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28 November, 2009

Would we be right in saying that this was the first Leinster Championship race ever held on Mount Leinster and hopefully not the last. Judging by the comments of the competitors this could become a permanent fixture on the calendar. To be honest there was one complaint but we wont mention any names. Eithne was less than complimentary when she reached the summit just because she had to wade through 200 metres of soggy bog. However by the time she had completed her descent she declared it to be a fine route.

Thirty runners set off at noon on the 13K course on a sunny clear day. First to the top was Shane O?Rourke in an unbelievable time of under 40 minutes, closely followed by Paul Nolan with Bernard Fortune taking up 3rd position. ?I knew they would catch me on the way down? said Shane and how right he was. Descent Supremo Paul took full advantage of Eithne?s bog to gallop past ?stick in the mud? Shane who was soon also overtaken by Leinster Champion Bernard Fortune on his home terrain. M40 winner Adrian Tucker of Rathfarnham was 4th to the top and held his position to the finish as did 5th placed Dermot Murphy. Mick Hanney who had recced the route in the rain last week finished in 6th place having gained three places in the descent.

1st Lady Aoife Joyce who had joined Mick on the recci also picked up two places on the way down ? maybe there is a lesson to be learnt here! Tressan McCambrige and Niamh Ni Cholmain battled it out for the minor placings with Tressan having a one minute advantage at the finish. Promising new Junior Martin Doyle from Carlow under the watchful eye of Bernard Fortune put in a very impressive performance finishing in 10th place overall in his first ever mountain race. He was followed closely by Stephen Tyrrell, the first of three Slaney Olympic runners. (Slaney Olympic AC is based in Enniscorthy and is the club your scribes joined recently having moved to the sunny southeast). Stephen was in 7th place at the summit but rued the lack of studs on the downhill which cost him four places. The other two Slaney Olympians making their hillrunning debuts, Edward White and Chris Squance finished in 13th and 14th places respectively.

In 16th position and 1st M50 was Vivian O?Gorman who needs no introduction. Eva Fairmaner was queen of the F40?s. Seemingly young Jack accompanied by Dad Simon was very upset when his doting mother stormed past him on the finishing track and wouldn?t stop for a chat! The closest finish of the day was between boggy Eithne and sparkly clean(!) John Fitzgerald with just five seconds separating the two. Hardy wee man of the mountains, Mick Kellett, won the M60 class followed only a minute later by M70 winner Charlie O?Connell. Rumour has it that Mick will join the M70?s next year which should lead to some interesting duels.

Many thanks to farmer Joe White who willingly supplied the parking field and who was fascinated to see runners getting to the summit in the same time as he would make it on his quad! Thanks also to helpers Mick Redmond and Dena Hogan (whose husband Tom was running in the Europeans this weekend) and to photographers John Shiels and Lindie Naughton.
Hopefully we will see you all down here again next year.

Pictures from today's event courtesy of Lindie Naughton: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/lindie/">here</a>