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28 November, 2009

Lugnacoille Rate Report

It did not look too promising in the morning ? heavy rain, thunder and lightening filled the skies of the Glen of Imaal at 11:30am ? just 1 1/2 hours before the start of the race which had been put back an hour ? which was just as well as it turned out. However, it proved to be just a passing downpour and just before the race start, the sun was beating down. I would actually end the race with sunburn on my arms and shoulders, a fact which hardly seemed possible an hour before the race.

Despite the downpour, underfoot conditions were good for most of the route. The climb up Camarahill is quite unrelenting and can catch you out if you attack too hard ? all the more so as it occurs right at the start of the race. Then comes the steady run through the bog which has a number of short climbs before you come to the steep final climb to the summit of Lugnacoille itself. I was engaged in a battle with Adrian Tucker and Paul Smyth at this stage with the three of us exchanging places all the way to Lugnacoille itself. On the descent, however, the fast descending Paul and Adrian soon left me in their wake and my aim was just to hold position to the finish.

At the top end of the race, John Lenihan proved that he is still the man to beat with a masterful display of mountain running ? a pleasure to watch him on the downhill, although it was a somewhat fleeting glance! Vincent O?Sullivan was second to the top but Bernard Fortune had a great descent to overtake him on the way down in the battle for second place. Bernard?s second place was enough to ensure that he took the Leinster Championship with one round to go. Vincent had to make do with 3rd although a great descent by Brian Furey nearly got him within touching distance at the end.

In the ladies race, Moire O?Sullivan had a comfortable win over Caroline Reid with Aoife Joyce in 3rd. With M40 John Lenihan taking over first place, another Munster runner ? Mike Cunningham was first M40. First F40 across the line was Eva Fairmaner. The M50 and F50 went to Joe Aherne (yet another Munster man!) and Mary Collins respectively. Joe Laffan (yes, another Munster Man!) was the first M60 and the Munster dominance in the men?s categories was only broken by Charlie O?Connell as first M70.

A nice relaxing prize giving was to be had at the premises of Fenton?s ? the sun just about held out! ? and it was a great end to the day, as we caught up, both literally and metaphorically, with runners who had made the trip from Munster and beyond including a couple of New Zealand runners. Interesting fact ? John Lenihan?s first win on Lugnacoille was 21 years ago in 1987 ? just shows how consistently he has performed at the top down through the years, not that anyone needed reminding!

TEAM RESULTS

MEN
1. Sli Cualann 47 (Colm Mullen 6, Paul Joyce 19, Cormac O'Ceallaigh 22)
2. GEN 102 (Alan Ayling 21, Mick Kellett 40, Brendan Doherty 41)

WOMEN
1. Crusaders 14 (Aoife Joyce 3, Niamh Ni Cholmain 5, Eva Fairmaner 6)

Summit times below courtesy of Mick Hanney.

<a href="http://www.imra.ie/ad-hoc/Lug2008summits.xls"> Click here for Summit times</a>.