The second race in Newcastle AC’s Hill & Dale series took place in more favourable conditions for the 296 runners at Tollymore on Thursday 18th April. The course of a little over 7k with @360m of elevation took in plenty of hills and trails in the forest park and a little bit of open mountainside to give athletes a roaster of what to expect as the races move into the mountains with Slieve Martin and Slieve Binnian to look forward to in races 3 and 4. North Down AC was well represented in the race once more with 10 runners taking part, and 5 of these runners taking age group prizes.
David McKeague was the club’s first finisher in 20th place overall in 35:47, and 2nd M45. Gareth Hardy followed in 38:34 followed by 1st F45 Clair Quigley in 41:51. Kevin Mulligan had another strong run in 43:56 followed by Matt Ormesher in 45:06. Gerard Adair added some extra distance to his race after a fruitless pursuit of his race number when it blew off, but recovered to finish in 48:00. Glynnis Boyle 1st F60 50:33, Claire Scott 3rd F50 50:40 and June McMinn 1st F65 50:42 had a race within a race with only 9 seconds separating the NDAC trio. Trevor Patterson finished in 56:35 and Ian McCreary crossed the line in 1:01:40.