32 Marathons in 32 days? A title now forever associated with the phenomenal Gerry Duffy from Mullingar. Impossible to top that claim? Probably, but how about 30 Marathons in one day? A title East Down AC would lay claim to after Monday's Dublin Marathon. OK so they actually fielded 30 runners but the important statistic is that every one of them finished. Some much faster than others and some in better shape than others but every one of them crossed the finishing line and irrespective of their state of health as the race progressed not one of them would have quit given the choice.
All had started out full of energy, hope, expectation and in some cases a full Irish breakfast. For those attempting their first marathon, there was also an element of apprehension about the step into the unknown but whether a seasoned campaigner or a novice the 26.2 miles always lays down a formidable challenge. One of the most important items in a marathoners armoury is vaseline, whether to protect the lips from a cutting wind, prevent the onset of blisters on the feet or simply lubricate certain moving parts against chafing. Let me assure you that it plays an even more important role in the life of a tender skinned, part time cyclist, for none of the above reasons.
The pre-race plan was for the aforementioned 30 to go to the start and run. My role and that of regular cyclist Brian Hamilton was to ride out to the 10 Mile point, erect the East Down banner and wait for the East Down colours to show up. Then we were to hightail it (an appropriate phrase in the absence of a liberal application of vaseline, as it turned out) to Mile 20 and go through the same procedure again, dispensing all sorts of positive shouts of support to the lucky runners. Well runners duly arrived at Mile 10, first the African contingent, then a group containing the leading Irish contenders, then the leading Ladies and finally as if a giant dam had burst,a sheer torrent of human flesh, the advance party of some 14000 men and women from every walk of life.
The first local man through was Mark Kendall from Newcastle who went on to finish in 2.51.15, which if my records are correct, is one second faster than last year, while wife Debbie was making an impressive debut coming home in 4.12 and her sister Vicki Canavan ducking under the 4hour barrier in 3.58. You'd better look out Mark, they're behind you!
First of the East Down contingent was Philip Vint, well on target for another sub 3 hours but was bitten late on by the cramp bug yet still managed 3.02 – why can I never get cramp like that? Declan Teague and Ryan Hagen were next with Raymond Milligan not far behind. James Magennis, travelling incognito in a white T shirt did not escape our eagle eyed scrutiny but faces an inquiry about where he left his club vest, with Gerard McAuley and Kris Fegan close behind. Then Cheryl Denvir, another debutante, cruised by on her way to a very creditable 3.44. She said she just wanted to do one and then forget about marathons – I bet she'll have another go.
Declan Teague ran the race of his life, finishing in a best ever 3.14 having looked likely to break 3 hours at one stage until a tough final 10K put paid to that dream – for now!
Other Down men to go through included Murlough's Gerard Rowe, Richard McGreevy, the Curran brothers, Barry McMullan, Michael McKeown but we had to leave to be at Mile 20 before Philip got there as we carried his secret potion, the Last 10K Elixir, and had many miles to travel. In spite of some persistent drizzle we made it, erected the banner again and this time saw practically all our charges through before moving on to Mile 24, which coincidentally is outside a well known coffee shop.
And then the rain came – it had threatened all day and had delivered intermittent showers but this was the real deal. I don't know if you've noticed but when it rains runners get wet from top down while bikers get wet bottom up, courtesy of the absence of rear mudguards, and I can assure you that, on the whole, the latter is much the worse of the two. Nevertheless as the rain hammered down, runners who had been on their feet for almost 4 hours were literally saturated and the streets became as shallow rivers.
But still they kept coming, Linda Cunningham, just a few weeks after completing in Berlin, and improving by 4 minutes thanks to a toilet free run, Kim Surginor with a minimum of training after breaking her foot a few months ago, Denis McKay, walking but in no mood to quit, Gary Cull shivering under a foil blanket but in similar state of determination, Sheena McKermitt bubbly as ever, Charlie Ataliotis shuffling steadily by, Norman Mawhinney having a bad one but moving out of earshot, Simon McGrattan guiding Mags Straney through the last tortuous miles and Bernice McCann who ran the whole way and was joined at halfway by Frank just happy to get it done.
Some other outstanding performances too from the ladies, Tracey McDowell knocking 18 minutes off her previous best and coming home in under 4 hours, Betty Mccartan 13 minutes better than before, Helen Vint 10 minutes better, Emer Moore 4 minutes improvement on New York. But every single one, whether the time was better, similar or worse said it didn't matter, getting it done was the objective – mission accomplished.
And then there was Borat – what is it about some people, especially those who give the impression their clothes are trying to distance themselves from them at the best of times, see fit to divest themselves not only of clothing but commonsense and decency as well, in the name of what? This less than Adonis type probably broke most of the obscenity laws in the country as he preened himself around the course in a thong. Suffice to say that he looked a sorry advert for humanity as he dealt with the problem of shrinkage brought on by the rain. The thought that occurred to me as he squelched off into the distance was what a great place to park a bike!
This was the first Dublin marathon to be televised live and the word is that it was less than impressive. Not only that but there seems to be a problem with the results, with many incorrect or simply missing, which is a considerable disappointment to the individuals concerned. So if Dublin wants to keep it's reputation as the Friendly Marathon it had better buck up on its ideas and justify its exorbitant entry fee by producing accurate and comprehensive results by the next day. I apologise if any of the times listed are incorrect but several of the names did not appear in the official results so far produced so I had no way of cross checking.
NAME CLUB TIME (hrs.mins.secs)
PHILIP VINT East Down AC 3.02
RYAN HAGEN East Down AC 3.12
DECLAN TEAGUE East Down AC 3.14.16
GAVIN OAKES East Down AC 3.38
RAYMOND MILLIGAN East Down AC 3.40.56
GERARD McAULEY East Down AC 3.43.25
BRIAN DONNELLY East Down AC 3.44.04
CHERYL DENVIR East Down AC 3.44.29
JOHN FINDLAY East Down AC 3.45.19
JAMES MAGENNIS East Down AC 3.49.13
MATTHEW SURGINOR About to join East Down AC 3.57
TRACEY McDOWELL East Down AC 3.59.21
WENDY FINDLAY East Down AC 4.03
KRISTOFFER FEGAN East Down AC 4.11
OONAGH BRETECHE East Down AC 4.12
COLUM SURGINOR East Down AC 4.12
HELEN VINT East Down AC 4.13
BETTY MCCARTAN East Down AC 4.17
NORMAN MAWHINNEY East Down AC 4.24
LINDA CUNNINGHAM East Down AC 4.24.24
MARK JOHNSTON East Down AC 4.26.07
MAGS STRANEY East Down AC 4.27
EMER MOORE East Down AC 4.28.02
PAUL ROGAN East Down AC 4.29.42
SIMON McGRATTAN East Down AC 4.31.21
CHARLIE ATALIOTIS East Down AC 4.42
KIM SURGINOR East Down AC 4.45.00
SHEENA MC KERMITT East Down AC 4.58
DENIS MC KAY East Down AC 5.04
BERNICE McCANN East Down AC 5.18.00
UNEVEN AGE GROUP CHAMPIONSHIPS
On Saturday over 20 junior athletes traveled to Barnett's Demesne near Shaw's Bridge for the Northern Ireland and Ulster Uneven Age Group championships.
The extremely muddy underfoot conditions ensured that the races would be a test of stamina even for the fittest and would require great mental strength as much as physical fitness.
Paulette Rice was first in action , doing well to take 49th place I the Under 11 Girls race while the Under 11 Boys took an excellent 5th place in the team event, only 20 points behind the third places team from Letterkenny. The scorers were Tim Prenter 17th, Caoilin Quinn 36th, Johnny Erskine 48th Colum Morgan 60th and Adam Morgan 80th in a huge field. It must be said that young Adam epitomises the whole concept of running. He is totally unfazed by weather, underfoot conditions or the quality and size of the opposition. He is a coach's dream, always willing to take part, unbothered what position he finishes in and who simply goes out and enjoys the experience.
The Girls Under 13 team also performed well with Laura Gardiner 39th and Aoife Cochrane 44th maintaining their recent good form to lead the team to 6th place. The other scorers were Emily Forte 64th, Eimear Connor 66th, Elisha Surginor 69th and Jemma Black 70th. Danile Atkinson was the only representative in the Boys Under 13 race and he proved a tough battler as he fought a severe stitch for most of the second lap.
In the Girls Under 15 race over 3000 metres Ellen Erskine 43rd was best placed of East Down's five runners with good showings too from Caitlin Stewart 68th, Katie Maguire 74th, Alex bell 76th and Molly Rice 77th most of whom were making their debuts in cross country. The Under 15 Boys only had 2 East Down finishers Paddy Erskine 31st and Ewan Findlay 51st, after injury forced Sean Murphy to retire at the end of the first lap.
In the Under 19 Girls race Elaine Burch adopted waiting tactics instead of her usual front running style and worke her way through the field from 11th on the first lap to a challenging 5th by the end of lap 2. But despite her best efforts the yielding ground took it's toll and while she closed the gap was unable to catch the leading quartet, all of whom are seasoned and very talented athletes.
Everyone who took part acquitted themselves very well and it is great to report that every single one of them battled through to the end of their events, with one exception where injury caused his retirement.
NEW CROSS COUNTRY LEAGUE
At the same venue the Bobby Rea Memorial Cross Country senior races were the first round of the new League competition and attracted fields of 82 and 28 respectively for the Mens and Womens events. Annadale were not only strongest, filling the top 3 positions comfortably but also largest, fielding 10 runners and picking up bonus points to put them firmly on top of the league ahead of North Belfast and North Down. But East Down took a gallant 4th place with the quartet of Brendan Teer 10th, Liam Venney 14th, Mark McDowell 54th and Liam Keenan 63rd performing strongly in the gluepot conditions, churned up by the 10 earlier junior races. Because of their efforts on Monday in Dublin many of East Down's likely participants in the series were still in recovery mode but the club expect to field significant numbers over the next 5 rounds.
Disappointingly neither Murlough nor Newcastle fielded runners at all with Anne Sandford the sole Newcastle representative in the Ladies event which was won by Dromore's Julie Turley ahead of Cathy McCourt with team honours going to North Down from Dromore and Lagan Valley.
The second round of the league fixtures is next Saturday at Ballyclare and it is hoped that local clubs will show up in greater numbers.
On 27 November local interest will focus on Raholp where this year's Round the Griddle 10K and Fun Run gets under way at 12 noon from Saul GAC premises.
Joe Quinn
7 November 2011
