Northern Ireland
| WHERE better to spend St Patrick's Weekend than in Ireland, and Dave King took his running shoes to Ulster for a double whammy of running. On the Saturday, Dave took part in the Glenariff Mountain Race at Waterfoot, which is on the north-east coast of Northern Ireland. The race was organised by Ballymena Runners, and consisted of two miles to the foot of Glenariff Mountain, and then a one-mile climb to the summit. It's a total of climb of 1,100 feet. Conditions were tough with driving rain and sleet. "Going up you were just climbing on all fours," said Dave. "It was really hard work. "And then coming downhill at breakneck speed over these rocks and streams was frightening. I went over several times on the wet surface, but fortunately escaped any injury." Glenariff is one of the nine Glens of Antrim, and the race attracted 71 runners. Dave finished 51st in a time of 1hr 6min 10sec for the 5.92 mile course. Then on the Sunday, he headed to Downpatrick in the south-eastern corner of Northern Ireland for Jimmy's 10. St Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, is reputedly buried in the cathedral in Downpatrick. The race attracted almost 300 entries, and Dave came home in 91st place in a time of 43min 44sec. "This was a fun race," said Dave. "I had thought it would be flat and fast, but there was an horrendous hill up to the cathedral shortly after the start which caught me out, and by the time I got my breath back I was being overtaken by all these nippers running in the 5km relay." This weekend, Dave heads for the Lake District to compete in the Coniston 14. |