Wounded soldiers at Trooperstown
Liam Dunne (200) leads early on at Trooperstown Hill
After Annagh Hill, the IMRA Winter League moved to central Wicklow for an old classic at Trooperstown Hill. The lonely brown massif of heather, dirt paths, and the infamous scree descent has a nice mixture of everything…
…a persistent climb for the ascenders, sloppy and rocky stuff for the descenders and a long downhill finish on fire-road for those with fuel left to burn in the end.
As it proved, skill and stamina alone would not be enough to win; as Jason Reid and Liam Dunne went head-to-head up front, they seemed to confirm that there is currently no more dangerous place in the IMRA field than fighting for pole position.
By the end of the second climb to Trooperstown summit, the two combatants were neck-on-neck when Liam Dunne crashed on the rocks. Leader Jason Reid followed tradition by ensuring all was well with his fallen foe before sprinting off to gain a decisive gap only to take a spill himself and allowing Dunne back in the game.
Fighting finish
Despite the fall, the New Zealander’s strong descending skills left him around thirty seconds clear by the bottom of the scree with only two kilometres fast tarmac and fire-road home. With a puncture wound to the knee, Liam Dunne arrived at the finish line in the firm belief he had finished runner-up only to learn that Reid had taken a two kilometre detour by missing the turn back in the forest after the brief tarmac section. The dejected Rathfarnham runner crossed the finish line in twenty-fifth.
This left a group of five runners within reach of podium spots and perhaps Irish international Peter O’Farrell capitalised on his long experience to secure second with Adrian Hennessy third fourteen seconds back.
Liam Dunne subsequently needed a trip to the A&E which may yet turn the day’s result into Pyrrhic victory. After Eoin Keith’s mishap at Annagh Hill, the two favourites for the league title could both miss the final race at Maulin. Peter O’Farrell now leads but several runners could make a claim for the title on the arresting slopes of Maulin.
Maulin awaits for the last race
Kenny clinches title
In the women’s race the budding rivalry between Suzanne Kenny and Karen O’Hanlon continued. O’Hanlon had one last throw of the dice here to threaten for the league and the Maynooth runner with the road running background needed to keep her challenge alive on the uphill and flat sections.
In the end of the scree she had left a forty second buffer for herself to overhaul as Kenny touched safe ground first. A committed effort pulled her back to within sixteen seconds on the last kilometres but this could not stop the Clonliffe runner claiming her first Winter League title. Maeve O’Grady took third.
Suzanne Kenny
The course record of 39:11 set on a glorious winter day by Rathfarnham mountain supremo Barry Minnock has looked decidedly safe these last few years but runners will have another opportunity to challenge it when Trooperstown returns in summer…
Full results here, with images by John Sheils here.
