot thickens, for even those that know each other, still seem to be confused. Wes Kettyle was once more centre of the action in a scene more reminiscent of ‘Only Fools & Horses’. Kettyle has not been able to race that often this season, due to bad Achilles Tendons – in fact they were going under the knife the day after the Meels. Maybe it was this that was playing on his mind, maybe it was the wine in the open air of the mountains, maybe it was the wine in the Maghera Inn, whatever it was, it should be made clear that Willie Marks is not ‘Dave’ Marks but Dave is what Wes called him all evening. Marks gets fitter each year throughout the Series and then seems to return the next year unfit again. This week he finished a very creditable 13th. Standing at the bar, Wes reflected to ‘Dave’ how well he was running – maybe it’s not Wes, maybe it’s just that the club has so many members now.

Once again, dry the weather and the mountains might be, but yet more excellent evidence was produced about how the runners just seem to love finding the bog. A new feature emerged this week courtesy of Neil McAlister. A relative newcomer to the Hill & Dale this year, McAlister is better known for being one of the fittest specimens in the Burrendale Country Club Gym. Pumping iron comes easier to him that slogging it out in the mountains but nonetheless the results show that he has turned in some good performances this year already. But the truth emerged this week as he approached the finish line with a mud pack on his face. Well actually not just his face, pretty much mud everywhere, in some places more obvious than others. All these years of watching the ladies emerge from their expensive pampering sessions in the Burrendale, Bogman McAlister has found a way to combine the two, racing and pampering and at a fraction of the cost – the best of luck to him for the future.

Thanks to the Maghera Inn for its post-race hospitality with lots of excellent food on show and plenty of hungry runners to match. Still a cold house though for Mourne’s Mark Hanna, still chasing his ‘lucky’ mug memento and having made the critical mistake of asking the race organisers ‘how’ he might be’ lucky’ enough to win one. So near and yet so far this week when he was called to the front and presented with, oops, just a bog standard Maghera Inn coffee cup and don’t worry Matthew, he didn’t take it with him.

Young Mark O’Hare is back to racing. Years ago he was a prodigious teenage talent at middle distance on the track. Now in his early to mid-20s he has rekindled his enthusiasm and turned up at the Meels for his third race in a row. His mind is willing but his body has a long way to go. Speaking to the Chief Organiser of the Series, O’Hare remarked that he had missed out on his ‘virgin’ prize a couple of weeks earlier – given to those runners, you’ve guessed it, who are running a Hill & Dale race for the first time. Quite worryingly he went on to ask if he might be considered a virgin next week if he turns out at the Donard Forest race. And the education system is not being dumbed down?

Brian McBurney is the organiser of the last race and like the shopkeeper in Mr Ben he popped up in Happy Valley to ‘help’ out for the first time this year and to secure a few volunteers for next week’s organising. With the McNeilly extended family circle to the fore this week, it seems that they McBurney family circle might be under a bit of pressure. So Friday night next sees the end of the series with the 12th race in Donard Forest followed by the prize giving in Leslie’s Bar in the Avoca Hotel.

BOGBOY

Teams