The Monday night run on Monday 7th was a revival of the Ballygilbert Handicap and was followed in the Pavilion by a celebration of Brian Smith’s 70th birthday. Actually it was a tiny bit late as his birthday was in August but with Brian these days, its question of whether he is on his travels or not. Anyway a very good night was held, due in no small measure to the baking blondes and the decoration of the room by Julie and her crew. Davie Seaton kept things going and he and Brian came out with some very entertaining recoollections..
The Ballygilbert Handicap is a straightforward run down the Belfast Road and is 4 miles. It has been used sporadically in the past and probably should be an annual event. Stephen Wylie ran off scratch and was the first one back followed by Nick Irvine and Charles McNutt with Ange Perrott and Jodi Smith the first girls. Stephen had obviously the fastest net time with 22:20 min followed by Dennis Scott with 23:20, Brian Barron with 24:50 and Nick and Charles with 24:58 and 25:02. Ange ran 27:25, Jodi 27:58, Valerie McDonough 28:59 and Jill Aicken 29:11. The handicapping was successful with some close finishes and 39 runners completed the course.