What do you call something with 4 legs, 4 arms, 2 heads, a penchant for careering down frozen mountains and a vocabulary that would make the proverbial trooper swear in admiration? The Abominable Snow Persons(very p/c here)? The Marriage from Hell? The Gruesome Twosome? The Irish Bobsleigh Team?
How about any pairing in last Monday's Christmas Cracker race in Castlewellan? With the Health and Safety brigade happily snowed in, over 300 runners, paired off but not exactly tied at the ankles, embarked on the challenging 10 mile route on the frozen roads and forest tracks around the town and its famous Park. Drumbuck Road and Bannanstown Roads were probably the worst parts but ever mindful of the risks of falling on ice, race organiser Marty McVeigh had sprinkled two bags of ready salted crisps on the uphill sections, a ploy defeated by the practice of some of the front runners eating them as they went along.
Downhill sections were decidedly hairy and the sunny blue sky was turned even bluer as runners fought and often failed to keep their footing on the treacherous snow and ice. Isn't it strange how the risk of imminent death or permanent injury brings out the Gordon Ramsey in most of us. It seems a bit of a liberty to call it a foot race when some spent more time in the Royle position than actually running – however all of the finishers returned in one piece, with mercifully few injuries reported, though perhaps when limbs have defrosted the count will rise. A definite Well Done to all who made it possible, it was indeed a cracker.
East Down had 9 couples out the best of whom were Brendan Teer and Conor Flannigan, who finished overall 4th with Brian Hamilton and Joe Quinn next best in 69th place and 20 minutes behind, but some 50 years wisdom ahead - what wouldn't they give for a reversal of those figures? Might even be worth offering their bus passes! Just behind was the East Down/Newcastle AC duo of Brian Wilson and Jim Erskine, only caught in the final tortuous and sadistic loop through the Show field. Chris McLoughlin made an impressive debut in the event, crossing the line with Richie Campbell in 75th place with Stevie McCartan and James Magennis in 81st. Meantime the highly fancied duo of Philip Vint and Gerard Burns reached an amicable divorce settlement at halfway and Philip, with custody of the Garmin, finished alone and alas unrecorded. Michael Degan and Gavin Oakes made their debut also and finished ahead of a somewhat disappointed Declan Teague and Raymond Milligan, whose shoulder had a close encounter with the ground, with Colm Surginor and Simon McGrattan happy to break 2 hours and nothing else.
But a special word of congratulations has to go to the Club's only female partnership of Roisin Gaffney and Emer Moore who enjoyed every moment of their debut, without any previous experience of this type of event – perhaps if you're not insane that's the best way to do it.
Next weekend sees the N.I. Junior and Veterans Cross Country Championships in Stranorlar while the next local event is the Rollercoaster races at Downpatrick Racecourse, an event which proved very popular last year, which take place on Saturday 30 January 2010. More details next week.
Joe Quinn
3 January 2010
Photographs click on external link
