Hill and Dale Results 2008
Race 1
Race 2
Race 3
Race 4
Race 5
Race 6
Race 7
Race 8
Race 9
Race 10
Race 11


Hen and Cock

Hill and Dale Race 6

Thursday 15th May 2008

Sandford produces a blast from the past

There is no better place to be at the height of summer than in the Central Mournes and last Thursday the weather was certainly doing a great impression of the height of summer as the runners gathered at the Hen Car Park near Hilltown for the 6th race of this year’s Hill & Dale Series.


142 took the starter’s whistle for the out and back race over Hen and Cock. Every race in the series has a different character and this week was characterised by steep climbs and descents on good grassy ground (quite firm from the recent dry spell) and a wee bit of flatter running across the valley between Hen & Cock.


For many years now Newcastle AC’s Anne Sandford (out of Crossgar) has competed in the mountains and in the past she has been Northern Ireland Champion and many times Northern Ireland International. She has always loved the Hen & Cock race and this year proved no exception. Now a Lady Vet 40, she belied her years and set off up the steep initial climb with clear intent and purpose. Behind, another former champion BARF’s Shileen O’Kane was trying to stay in touch with Mourne’s Charlene Haugh behind that again.


The other factor of the series in the turnout of spectators and this week the hardier among them made it to the summit of Hen. The sight of the snake of runners climbing and then descending is well worth the effort. This year the McNeilly clan made it to the correct Cock summit and the first man through was Newcastle AC’s Alan McKibbin intent on making amends for last week’s defeat. He was followed by Mourne’s Stevie Cunningham, Eddie Hanna and Andrew Niblock and club mates Deon McNeilly and in 6th David O’Flaherty.


McKibbin was not to be beaten this time and he kept easing clear to come home and win in 29 minutes and 9 seconds, 11 seconds clear of the ever-improving Cunningham who was a further 22 seconds ahead of Hanna. Behind, O’Flaherty was having the best race of his life coming through from 6th to 4th and passing McNeilly on the final descent with Niblock in 6th. Newcastle AC pipped Mourne (11 points to 10) in the closest team race yet.


Meanwhile, Sandford was not to be beaten and came home to match her victory of last year nearly 30 seconds ahead of O’Kane to make it the 5th different female victor in only six races in the series to date.


A footnote from last week surrounds young Mark Laird. Having just returned from tidying up finals at Dundee University, he shipped up for the Moughanmore Race sporting a shiny pair of Innov8s. He is getting fitter by the week (20% behind the winner in race 1 before he went off to Dundee -17% at Moughanmore and now 13% this week) but he still hasn’t quite caught up with the etiquette of fell running. After Moughanmore, spies have reported that he was seen up to knee deep in the Spelga Dam with ‘new shoes’ still on. The weather was brilliant but paddling in the Dam is not a recreational pursuit in this part of the world, so what was he doing? He was ‘cleaning his shoes’. His uncle Paul cannot believe it and has had a quiet word in his ear – nonetheless after this week’s excellent 14th over dry ground and next week’s race mainly in the forest – the shoes look set to stay pristine for a while yet.


A final footnote concerns one of Down District’s finest, Damian Brannigan, for many years a stalwart of the local mountain racing scene, dating back nearly 25 years to the origin of the series. As time has moved on, year in year out, he has completed series after series and all it seems, in those blue shorts. First, the fashion police have often commented that they are not a match for the red and yellow vest of Newcastle AC. More importantly though is that after 100s of washes (and shrinkages) and much competitive action, the threads are becoming bare (that’s it, threadbare) and the crown jewels are often on display – not a bit of wonder that some of the numbers were mixed up at registration this week as the seated officials were distracted by the bling. Tickets will be on sale at registration this week for the fans to line the green hill finishing climb for the latest local tourist attraction – get there early because numbers will be limited for Health & Safety reasons.


Next week is the Monument Race from the main Tollymore Forest Car Park and registration opens at 6.30pm. Get there early to avoid the rush.


BOGBOY


1 29.09 Alan McKibbin V40 Newcastle AC 100.00%
2 29.2 Stephen Cunningham O Mourne Runners 100.38%
3 29.42 Edward Hanna O Mourne Runners 101.13%
4 30.06 David O'Flaherty O Newcastle AC 103.33%
5 30.19 Deon McNeilly V45 Newcastle AC 103.78%
6 30.42 Andrew Niblock O Mourne Runners 104.57%
7 31.31 Eamon McCrickard V40 Newcastle AC 107.63%
8 32.03 Jonathan McCloy O Armagh AC 110.11%
9 32.18 William Marks O Mourne Runners 110.62%
10 32.31 Clive Bailey V35 Mourne Runners 111.07%
11 32.31 Stephen Kennedy V35 Larne AC 111.07%
12 32.53 Dominic McGreevy V50 Ballydrain Harriers 111.83%
13 33.02 Damian Brannigan V40 Newcastle AC 113.51%
14 33.12 Mark Laird O Newcastle AC 113.85%
15 33.15 Jim Brown V45 BARF 113.96%
16 33.17 David Tweed O North Belfast Harriers 114.03%
17 33.26 Gerry Kenny V40 Newcastle AC 114.33%
18 33.28 Paul Mawhirt V40 Newcastle AC 114.40%
19 33.29 Barry Wells V45 Newcastle AC 114.44%
20 33.45 Sam Herron O Mourne Runners 114.99%
21 33.47 Pete Grant V40 Up & Running 115.06%
22 33.51 Mark Hanna V35 Mourne Runners 115.19%
23 34.05 Stephen Begley V40 Albertville Harriers 117.05%
24 34.18 Richard Cowan O Newcastle AC 117.50%
25 34.23 Alex Brennan V35 Ballymena Runners 117.67%
26 34.24 Cecil McCullough V45 Mourne Runners 117.70%
27 34.24 Peter Howie V50 Larne AC 117.70%
28 34.55 Gareth Boreland O BARF 118.77%
29 35.04 Neville Watson V35 BARF 120.45%
30 35.05 Billy Reed V40 East Antrim Harriers 120.49%
31 35.08 Paddy Mallon V40 BARF 120.59%
32 35.42 Patrick Bradley V35 Newcastle AC 121.76%
33 35.43 Paul Holywood V35 Armagh AC 121.79%
34 35.45 Tim Wilson O Unattached 121.86%
35 35.47 Vaughan Purnell V35 Mourne Runners 121.93%
36 35.57 Paul Watters O Armagh AC 122.28%
37 36.01 Billy McKay V55 Albertville Harriers 123.79%
38 36.05 David Ewart V35 BARF 123.93%
39 36.13 Barry Tinnelly V35 Team Purple 124.20%
40 36.16 Padriag Muldoon V40 Armagh AC 124.30%
41 36.28 Richard Hanna O Mourne Runners 124.72%
42 36.3 Jimmy Murray V45 Team Purple 124.79%
43 36.3 Gareth Kelly O Newcastle AC 124.79%
44 36.34 Declan McElroy V40 Newcastle AC 124.92%
45 36.4 Mark Kendall O Newcastle AC 125.13%
46 36.41 Chris McCann V45 Mourne Runners 125.16%
47 36.52 Wes Kettyle V55 Mourne Runners 125.54%
48 36.54 Mervyn McCollam O Larne AC 125.61%
49 37 Anne Sandford LV40 Newcastle AC 127.19%
50 37.13 Stewart Magill V35 Unattached 127.64%
51 37.19 Jim Erskine V40 Newcastle AC 127.84%
52 37.23 Shileen O'Kane LV35 BARF 127.98%
53 37.3 Ian Lockington O BARF 128.22%
54 37.35 Peter McLenaghan V45 BARF 128.39%
55 37.42 Graham Smyth O Unattached 128.64%
56 37.49 David Bell V45 Mourne Runners 128.88%
57 37.51 Frankie Gorman V40 Monaghan Phoenix 128.94%
58 38.06 Fergal O'Connor V35 Unattached 130.84%
59 38.1 Mark Cooper V35 Team Purple 130.97%
60 38.11 Mark Rafferty O Unattached 131.01%
61 38.14 Ian McCollum O Unattached 131.11%
62 38.16 Conor McMullan O Unattached 131.18%
63 38.22 Patrick Lemoine V40 BARF 131.39%
64 38.26 Jim McCormick V40 North Belfast Harriers 131.52%
65 38.29 Harry Teggarty V55 Mourne Runners 131.63%
66 38.31 Seamus White V45 Newcastle AC 131.69%
67 38.33 Peter McGuckin V55 Mourne Runners 131.76%
68 38.4 Brian Wilson V35 Lagan Valley 132.00%
69 38.46 Charlene Haugh FO Mourne Runners 132.21%
70 38.5 Fred Strickland V60 Ballydrain Harriers 132.35%
71 39.06 Michael Barton V55 Mourne Runners 134.27%
72 39.11 Ken McConnell V45 Unattached 134.44%
73 39.24 Francis McAlinden V40 Newcastle AC 134.89%
74 39.33 Andy Bridge V45 BARF 135.20%
75 39.39 Denis Rankin V60 BARF 135.41%
76 39.51 Ian McCollum O Unattached 135.82%
77 40.02 Sean Bradley O Lunchtime Legends 137.57%
78 40.13 Diane Wilson LV35 Lagan Valley 137.95%
79 40.23 Liz McLaughlin LV40 Team Purple 138.29%
80 40.27 Francis Nugent V40 Newcastle AC 138.43%
81 40.35 Niall McConville O Unattached 138.71%
82 40.39 Ian Cumming O East Coast Adventure 138.84%
83 40.57 Stefanie Pruzina LV40 BARF 139.46%
84 40.59 Mike Thompson V45 Unattached 139.53%
85 41.06 WJ Brown V55 Mourne Runners 141.15%
86 41.09 Conor Currie O Lunchtime Legends 141.25%
87 41.13 Barry Rankin V50 Mourne Runners 141.39%
88 41.26 Johnny Boreland O Unattached 141.84%
89 41.28 William Howard V50 Lagan Valley 141.90%
90 41.41 Ricky Cowan V55 Willowfield Harriers 142.35%
91 41.53 Trevor Wilson V45 BARF 142.76%
92 41.56 Adrian Baron V45 ACKC 142.87%
93 41.57 Paul Duffy V35 Newcastle AC 142.90%
94 41.58 Paul Fegan O Newcastle AC 142.94%
95 41.59 John McBride V50 BARF 142.97%
96 42.01 Danny Johnston V55 Unattached 144.41%
97 42.11 Cormac Fitzpatrick V35 Unattached 144.76%
98 42.3 Donal O'Kane V45 BARF 145.41%
99 42.33 Paul Patton O Unattached 145.51%
100 42.4 Colm Simpson V40 Team Purple 145.75%
101 42.43 Paddy McCrickard V40 Unattached 145.86%
102 42.44 Martin McMullan O Newcastle AC 145.89%
103 44.47 Richard Dugan V45 Lunchtime Legends 152.87%
104 42.53 Dessi O'Hagan V50 Physio & Co 146.20%
105 42.59 Anna Stamp FO Unattached 146.41%
106 43.01 David Ross O Unattached 147.85%
107 43.07 Jackie Toal LV35 BARF 148.06%
108 43.09 Declan McCrory V35 Armagh AC 148.13%
109 43.11 Peter Coyle V40 Team Purple 148.20%
110 43.35 Patrick O'Hagan V45 Unattached 149.02%
111 43.44 Wendy Findlay LV40 Newcastle AC 149.33%
112 44 Mark Lester O Bideford Runners 151.25%
113 44.33 Aisiling McPolin FO Unattached 152.39%
114 44.34 Brian Hamilton V60 Up & Running 152.42%
115 44.59 Nigel Proctor V40 Unattached 153.28%
116 45.01 Fintan O'Hagan V45 Physio & Co 154.73%
117 45.03 Brendan Ward O Unattached 154.80%
118 45.1 Mark Breen O Unattached 155.04%
119 45.21 Michael Henry V50 Pegasus AC 155.41%
120 45.39 Jim Walker V45 Unattached 156.03%
121 45.52 Paul Jackson O Unattached 156.48%
122 46 Brian Spence V45 Larne AC 158.13%
123 46.01 Julia Gill LV45 Unattached 158.16%
124 46.46 Hazel Hunter FO Lagan Valley 159.71%
125 46.47 John Findlay V40 Newcastle AC 159.75%
126 46.49 Gerard Jones V45 Team Purple 159.81%
127 46.53 Bill Hopkins V55 LVO 159.95%
128 47.13 Taryn McCoy FO Unattached 162.01%
129 47.44 David Hughes V45 ACKC 163.08%
130 47.47 Martin Tolan O Unattached 163.18%
131 47.51 Connell Nugent V45 Newcastle AC 163.32%
132 48.21 Claire Samways LV35 Unattached 165.73%
133 48.25 Patrick Brady V45 Unattached 165.86%
134 48.32 Susan Edwards LV35 Lagan Valley 166.11%
135 48.54 Trevor Mitten V60 Unattached 166.86%
136 50.35 Pauline O'Hara LV45 BARF 173.08%
137 50.46 Clarke Campbell V40 BARF 173.46%
138 50.57 Ian Taylor V60 BARF 173.84%
139 53.53 Peter Turkington V50 Mourne Runners 184.02%
140 60.25 Victoria Hill O Unattached 207.12%
141 DNF Bob Cooke V60 Mourne Runners #VALUE!
142 DNF Joe McCann V35 Newcastle AC #VALUE!

 

Teams

1 Newcastle AC 10
2 Mourne Runners 11
3 BARF 72
4 Armagh 77
5 Larne 86
6 Team Purple 140
7 Lagan Valley 235
8 Lunchtime Legends 266

 

 

 


 

 

©2004 Newcastle AC. All Rights Reserved.