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28 November, 2009

Back in the good ol' days of Irish hill running, you could always tell when it was just about time for the race to start - it was signalled by the arrival of Paddy Lord in the car park and the ensuing scramble to get registered before the off. I'm pleased to say Paddy was in time for an EARLY start at Brockagh! Perhaps this goes to show that it really is possible to get there in good time.

After all the debate on the forum about delaying the start, the race got underway 3 minutes after 7:30. All but two runners made it on time. A short extentsion to the registration was not a problem as there was no real distance from registration to the start.

Hopefully all this vindicates the decision to stick to the 7:30 target start time. It was certainly well on the way to getting dark when Henny got back in with all the markers afterwards, as well as getting cold and the midgies had a fierce appetite on them by that stage. Besides, Andreas had to get to the pub in time for the late excitement against Turkey - no doubt he enjoyed that one (even if the final didn't go so well).

As for the race itself, I didn't get to see much of it apart from the dash off up the tarmac at the start and the wrecked looking finishers later on. It was certainly a pleasant evening for chilling out in the woods being quietly thankful you weren't busting a gut up on the hill.

First back in an impressive time of 44:03 was John Brooks, quite happy to express some thoughts on the toughness of the course as he crossed the line. Ryan Montgomery came in second just over half a minute later, followed by Eoin Keith, fresh back from his Turas adventures. The hardship of Kerry had done nothing to diminish the ever present grin. Erin Roberts took the win convincingly in the ladies' race, ahead of Aoife Joyce and Sarah Moores.

A tough race it certainly is, the turning point just never seems to get nearer. A real hill run when compared to the shorter version of a few years ago. The fire road at the end can be especially gruelling - just ask Rene's ankle. Well done to all who ran and also to the team of helpers, without whose fine efforts none of it would have been possible.

<B>TEAM RESULTS</b>

Overal LL: <a href="/ad-hoc/LLOverallTeamResults9-12.xls">here</a>

Sli Cualann and Crusaders AC both fielded two big competitive teams (Sli Cualann with 7 men running and 5 in the top-25 while Crusaders fielded 6 men and had 3 in the top-20).

It was not enough to break the hegemony of Rathfarnham WSAF, however.

The newly crowned Irish Club Champions were led home to another victory by legendary Scotsman John Brooks, and Sli Cualann had to settle for 2nd with Crusaders in close pursuit, while Setanta and UCD couldn't quite challenge on the day.

Some neutral observers may wish that fellow Scotsman Ryan Montgomery would bring out more of his Raheny Shamrocks.
In the overall rankings, things are heating up as most teams have not registered 5 results: Rathfarnham seem to have secured 1st, while Sli Cualann and Setanta are early favourite for 2nd and UCD and Crusaders AC look destined to fight it out for fourth, or, with a strong finish, have a go at the last spot on the podium!

On the women's front, Crusaders women all but sealed their Leinster League crown with another good finish from all three runners resulting in an impressive 16 pts. The victory was only marred by no other team managing to muster three runners. Let this be a roll call to the other female club members, we want to see you in the hills!

In the inter-counties Dublin snatched victory in front of home team Wicklow in both the men and women's.

MEN
1. Rathfarnham WSAF 23 (John Brooks 1, Aaron O'Donohue 9, Mike Long 13)
2. Sli Cualann 33 (Cormac Conroy 5, Jimmy Synnott 12, Colm Mullen 16)
3. Crusaders AC 45 (Jason Reid 10, Rene Borg 17, Jason Kehoe 18)
4. Setanta 64 (Eoin Keith 3, Andreas Kusch 29, Kevin O'riordan 32)
5. UCD 77 (Niall Fox 15, Jonathan Daly 24, Zoran Skrba 37)
6. Ajax 102 (Aonghus O'Cleirigh 6, Paul Smyth 23, Brendan O'Connor 63)
7. Fingal 145 (Seamus Murphy 22, Ray Linn 53, John Rowe 70)
8. Team BCD 154 (Alfonso Ruiz De Azua 40, John Ahern 50, Declan Flanagan 64)
9. Tumbleweeds 246 (Ben Moore 49, Geraint Jones 94, Danny Ward 103)

WOMEN
1. Crusaders AC 16 (Aoife Joyce 2, Niamh Ni Cholmain 5, Eva Fairmaner 9)

</br>
<b> Inter-county women </b>
1. Dublin 18 (4 Jacqueline O'Hagan, 5 Niamh Ni Cholmain, 9 Eva Fairmaner)
2. Wicklow - (11 Jean Bader, 13 Liz Ryan)
3. Wexford - (2 Aoife Joyce)
4. Kildare - (44 Loretta Nolan)
</br>
<b> Inter-county men </b>
1. Dublin 38 (6 Aonghus O'Cleirigh, 15 Niall Fox, 17 Rene Borg)
2. Wicklow 49 (5 Cormac Conroy, 19 Martin Francis, 25 Mick Hanney)
3. Meath - (8 Fechin Heery, 41 Eamonn Hodge)
4. Cork - (33 Kevin O'Riordan, 37 Mark O'Sullivan)
5. Wexford - (4 Bernard Fortune)
6. Kerry - (13 Mike Long)
7. Donegal - (56 Shay Foody)
8. Kildare - (76 Declan Connolly)
9. Louth - (80 Aidan Callery)
10. Waterford - (100 John J Barry)