Seán Harte

15 August, 2012

The Munster Wednesday League finale was held in Cratloe Woods, Co. Clare. This is a very popular spot with lots of trails for walkers, an impressive playground near the carpark, and a picturesque lake just a short walk into the woods. The information board near the race start had many interesting facts about Cratloe such as Oak from there being used to roof the House of Parliament in London. The board also says that the woods play host to foxes, red squirrels and badgers.

But visitors last Wednesday might have caught a glimpse of a much more impressive animal as Mike 'Curley' Cunningham lead from start to finish to record his 5th race win of the series, and the best possible league score. He was followed home by Tom Blackburn and Keith Ryan in 2nd and 3rd. These three men together received the team bronze medal in last year’s World Masters Mountain Running Championships so the rest of us can't feel too bad for not keeping up with them! In the women's race, Loretto Duggan also cemented her position at the top of the league, and even went one better than Curley as this was her 6th win of the series! She was closely followed by Deirdre Finn and Susan Seager in 2nd and 3rd.

There was excitement all throughout the field last night, as runners talked beforehand about the different permutations required to jump ahead of rivals in the league table. There was also a bit of apprehension about the route, as it was going to be different than the previous route in Cratloe. It started on the road before turning into the forest onto a mucky path with a steep gradient. This path lead to open ground, and got significantly steeper as we climbed to the highest point of the woods. Any runners who stopped for a breather here and looked around would have seen lovely views over the whole River Shannon estuary. From here there was a long downhill which came as a relief. But, as most runners were realising, this descended further than the climb at the start so another climb would be needed to get back to the start! This proved to be tough, especially with the heat, but all runners made it back to the finish and a few were even smiling! Thanks to all those who helped with this race especially Brian, Colm, Ger and Jane (who took some great photos showing some very close finishes). They can be seen here: http://www.imra.ie/events/view/tab/photos/id/972/ along with the full results here: http://www.imra.ie/events/view/tab/results/id/972/

This race was the final race in the Wednesday League so, along with tea and sandwiches, prizes were given out afterwards in Setright's Tavern to all those who'd completed at least five of the races. A special mention must go to Loretto, Deirdre and Fionnuala Keogh who took the top positions in the women's league; and Curley, Shane Mullaney and Keith who were top 3 on the men's side. The full league results can be seen here: http://www.imra.ie/leagues/view/year/2012/id/40/ The league was a great success this year with over 150 runners taking part over the eight races, but it would never have happened without the help of all the volunteers throughout the series, so appreciation must go to those including Aidan, Brian, Colm, Deirdre, Ger, Jane, Shane, Sharon, Steve and Tom, with apologies to anyone I forgot.