Unknown

28 November, 2009

Corrig Arup League race - Report by Brendan Doherty
Lacking an attention-grabbing headline, let?s start with the weather. It was indeed pretty bad - well, mild, but with swirling mist and poor visibility. This state of affairs showed IMRA at its reactive best - a flurry of phone calls led to the agreement that safety was paramount. The mucky ride was out of the question and Jane Watt, Graham Porter and the original Dutch Master, Hennie Brandsma agreed and marked an alternative route (Hennie, Mr Bill Gates' spell checker doesn?t like your surname, and suggests Hennie Grandma).
The new route extended beyond the usual ride some 400/500 metres to a somewhat more navigable one, and stopped at mid-top, rather than progressing all the way up. The going underfoot was extremely treacherous up on the open mountain, leading Jane to comment that she included certain stretches for the people "who liked a bit of ould shite". Jane and Graham also had the time and energy to put out IMRA direction signs-to keep the Tallaght one out of the grasp of souvenir hunters, it went up so high that it proved impossible to get it down again. There is a corner of the Bridie Burke roundabout that is forever IMRA!
A back-office coup saw Mike Long and Brendan Lawlor coping heroically with entries in the absence of both Vivian O?Gorman and Joe Lalor (who cynics said bottled it because of the weather). Peter O?Farrell guided at the top of the ride with huge style (5.9s all round), while Justin Keating, Mary O?Colmain and Simon Fairmainer shivered for Ireland at the finish. "Shout your numbers" was the mantra there, a good piece of advice when so many people wore rain-tops, visibility was poor and numbers in general were hard to see. Car-pooling also seems to be taking off, with a number of people opting to travel together from Aherns. More of this, especially for Blue Light!
The usual cast of heavyweight performers slugged it out for the podium positions, with pride of place going to Eoin Keith (men) and Nicky Cinnamond (women). By the way, your racing correspondent?s inside info has the hot tip that Eoin Keith will not win next week?s race at Bray - you heard it here first. Other personalities noted by your roving reporter were:
Outstanding vets performances from Aonghus O?Cleirigh and Gerry Brady, showing the huge benefit of the trade in body parts (though Gerry says he is in the market for a new brain after recent orienteering reverses)
Speaking of personalities, we notice the multiple ones being developed by Paul Mahon. He started the race using the number 10 of the Italian striker Totti (leading to murmurs of " look at that bit of....... ) but was later seen in Aherns posing in the number 7 Celtic strip of Henrik Larssen. We in IMRA worry that given Paul?s predilection for bags full of funny white powder (remember the Killakee hash, Paul), he may be tempted to follow the example of the world?s outstanding number 10, one D. Maradona, and go for the white stuff in a really big way.
Eamonn Horgan still had enough gas for 11th place after an unexpected pit-stop up in the forest
Gary Moralee fell, but heck - all in a day?s work, and he recovered well to finish 20th
Eileen Walsh returned after an absence - her secret training in the Phoenix Park got her to 45th
James Higgins had a career-first win over retired colleague Eddie Hughes, by the convincing margin of two seconds (78/79th)
Catherine Hughes (at 81st) put it well when she said she "walked up, and fell down" Thanks, Jane
All in all, an enjoyable evening, a good piece of race management "off the cuff" a good turn-out of 90 for the conditions, and Aherns as ever a pleasant spot for the warm down.
Webmaster's note: Your fearless, and oh so modest, reporter Mr. Brendan Doherty finished 75th and 8th best supervet.