Brendan gets ten out of ten

Brendan gets ten out of ten

24 August 2016

SIXTEEN Murlough members travelled to Rathfriland last Wednesday night to complete in the annual 10k run organised by Rathfriland Runners in aid of PIPS and Cancer Focus. 

While most had not participated in this event before, hills were anticipated and lots of them.

Athletes started at the Milestone supermarket and ran down the Newry Road before turning off to follow side roads in a big loop in the surrounding hinterland. 

This was a new course and although hilly, none of the expected hills were that bad until the final one which made up for the rest. The last hill along the Newry Road returned runners to the town centre and was a testing steady climb of approximately 2k. 

All worthwhile as the reward for all finishers  were tubs of Graham’s ice cream, chocolate bars and for the more health conscious, oranges and bananas. The finishers’ medal was a good size and featured a stylised image of Rathfriland’s famous water tower. 

Sean Armstrong was once again the first MACer home, employing his running tactic of emulating a greyhound – spring out of the trap fast and keep running fast. 

Sean had a significant birthday last week and moved up an age category, so maybe we will see some category wins for him in future races.  He was followed in by Dave Fulcher, Anne McCormick and Colm Devlin crossing the line together.

Anne and Colly kept each other company for much of the course, with Colly using his local knowledge to happily inform Anne that contrary to what she was expecting and hoping, the race was not ending with a nice big downhill run from the square, but uphill along the Newry Road.

Special mentions are needed for Brendan Laverty, running in this event days before completing the final half marathon in the Pure Running Series along with Soibhan Grant, who also ran a half marathon the previous weekend.  

New club members Joe and Trish, who were running for the first time in the MAC vest, enjoyed the outing. All were in agreement that this was a good route, well marshalled and great post-race refreshments. A definite date for the running diaries next year.

It could be said that some of the MAC crew would have been wiser eating grass than running on Saturday morning. With rain coming from every direction and the Silent Valley resembling a bad day in Mordor, the MACtavistis took to the start line of both the half marathon and 10k events at Born2Run’s Dambusters.

There was hope at the start of the half marathon that the weather was going to pick up, however, as runners embraced the steady climb up the Carrigenagh Road, the rain began to fall once again. 

Over the course of the multi-terrain route, the half marathon covered over 1,000 feet of elevation, pebble dashed by all different types of rain. Putting in a strong performance on his road to DCM was first MAC home Michael McKenna who came across the line in 1.36. 

He was shortly followed by Hugh Oram in 1.39 and Sean Looby in 1.45. Paula Mckibbin, Siobhan Grant and Caitriona Carr, who put in a performance that gained her a PB, earned fantastic times on a challenging course, in horrid conditions to bring it home for the MAC ladies. 

However, the race belonged to Brendan Laverty who was fully immersed in the enjoyment of his 10th and final half marathon in the Pure Running Half Marathon series.  

Brendan will be one of only a handful of people in Northern Ireland who completed the full series and earned all ten medals on offer.

Having covered 131 miles over the series on foot and umpteen additional miles on the road to and from the races, Brendan absolutely nailed his final performance of the series in 2.03 and enjoyed a well earned cold beer on the finish line to celebrate with his team mates.  

The 10k race saw eight runners toe the line for Murlough. With a tough climb to Ben Crom ahead of them, they tackled the route with gusto. Eddie Murnin was the first MAC home with a PB of 48.12, showcasing his relentlessness to excel over each race distance. 

Cliona O’Boyle brought it home in 50.37 to be the first MAC lady over the line.

She was soon followed in quick succession by Marty Rawlinson in 52.06, Leah Calvert in 54.36, Joe McMahon in 54.54 and Tony Nellis in 55.54. 

Laura McCartan and Andrea Walsh showed grit and determination to cross the line in 1.04 and 1.05 respectively.

A huge thank you to the team at Born2Run and the marshals who braved the wet conditions to ensure the runners had a flawless experience.