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28 November, 2009

Brockagh - Report by Gavan Doherty
Brockagh is one of the most pleasant races in the calendar as it rises from Laragh village through the forest, and along a grassy track to the summit, and then returns the same way. Last night's weather was perfect for the 138 runners, with only a light breeze cooling us down on this warm and clear evening.
The powers that be started and finished the race from the forest entrance at the church, fearing a road start might disrupt Laragh's traffic. The late start (due the distance from Dublin) was a novelty, but didn't help Paul Cullen as he panted his way up through the rear of the field having arrived late... for most however, the start couldn't come soon enough as we all wanted to get out of the midges which were feasting on us.
The race was won by UCD's Vincent O'Sullivan, who trailed Paul Nolan (2nd) coming down from the top. Nolan held him off for the descent, but when the pair hit the last kilometre or so of forest road, O'Sullivan's track speed kicked in and he finished 16 seconds clear of Nolan. Hugh McLindon was next in, just under a minute down on the pair.
Competition in the women's was equally fierce, with the top 3 finishing within a minute of each other. All three (Joan Flanagan, Nicky Cinnamond and Emma Sokell) were seconds apart at the top, but Flanagan opened an 18 second gap on Cinnamond on the descent, with Sokell coming in 35 seconds after.
The junior juniors was won by Brendan O'Reilly, who was asked while running by a passer-by "are you first?" - checking over his shoulder, he casually said "must be" and ran on to hold his first place at the finish line...! And so the field retired to enjoy the hospitality of Lynham's of Laragh, discussing race tactics, midge bites, next week's race, last week's race ... when this reporter snuck off at closing time, there were a fair few hill running faces left showing no signs of leaving!
In the absence of Joe Lalor, the race was well marked by Paul Mahon (who claims that some competitors were throwing underwear at him at the top - he modestly says it was to do with the heat...), and ably administered by stalwarts Henny, Pat Donlon, O'Colmains, O'Gormans, Justin Keatinge and Brendan Lawlor, amongst others.
Bring on next week.