North Down’s men’s team placed 11th in a quality field of 17 teams in the Irish Road Relay championships held at Raheny on Sunday 2nd April. The team ran 42 seconds quicker than in 2004 when placing 8th and, although slipping 3 places this year, managed to finish ahead of Donore Harriers and Liffey Valley, who placed ahead of us 2004.
Clonliffe won in 37.56 with Raheny 2nd in 38.11 over 4 legs of 2lap+1lap+3laps over a lap just over 1 mile. Michael Dyer ran leg 1 and was holding 8th until blisters neutralised his kick on the run in and slipped to 11th but ran a swift 10.04. 16 yr old Robin Brown ran a mature leg to hold 11th in a very respectable 5.04. Then came two runners recovering from a recent stomach bug. Francis Marsh held 11th with a solid 15.30 while James Budde – still with the effects of the bug – maintaining 11th to the finish with 10.22 for a team time of 41.00. The AAI organisers showed their appreciation for our efforts to make the 2 hour journey to Raheny with a special mention at the prize giving. We”ll be back in 2007 to run faster and finish higher.