I don't ever remember the Seeley Cup weather being other than “wintry” whether that was wet, cold, windy, frosty, snowy or any combination of these but it was certainly never warm.  Saturday's latest running of the race was no exception as the weak afternoon sunshine gave way to cloud, and the overnight dusting of snow finished off with a crisp frost left the whole event under threat of abandonment right up till the last minute. Many sections of the course were treacherous to the unsuspecting foot but nevertheless a record 850 athletes set off along the Ormeau Embankment at 2.30pm. In the absence of Joe McAlister, Paul Rowan and Brian Campbell a new name was destined for the winner's rostrum. From the off Raheny's  Richard Corcoran set the pace from Ballymena's Jarlath Falls and by halfway he was 10 seconds clear and was never threatened, coming home 42 seconds clear of Falls with North Down's Niall Robinson 4 seconds further back in third. The Ladies title went a little surprisingly  to the very consistent Cathy McCourt of North Belfast in 36.02 from Abbey's fancied Gladys Ganiel-O'Neill and Cathy's clubmate Breege Connolly.

On the home front Brendan Teer had his most impressive run for some time and although short of his best he must be pleased with 29th place in 34.02. He was followed closely by Liam Venney 34.54 with Liam Keenan the 3rd East Down finisher in 37.39.  Paul Watson was first of the Newcastle trio, close behind in 37.48, with Stephen Shannon posting an excellent 38.26 ahead of Newcastle's second runner and Seeley ever present Joe McCann.  Neil McCartan ducked under the 40 minute barrier with a fine run and Declan Teague clocked a canny 40.27, just 10 seconds ahead of newcastle's third man P J McCrickard.  Francis Tumelty kept up the family honour with a time of
42.04 with Michael McKeown on 42.15.

Gerard McAuley took 3 minutes of his previous year's time with 44.03 and was so pleased he went home without his clothes, which unfortunately don't fit me and can be reclaimed for a small fee.   Gavin Oakes 44.57 again improved his time from last week as did Kim Surginor with 45.06. Peter Morgan and Michael Degan later joined the crowds and the cows over the moon with their new PBs, 46.35  and 46.48 respectively. And equally pleased but refraining from jumping so high, mindful of recent injuries, was Colum Surginor who made a welcome return to competitive running  with 54.31 and a negative split to boot. Oonagh Breteche was disappointed with her 55.21 but I can't think why and Joelene Scott made her club debut with a controlled 56.58.  Simon McGrattan seemed less than impressed with his time too but it was a long way better than mine – just be glad you were able to do it.

Nicloa Rogan paced herself beautifully to cruise home in 57.43, great running from one so young.  Of course few were as pleased as Catherine Woods who broke the hour for the first time with a splendid 59.47. And if I take a special pride in reporting that Donna Brown and Sheena Quinn both completed the distance in 63.29 you'll have to put it down to my paternal instincts.  Murlough AC were well represented in the race and special credit must go to the number of their ladies who took part, with Susan Leneghan battling through the pain barrier for the 2nd week in a row – and finishing.  Runners are made of stern stuff. Well Done to all.

However the most noteworthy performance of the day has to be Fionnuala O'Boyle's 43.31.  This came in only her 2nd competitive outing and is remarkable in that she has never undertaken a structured training programme. Her potential really is an exciting prospect  and she could be just the fillip that ladies running locally needs to give it a confidence booster.  It will be interesting to follow her progress in the coming months.

Joe Quinn
29 November 2010