The first of the 4 race in club Handicap series took place on a cool, sunny and eventually calm Tyrella Beach on Tuesday night, with 26 of the declared runners turning out. The beauty of a handicap race is that while everyone should in theory cross the finish line together, no-one really knows who is going to win. Previous form on which the handicap is based cannot allow for an improvement or a deterioration in the individual's performance on the day. So congratulations in no small measure must go to Clerk of the Scales, Declan Teague, for just how close the finish was.
Less than a minute separated seven of the first nine home and the next thirteen completed inside the next minute. And of course he will now have this much more up to date information with which to fine tune his calculations for the next round. So the finish line judges will have to look to their laurels as a blanket finish is on the cards.
The starring role however went to Mags Straney who not only won but led the ladies to 5 of the top 10 positions holding off a late challenge from Brian Donnelly in the process. Kim Surginor, Oonagh Breteche, Elaine Byrne and Lisa Milligan were the other Ladies to score points in the quest for the overall series winner, to be decided on the best 3 results out of the 4 races. Interestingly 4 of the top 5 fastest runners on Tuesday finished outside the points scoring which should give encouragement to others to enter the next round on 12 June.
On Thursday night some of those same runners appeared again in the Hill and Dale outing on Moughanmore. Several of the East Down squad have been making significant progress in this particular branch of running over recent weeks, in the continued absence through injury of Liam Keenan who has been at the forefront of the club's forays into the mountains in recent years. Martin Willcox, Barrie Atkinson and Gavin Oakes have led the way with some stirring performances and when they get the hang of descending could well mount an effective challenge to the established order. Denis McKay, Paul Rogan and Daryl Madine have also been trying their hands and various other parts of their anatomies on the unforgiving terrain and will no doubt show the benefits when resorting to smoother terrains.
On Sunday the Belfast City Airport 5 Mile Road Race, formerly the Les Jones Memorial 10K, and held in his memory , attracted 200 runners to its new home, necessary due to the extensive upgrading work being undertaken at Mary Peters Track. The race was dominated by Kenyan Freddie Sittuk but he was given a hard work out by Brendan Teer for much of the first half before accelerating away to win in 25.20, with Brendan sticking bravely to his task to take second in 26.20 ahead of Annadale's Keith Purdy in 3rd. A little further back Francis Tumelty and Michael McKeown battled to a dead heat in 32.32 and ever improving Colm McNeill clocked 43.22.
Carmel Tumelty didn't let the Ladies down either on her club debut and could be well pleased with her 45.46. She must surely have a go at the next handicap run too.
Next Saturday is Round 2 of the Young Athlete's League at Bangor, but before that the second of the Junior Hill and Dale races takes place in Tollymore at 6.45pm, before the Monument race on Thursday night.
Joe Quinn
21 May 2012
