William is rewarded for descent

31 May 2017

WITH summer upon us and Newcastle shrouded in sea mist most of the day, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky above the Deer’s Meadow as a record number for this race of 205 runners made their way to sign-on overlooking a sparkling Spelga Reservoir.

Due to conservation work on the wall that runs towards Rostrevor, the race started for the first time on the reservoir side of the wall meaning that there was to be no need for a wall crossing at any time during the race.

Marshals, strategically positioned on and around the summit ridge of Pigeon Rock, pointed the runners towards the upstanding summit of Moughanmore. With conditions underfoot as dry as they ever really get in this part of the world the major hazard would be twisting an ankle.

This was the first time since an equally sunny evening in May 2013 that the Moughanmore race had taken place and a spontaneous round of applause broke out among runners and spectators alike for Denis Rankin, one of the founding fathers of the local fell running scene back in the ‘70s, who had died too young, but doing what he loved back in 2013.

A short version of drone footage shot by Graham McCauley can be found at https://youtu.be/fueLLCglAaM.

A dramatic sight, seeing over 200 runners setting off on the initial steep charge up Pigeon Rock backed by dramatic scenery. It was Donard race winner from the previous weekend Zak Hanna who hit the front early with current 20017 series leader, Mourne AC’s Willie McKee, in his shadow – shadows that were lengthening in the setting sun.

McKee’s club mate Charlene Haugh had a great race last weekend at Donard putting her in the running for the Ireland team for the European Championships in Slovenia in early July (as well as the World Championships later that month in Italy), but from the off at Moughanmore she was always second best to Newry’s Esther Dickson who came home in 17th place overall in 37:15 almost a minute clear of Haugh (38:14) with Gillian Wasson (Ballymena Runners) in 3rd and first FV40 (41:17).

McKee stalked Hanna from start to finish and the pair turned at the summit of Moughanmore with Hanna there in 17:59 and McKee a step behind. At the Pigeon Rock ridge McKee struck out for home and showed his strength, power and sure-footedness on the steep back to the Deer’s Meadow to win in 31:39, six seconds clear of Hanna.

Male category winners were Mourne’s John McKee, first junior (36:13), NAC’s David Hicks, first MV35 (33:07), Ballymena’s Alex Brenna, first MV40 (34:50), NAC’s John Kelly, first MV50 (35:49), NAC’s Pete Grant, first MV45 (37:04), NAC’s Dominic McGreevy, first MV60 (38:09), Mourne’s David Bell, first MV55 (41:39), Peter McGuckin, first MV65 (45:49) and Ballydrain’s Fred Strickland, first MV70 (52:11).

Other female category winners were: Shileen O’Kane, first FV45 (41:49), BARF’s Stephanie Pruzina, first FV50 (45:26), East Down’s Niamh Kellett, first FV35 (46:07), Dromore’s Mary Mackin, first FV60 (46:35) and LVO’s Sophie Pruzina, first female junior (54:55).

Winner of countless Donard races and winner of Hill & Dale titles, Newcastle AC’s chairman Deon McNeilly is nudging 55 and planned to stick to bike racing this summer. However, he could not resist the attraction of an honest test of fell running ability and he became the 747th entrant of the 2017 series.

Like the 747 Boeing aircraft series he is not as nimble as he used to be, he has less manoeuvrability than the younger more agile in the field and he has a larger under-carriage too – but he is still very strong and with his retro-80s fell running shoes he charged home in 18th out of 205.

An early Thursday morning call from Patrick Higgins to the race organisers suggested that the wall towards Rostrevor from the Deer’s Meadow had been re-constructed such that it was difficult to cross – certainly it would not be in line conservation principles for more than 200 runners to be sent off to climb the wall both on the outward journey and on the return from Moughanmore.

“There’s a big wall and the hole in it is gone and there’s no stile – I was up there in Monday evening and met a bunch of Mourne AC runners running round in circles asking where can we cross the wall?”, he said.

Now, Higgins is not the sort of guy who never chooses words loosely and as an advocate he earns his livelihood through the careful use of verbal communication. In addition, he is a former semi-pro orienteer and so when he questions a route choice then far be it from a couple of amateur race organisers to ignore the plea. So, the traditional Moughanmore race was re-routed, somewhat controversially, with the field starting on the Spelga Dam side of the wall and thus never having to cross it. Problem solved.

Thanks are due to Mary Knight, Pauline McCauley, Debbie Kendall, Pat Shields who looked after registration, to Paul Fegan on photography and Graham McCauley on the drone. Thanks to Darragh McCrickard, who processes the entries and results and posts them online stunningly quickly and accurately.

Thanks also to the summit marshals, Mark Hanna, who also scanned on the summit of Moughanmore, plus Paul Carlin, Rita Devlin, Audey McVeigh, Frank Cunningham, Pascal Toner, Jerome McCrickard and champion sweeper John Kelly.

Thanks to the finishing party of Mary Knight and her helper Frank Morgan, queen of the scanner Debbie Kendall and her back-up Pauline McCauley. Thanks for Rita Devlin for expertly bringing together the big spread for the prize giving afterwards (the locusts devoured the mountain of food in no time) and also to Tony and David Steele for delivering and picking up the invaluable van which provided great shelter in the windy Deer’s Meadow for registration.

Finally, a great vote of thanks to the Doran family, who once again made the runners so welcome at the Mourneview Bar near Hilltown after the race, serving the best pint of Guinness for miles around.

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