A settled forecast bodes well for this year’s Seven Sevens and it was correct for we enjoyed one of the best days ever on the course. The ground was dry following a month of below-average rainfall and a breeze for most of the day kept the temperatures at manageable levels along with some high cloud cover.
Seventy three runners gathered on the playing field outside Shimna College and galloped off into the forest at ten o clock in the wake of the challenge walkers who had set off in the preceding hours. Last year’s winner, Mourne Runner Adam Cunningham gradually pulled away and reached the summit of Donard in 43.18 about a minute ahead of the pack. Alice Flint of BARF was also going well and it was good to see her back in action following recovery from a broken arm.
By the time the Ben Crom dam was reached Adam had over five minutes advantage over clubmate Timmy Johnston and orienteer Paul Pruzina. Nine minutes further back three runner runners were within seconds of each other including the diminutive, Alice Flint. Adam continued to extend his lead to win by over twenty minutes from Timmy Johnston who had managed to get away from Paul Pruzina after Lamagan.
Alice Flint and Mourne runner Joshua Mc Atee ran most of the race glued together and by the summit of Lamagan had dropped Andrew Tees of BARF, but an error on Cove Mountain allowed Andrew to get ahead and he held on to claim forth position with Alice finishing just ahead of Joshua, seven minutes later.
Adams time of 3:48:47 was just marginally slower than the fantastic time he ran in the British Championship in the spring and despite the error on Cove, Alice’s time of 4:30:37 is one of the fastest ever by a NI based female runner. Esther Dickson of Newry AC finished second and Martsje Hell of North Belfast was third.
Refreshments were provided by Lagan Valley Orienteers and the prize giving in the sun was enjoyably normal following two years of lockdowns and social distancing. A big thanks to Shimna College for the use of their excellent facilities and to all the marshals and helpers for ensuring everything ran smoothly.
Jim Brown
Photo credit: Jim Brown, Harry Bell