Not a lot to write about this week. I just completed a marathon in front of the telly, interspersed with sprints to the fridge and cooker between heats, frantic searches for the meaning of an Ippon, which effectively ended 4 years of intense training in about 4 seconds, questioning the validity of synchronised drowning as an Olympic sport, wondering how to calculate the score in the heptathlon and speculating on the point of dressage?
Apart from that and earning an Olympic Gold for hedge cutting, (unfinished) there hasn't been a lot happening. Well apart from the 3rd Club Handicap on Friday night and some noteworthy East Down performances in the Glenmore 5K race in Carlingford on Saturday.
Their participation there of course meant they were absent from the line up at Tyrella on Friday night as 24 members took to the sand for the 3rd Handicap race which was won in convincing style by Kim Surginor taking over at the top of the leader board in the process. Big points too for 2nd and 3rd placed Lisa Milligan and Francis Tumelty respectively to keep the battle for series winner wide open and totally dependent on the outcome of the 4th and final race. Kim warmed up for this race by completing a triathlon in Lisburn the previous weekend. The three disciplines comprised a 750 metres swim, 12 mile bike ride and 3 mile run, all completed in 1.28.29 making her 8th placed woman, a super first effort and fine preparation for dealing with the shallows on Tyrella beach. I got to thinking as I splashed my way towards the distant and ever receding finish line on Friday night, how come people put up rows of sandbags when flood warnings are issued? There are millions of tons of sand on Tyrella beach and it floods at least once every day!
However there is still all to play for as potentially anyone can still win the overall title, provided Declan Teague, the driving force behind this highly enjoyable series, can come up with a formula to take account of age, weight. Height and current shortage or absence of points accumulated by several of the contestants. I personally think there should be a 5 minute bonus for every entrant entitled to the Winter Heating allowance and I'm sure everyone will agree with that.
CARLINGFORD 5K
Making a welcome return to near his best form was Liam Venney who finished 4th in the Carlingford 5K race with a time of 15.52, overcoming Brendan Teer, 12th in 16.20 and just ahead of last year's Portaferry 10 winner, Simon Reede 16.22 from Raheny in the process. Neil McCartan 16.45 was not far behind in 18th place, with Liam Keenan making a spirited return to action after illness and posting a very creditable 19.25. All of which augurs well for the new Cross Country season which kicks off on 27 October in Kilbroney Park, Rostrevor. Stephen McCartan was last of the East Down squad to finish, clocking a splendid 20.39 to show he too is rapidly regaining full fitness again.
DARRAGH CROSS
Next up is the Darragh Cross 10K and Fun Run on Thursday 16 August at 7.30pm. All entries taken on the night from 5.30pm onwards and by reversing the direction of running it is hoped that more will be encouraged to sample this very scenic rural route.
Joe Quinn
6 August 2012
