On Wednesday night Liam Keenan competed in the 2nd of the University of Ulster 5k Challenge races at Jordanstown and expressed disappointment at recording 18.44, just 2 weeks after clocking 18.06 for the same distance in the Queen's Round the Bridges race. Most would give their eye teeth for either time.

But what happened in the interval?  Well the first race in the Hill and Dale Series took place in Castlewellan Forest Park on Thursday 9th April and Liam led home the historic ( first ever from the Club to take part) though largely unnoticed, East Down team. And Hill and Dale racing is a sure way of blunting the edge for road running. In any event the title is a bit of a misnomer as there is more than one Hill (lots more) and Dale (a few). Perhaps it would be more correctly titled the Hell and Dale series, such is the effect on the human body, though it grows ever more popular year by year. It's not really surprising that the majority of those who are best at it live in the shadow of the Mournes which are home territory to them.

My view of it? Mountain running is one of the tougher, if not the toughest, branches of the running genre and the 11 race H & D series takes place over a variety of terrains, from forest tracks to open bog, moorland and mountain.  But the common factor to all is the Hills.  If there is one to be found in the vicinity of the course the organisers will find it, heighten it and point the runners up it!  If they can't find one close by, they'll find two at a distance and include them twice!  Conversely the Dales seem in much shorter supply.

There is however something almost intoxicating about being part of a line of upwards of two hundred sweating, swearing, methane emitting runners of both sexes, as they battle nose to tail up a small mountain on an early Spring evening. It certainly makes heavy breathing a respectable pastime and delivers a high which any drug would be pleased to emulate.  Some have asked if this is the “adrenaline rush” associated with various physical activities but, personally speaking my adrenaline no longer comes in a rush, it just sort of ambles by inviting me to catch up, a bit like out of date viagra really.

You will have heard the phrase “Slow down and smell the roses/coffee” well, the mountain runner's equivalent is “Fall down and smell the earth” usually followed by helpful cries of “Get up/ out of my way” or “Stay down I'm about to tramp on you” or more provocatively “Did you enjoy your trip?”  More serious injuries have resulted from the reaction to these comments than from the tumbles themselves.

And at the finish, usually at the top of a steep, virtually unclimbable hill, strategically placed to ensure there is no overtaking in the finish funnel, exhausted runners get off their knees with an almost universal “Never Again” emanating from their lips, which roughly translated means “See you all again next week” - and week after week they do, including Liam though he ran that 5K the night before! Not only that but the East Down team made the scoreboard in 8th place, a mere 211 points behind the 3rd placed Larne AC squad, but recognition nonetheless.

Tough?  Definitely! Addictive?  Well that’s debatable, but one thing’s for sure – it’s great fun, as witnessed by the increasing numbers who take part, and unrivalled for its  banter and camaraderie, which are the main reasons why many turn up week after week. You should give it a try. 

And of course there’s a belief among the mountain running fraternity that you cannot call yourself a proper runner until you have run/fallen down a mountain during a H and D race – by which criteria I have graduated with 1st class honours!

On Sunday Michael McKeown flew the East Down flag in the new Run Armagh 10K Challenge recording a splendid 41.32 on a hilly course in the Cathedral City as he fine tunes his training for the Belfast Marathon on May Day.

Meanwhile Linda Cunningham and Sara Higgins are winding down their training in anticipation of next weekend’s London Marathon – the experience of a lifetime.  Best wishes to both of them – Linda is raising money for the Neurology Ward in Belfast City Hospital and can be sponsored at Down Leisure Centre or by contacting any Club official.



Joe Quinn

April 2009