Race 3

Slieve Martin

17th April 2003

Race 3 (of 11)

McNeilly's Popularity Reaches a Peak

The height of summer (and it was only mid-April) and this week participants in the Acheson & Glover Hill & Dale series made the longer than normal trek to Rostrevor and Kilbroney Park for the 3rd race of the season. They say that the popularity of the race organiser is reflected in the number of runners who turn up for the race and with 111 souls toeing the start-line, a record for the Slieve Martin race, Deon McNeilly's popularity has reached record heights.

What really makes this unique series of races is not necessarily the fierce competition in each category to win each night, and more importantly to be best in 6 races out of 11, but it is the individuals who compete each week with no hope of actually winning the race, but instead are competing against themselves over terrain which varies every single race and from year to year.

This week, the mountain was almost bone dry, contrasting to twelve months earlier when the mountain was saturated, changing the character of the race completely. Times were therefore faster, even for the old man Deon McNeilly, on second thoughts, not that old, still 30 years younger than Jim Metcalfe, now a veteran 70 runner and a total gentleman, quiet and unassuming with many stories of athletics from more than 50 years ago.

Down the field, BARF's Trevor Wilson keeps his long unbroken streak of having competed in every single Hill & Dale race going, now three races into the new season. This was race number 74 in a row dating back to the end of the 1995 season. Many runners, just like Trevor, keep coming back to compete against themselves, no two races are the same, even from one year to the next. For the record, Trevor is not in as good as shape this year (yet) as he has been and came home in 87th some 3 minutes outside his time of last year. But he'll be back next week.

The race is full of personal battles, battles between teammates, ongoing rivalry amongst workmates (to that end Bill Hopkins of the Ordnance Survey leads colleague Marty McVeigh, who hasn't yet toed the line), ongoing rivalry amongst brothers, fathers and sons and all the time a need for more female participants to brighten up the evening.

Sharon McBurney continued her dominance, first in 37th overall and 42 minutes and 6 seconds, 34 seconds inside Shileen O'Kane's record from 2002 with Alwyn Shannon, 2nd and first lady vet in 46 minutes and 1 second, ahead of series newcomer Martina Elliot of ACKC, 3rd and 2nd lady vet, fresh from a fine three and a half hours only four days earlier in the London Marathon.

Congratulations also to Joe McCann who came home in a personal best 2 hours 55 minutes and 59 seconds in the London Marathon and then 28th in this week's race in 40 minutes 27 seconds in exactly the same time he posted last year.

Deon McNeilly won his first race of the series from Neil Carty and David (I'm no relation of Deon) McNeilly. McNeilly smashed his own record by 39 seconds coming home in 33 minutes and 2 seconds. First vet 40 was McNeilly, first vet 45 Cookie O'Hagan in 10th overall, first vet 50 Billy McKay in 12th, first vet 55 Desi McHenry in 25th and Tom Donnelly coming home again first vet 65.

A word of support is in order for NIMRA committee member and ACKC's Barbara Brown, who unfortunately turned an ankle and damaged ligaments two weeks ago in the first race of the series. Barbara, with her weapons of mass distraction, has become a stalwart of the series and many are looking forward to an early competitive return.

Next week is for the climbing specialists with the race finishing at the top of Slieve Binnian. Start 7.30pm as ever, but from a new place about 1.5 miles towards the Silent Valley from Carrick Little Car Park. The route will follow a lane to an old quarry before climbing steeply along a wall to join the Mourne Wall and onto the summit. Everyone is welcome.

BOGBOY

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