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28 November, 2009

2001 Leinster Championship
Ballybraid - Preliminary report by Douglas Barry
Simon Fairmaner won the Leinster Championship Ballybraid race emphatically on the 15th July 2001. The conditions were ideal with low cloud obscuring what could have been a hot sun, and a light breeze cooling the athletes. The DSD runner who won the first round of the Leinster Championship at Glenmacnass took advantage and continued to show his good form in the Leinster League with this win in second round of the Championship over a new shortened course.
The old route had one of the more impressive records on the IMRA books. Set by Aonghus O'Cleirigh in his pomp, it stood at 65 minutes. However, new tree planting on the lower slopes of Kirikee mountain since the last time the race was held, forced changes. The organisers were reduced to using the initial parts of the old route which took in the summit of Mullacor and then went over and back the length of the attractive Derrybawn ridge with its views of the Glendalough lakes. However, instead of crossing the road to Kirikee at the Shay Elliott Memorial, the new route turns down a forest road and back to the start at Ballybraid missing a tough and testing chunk.
From the start, Simon Fairmaner blasted away pursued by the rest of the smallish field led by improving junior Seosamh O'Muircheartaigh. However, coming off the Derrybawn ridge, Seosamh made an error and took a wrong turning. This allowed the next four runners led by Gerry Lalor to overtake him and pull out a significant gap. Fired up by his error, O'Muircheartaigh chased after the group and gradually picked off Billy Alexander, Paul Mahon - running with his arm in a sling! - and Mike Long. He was closing on Gerry as they approached the finish, but the Setanta runner heard the ominous crunch of stones behind him and sprinted to hold on to second place.
Roisin McDonnell had an untroubled race to hold off Eva Mulleady for the women's prize while Nina Phillips took third place. Billy Alexander took the veteran's prize as well as sixth place overall while Henny Brandsma had a two minute margin over his main rival Ercus Stewart in the over 50 race. Caitlin Bent took the over 50 women's race but admitted that she missed the challenge of the old route. She and Brian Bell were the only runners who had raced Ballybraid in the past. I might mention that there was another one there, but I was watching the developments below me from the summit of Cullentragh. I can confirm the views of Wales across the Irish Sea were particularly splendid.