The sporting week got off to a great start on Thursday night when Neil McCartan was a splendid 3rd in the Mens Open 3K race, his 8.52.33 time being less than one and a half seconds behind the second placed runner and just over 4 seconds behind the winner Craig McMeechan. This is superb running by any standard and it would seem that Neil is in the form of is life as we prepare for the road running and Track seasons.
In the same race Daniel Atkinson showed he is not afraid to mix it with the big boys by taking 83rd place in a time of 10.23 and Liam Keenan was 120th in 11.01 in a field of over 200 runners.

Saturday was a hectic day all round with the Senior Cross Country Championships being held in Lurgan Park and the inaugural Last One Standing, races in Castleward.
NEWCASTLE CHAMPIONS AT LURGAN
At Lurgan Park on Saturday East Down fielded teams in both the Mens and Womens races and gave every indication that, given the opportunity, both could be contenders in the Cross Country League. The occasion was the NI and Ulster Senior Cross Country Championships and it was a tough encounter over a testing12K course. Newcastle not only took a firm grip on proceedings to claim maximum points in this penultimate League fixture with their top 4 scorers all in the top 9 but also claimed the coveted Champions team prize. This result will be a massive boost in their bid to retain the League title as it offers double points. The East Down Mens placings in a field of 155 finishers were
51. Barrie Atkinson 45:51
74. Martin Willcox 48:29
86. Dee Murray 49:35
87. Paul Burns 49:42
92 Mark O’ Connor 50.31
93. Declan Teague 50:37
140. Stephen Cassidy59:01

GIRL POWER
The Senior Womens race was only marginally smaller with 142 finishers and the East Down quintet posted the following placings.

22. Niamh Kellett 26:21
33. Alison Gilliland 27:19
59. Cheryl Denvir 29:21
85. Clare Carson 31:43
116. Carmel Tumelty 34:46
These results provide a firm base and considerable hope for next year’s League performances on the grass.

A special mention here for Carmel who I overlooked last week when she finished the Dune Half Marathon from Dundalk to Newry in 2.05.16.

LAST ONE STANDING
The inaugural event in this ultra type competition was preceded by a two races round the designated route, a mixture of trails, road and cross country terrain. The shorter 1 lap run was won in fine style by East Down’s Ciaran Denvir in 27.39 and saw Eithne McGrattan, Linda Cunningham and Bernice McCann pick up impressive finishers medals.
Simon McGrattan took the opportunity to clock a few extra miles and ran the 8.4 miles with Linda’s sister Jackie from Murlough, while Linda joined in too to lend her support.
When I entered the Last One Standing almost 6 months ago it was as much out of curiosity as ambition but I reckoned that as I was as good at standing as the next man and since I am usually the last one to lie down at night I must be in with a chance. However as time passed and I began to learn more about hat was involved I began to think that I should perhaps adopt some form of training plan. Basically the format is that everyone starts at 12 noon and runs or walks or both a 4.2 miles circuit in and around the beautiful surroundings of the Castleward Estate. Then everyone has to be on the start line again at 1.00pm to repeat the route again, and every hour thereafter. The snag was not in doing the 4.2 miles but rather in making it to the start again on a regular basis. Unlike the 24 Hour Race which normally takes place at Mary Peters Track where competitors can chose when and how fast to run, rest, eat etc. and ultimately the winner is the person who has travelled furthest, this was not a distance race. It was purely and simply a test of endurance stamina, bloody mindedness and an ability to tell the time! No exceptions would be made for anyone who did not cross the finish line in 60 minutes or who failed to cross the start line again on the next hour.
Of course the decision which everyone had to make was how fast to run. Was it better to run at a fast pace and then have 30 minutes or so to recover before the next hour called? The consensus seemed to be a very definite, take it easy, conserve your energy, run the flat bits and walk up the hills so that there was time to have a quick drink or snack or toilet break between circuits and most importantly to avoid getting cold waiting for the next start. Initially of course everyone was chatty and the evenness of the pace meant that new friendships were formed throughout the whole field, and of course even if you lost contact with someone, the re-start was an opportunity to resume conversations again – provided you and your friend were both there again.

As ever in the opening laps all of the runners were careful to avoid the puddles and mud where it was deepest and softest and I quickly resolved to consider packing it in when I got to the stage of not being bothered whether my feet were wet and muddy or not – usually a sign of tiredness. So that in my mind would equate to 4 laps at most as it is many years since I ran much further than that.
SOCK IT TO ME
Anyway lap 1 was completed in just around 49 minutes and I was on the start line again sufficiently re-fuelled to tackle the next one. Similarly the 2nd was completed in
51 minutes and the 3rd in 50. So it was of to my base camp – a pile of clothing. footwear and tablets in the middle of one of the barns near the start line – for a change of socks. Have any of you noticed how over the years your arms get shorter – I used to think that so much running was shortening my legs as I slowly wore away – but recently I have been aware of the opposite effect and on the understanding that my legs have not grown longer I have concluded that my arms are shrinking. How else can I explain the difficulty of putting on a pair of socks? It used to be a simple task involving sitting down, bending over or lifting the foot and slipping on the sock. Now it involves a lot of thought about whether there is a convenient stool or prop adjacent to where I am sitting and a lot of gyrations to get the target foot onto the stool or the nearest knee to my sock bearing hand. Anyway that’s the norm – when you add in the stiffness of 12.6 miles, accumulated mud and a sweaty foot it becomes a gargantuan challenge. Needless to say the air was as blue as my fingers by the time I had completed the task pressurised by the calls from the starter, “3 minutes to start, 2 minutes to start” but I was out the door by the time he announced “1 minute to go” unfortunately without the timing chip which I had to remove to get at my sock! But I made it to the line for the 3.00pm start and was on my last lap – or so I thought. Although at 55 minutes it was my slowest lap I actually felt better than on the previous one – Oh the joys of fresh socks! – and decided I’d do one more. Working on the basis that I would rather pull out voluntarily than be eliminated for taking over 1 hour or miss the start I resolved to call time at the end of the 5th lap, which I completed in 54 minutes.
THANKS AND WELL DONE TO HELPERS AND ORGANISERS
Here I must pay tribute to the support I had from all the East Down folks who were there, especially ultra runner supreme Linda Cunningham who plied me with hot soup, coffee and jammy cake. Thank you
And a word of praise for Sammy and Adrian Daye whose brainchild this was and for the superbly organised event. I’ll be back next year
PS- the eventual winner of the race was Bobby Irvine of Seapark AC who completed 30 laps.
NEXT WEEK
Saturday sees the final Cross Country League at Stormont with a full progamme ranging from Primary School to Over 65 Masters races.

Locally next Sunday brings us once more to the beautiful Strangford Lough shore for the annual Ben Derg Coast 10K, which begins at 1.00pm, with registration in St Malachy’s GAA Club from 11.00am. There is also a 5K option and a large crowd is expected.

Joe Quinn
22 February 2016