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28 November, 2009

The Scalp
Report by Douglas Barry
Blackrock AC's Francis Cosgrave had an impressive win on the Scalp race to halt, at four, the winning streak of races enjoyed by 3ROC's Hugh McLindon. Cosgrave showed he had recovered from his dental problems, evident in his performances on Carrauntoohil and the European Trial, with a consummate handling of the tricky conditions against McLindon, a formidable descender.
Wally Young's record of 22 minutes 58 seconds for the four mile course which snakes through the Scalp and Carrickgollaghan Woods to the return point at the summit of Katty Gollagher had stood for 16 years. Francis put in a supreme effort to overcome conditions brought on by a sudden afternoon downpour. The slippery going on parts of the course led the organisers to believe that the record would be inviolate for another year. Despite this, Francis lopped 14 seconds off Wally's record.
Irish Trail Running Champion Eoin Keith came in ahead of Brendan O'Brien to take third place with Conor McGrath and Alan Cox taking fifth and sixth places respectively. Emma Sokell took the women's race after her efforts in the Women's Mini Marathon four days earlier. She had a comfortable win over Eva Mulleady and Roisin McDonnell, but was two minutes off Beth McCluskey's record. Seamus Murphy just held off Desie Shorten to take the win in the veteran's over 40 class with Brian Bell in third.
Ercus Stewart enjoyed a good win in the over 50's over Graham Porter with the improving Diarmuid O'Colmain third. Jane Watt easily won the women's vets from Julie Hilliard, but had an excellent run to finish second woman overall. Ger Power won the women's over 50s while Mike Gomm won the men's over 60 race. Brendan Murphy who ran the full course was first junior from Aaron Shorten, while Jonathan Willis won the short course. Jonathan Barry got ahead of Brendan O'Reilly on the last tricky descent to win the junior/junior course.