Sallygap, Co. Wicklow, 5th August 2010
 

The novelty of a Sallygap finish clearly caught people's interest as we had the largest turnout in some time. 78 brave souls took on the 18.5 kilometre mountaintop C.P., and while all of the groups worked well early on the final drag to the gap was more than enough to shatter the field. Patrick O'Brien won in convincing style, his second win in two weeks earning him promotion to Semi-scratch.

The short distance and long handicaps meant the the racing was always going to be fast and furious. Best co-ordinated of the groups in the early stages was Semi-limit, who swept up Limit at just over half way, and while a large Semi-scratch group worked well the gap just wasn't closing for them.

As the race left the forest and headed out onto the mountainside it was fourteen year old Darragh Long who took the initiative in the lead group, setting a blistering pace which decimated the field, while behind a panicking Diarmuid Collins drove the pursuit in the Semi-scratch group. Two much diminished groups arrived at the foot of the final climb with just over a minute separating them, while the heavy hitters in Scratch were still a long way back and looking like being beaten by the handicap. 

First to make a move on the final ascent was O'Brien, who rapidly opened a sizeable gap and reached the finish with time enough to zip up his jersey and pose for the cameras as he crossed the line. Behind him were Eoin Fitzpatrick of UCD an Darragh Long, with the latter fading to third towards the end, perhaps paying a price for his earlier efforts. Meanwhile, further back the Semi-scratch leaders were tearing through the remainder of the lead group, and a superb last gasp chase from UCD's Rob Manning saw him miss out on the placings by a mere four seconds. 

Further back again the Scratch group never made serious inroads into the groups ahead, but they never stopped trying, and a scorching effort from Pat Conlon on the climb gave him the fastest time of the night of 31'50" as a consolation prize of sorts.

Top placings below, the updated league table including all placings from the night can be found here.

  1.  Patrick O'Brien (Orwell)               36'55"  
  2. Eoin Fitzpatrick (UCD)                   @14"      
  3. Darragh Long (Orwell)                   @20"       
  4. Gary Fleming (Orwell)                    @31"   1st Limit
  5. Tulga Oyunchimeg (Tiernans)     @41"     
  6. Ray Jordan (St. Tiernans)             @47"   
  7. Robert Manning (UCD)                  @51"   1st Semi-scratch
  8. Paul Kissane (St. Tiernans)      @1'00"    
  9. Michael Hanley (Orwell)             @1'03"   
  10. John Sower (Orwell)                   @1'04"   

 

 Fastest: Pat Conlon (Orwell)                @1'45"  1st Scratch

 

 

 

 

 

Placing Name Club Group W Elapsed time Deficit Riding time Rank by riding time
1st Patrick O'Brien Orwell SL   36'55" 0" 34'25" 28th
2nd Eoin Fitzpatrick UCD SL   37'09" 14" 34'39" 29th
3rd Darragh Long Orwell SL   37'15" 20" 34'45" 31st
4th Gary Fleming Orwell L   37'26" 31" 37'26" 51st
5th Tulga Oyunchimeg Tiernans SL   37'36" 41" 35'06" 32nd
6th Ray Jordan Tiernans SL   37'42" 47" 35'12" 34th
7th Robert Manning UCD SS   37'46" 51" 32'36" 5th
8th Paul Kissane Tiernans SL   37'55" 1'00" 35'25" 37th
9th Michael Hanley Orwell SL   37'58" 1'03" 35'28" 38th
10th John Sower Orwell SS   37'59" 1'04" 32'49" 8th
11th Mark Yendole Lucan SL   37'59" s.t. 35'29" 39th
12th Stephen Gunn Orwell L   38'00" 1'05" 38'00" 53rd
13th Seamus Kelly Usher SS   38'01" 1'06" 32'51" 9th
14th Sean Bracken Usher SS   38'02" 1'07" 32'52" 10th
15th Brendan Bonnie Tiernans SL   38'09" 1'14" 35'39" 40th
16th Patrick Kindillon Orwell SS   38'14" 1'19" 33'04" 13th
17th Anthony Walsh UCD SS   38'17" 1'22" 33'07" 14th
18th Barry Dunne Orwell SL   38'19" 1'24" 35'49" 42nd
19th Anne Dalton Orwell L W 38'22" 1'27" 38'22" 57th
20th Neil O'Connor Lucan SS   38'27" 1'32" 33'17" 15th
21st Daryl Bent Lucan SS   38'37" 1'42" 33'27" 16th
22nd Patrick Santini Orwell SS   38'37" s.t. 33'27" 17th
23rd Seamus Fitzgerald Orwell SS   38'37" s.t. 33'27" 18th
24th Diarmuid Collins Orwell SS   38'38" 1'43" 33'28" 19th
25th Patrick Conlon Orwell S   38'40" 1'45" 31'50" 1st
26th Aidan Collins Orwell SS   38'50" 1'55" 33'40" 21st
27th Declan Brassil Lucan SS   38'50" s.t. 33'40" 22nd
28th Paul Dolan Usher S   38'51" 1'56" 32'01" 2nd
29th Alan Cody Tiernans S   38'52" 1'57" 32'02" 3rd
30th Niall Dwyer UCD SS   38'57" 2'02" 33'47" 23rd
31st Brian Reynolds Lucan SS   39'01" 2'06" 33'51" 24th
32nd Dermot O'Gorman Lucan SS   39'02" 2'07" 33'52" 25th
33rd Peter Gerrard Orwell SL   39'12" 2'17" 36'42" 45th
34th Joe McSherry Orwell SL   39'13" 2'18" 36'43" 46th
35th Mark McEvoy Usher SL   39'22" 2'27" 36'52" 47th
36th Oisin Leonard Orwell L   39'24" 2'29" 39'24" 59th
37th Odhran Connors Orwell S   39'25" 2'30" 32'35" 4th
38th Stephen Surdival Usher S   39'26" 2'31" 32'36" 6th
39th Ciara Kinch Orwell SL W 39'26" s.t. 36'56" 48th
40th Fionn Sheridan Orwell L   39'27" 2'32" 39'27" 60th
41st James Olsen Orwell SS   39'28" 2'33" 34'18" 26th
42nd Tom Blennerhassett Orwell SS   39'31" 2'36" 34'21" 27th
43rd Dylan Rafter Orwell S   39'34" 2'39" 32'44" 7th
44th Peter Killeen Orwell SL   39'35" 2'40" 37'05" 49th
45th Noel Flanagan Orwell L   39'36" 2'41" 39'36" 62nd
46th Stephen McNally Orwell S   39'46" 2'51" 32'56" 11th
47th Dave Caroll Usher S   39'47" 2'52" 32'57" 12th
48th Martin Ridge Orwell SS   39'53" 2'58" 34'43" 30th
49th Paul O'Brien Orwell L   40'07" 3'12" 40'07" 63rd
50th Stephen Byrne Usher SS   40'17" 3'22" 35'07" 33rd
51st Stefan Engerman Tiernans SL   40'24" 3'29" 37'54" 52nd
52nd Declan Looby Usher SS   40'25" 3'30" 35'15" 35th
53rd Colm Dunne Lucan SS   40'27" 3'32" 35'17" 36th
54th Shane Baker Usher S   40'27" s.t. 33'37" 20th
55th Valerie Considine Usher SL W 40'37" 3'42" 38'07" 55th
56th Graham Healy Lucan SL   40'39" 3'44" 38'09" 56th
57th Charlotte MacDonald Orwell L   40'53" 3'58" 40'53" 65th
58th John Ennis Lucan SS   41'08" 4'13" 35'58" 43rd
59th Noel Beggs Orwell SS   41'46" 4'51" 36'36" 44th
60th David O'Brien Orwell SL   41'57" 5'02" 39'27" 61st
61st Mark Mearns Lucan SS   42'31" 5'36" 37'21" 50th
62nd Sandra Telford Orwell L W 42'31" s.t. 42'31" 69th
63rd Martin Caddow Orwell S   42'38" 5'43" 35'48" 41st
64th Damien Long Orwell SL   42'52" 5'57" 40'22" 64th
65th Conor Montague Orwell L   43'07" 6'12" 43'07" 70th
66th Jason Stack Usher SS   43'11" 6'16" 38'01" 54th
67th Andrew Sower Orwell L   44'39" 7'44" 44'39" 71st
68th Brian Kilbride Tiernans SL   44'45" 7'50" 42'15" 67th
69th Paul Tansey Orwell SL   44'53" 7'58" 42'28" 68th
70th Eamon Perigrine Tiernans S   45'29" 8'34" 38'39" 58th
71st Aidan Yates Usher SS   46'28" 9'33" 41'18" 66th
72nd Rachel Kaye-Mellor Orwell L W 48'25" 11'30" 48'25" 73rd
73rd Ian Mellor Orwell SL   48'25" s.t. 45'55" 72nd
74th Caroline Martinez Orwell L W 48'55" 12'00" 48'55" 74th
75th Peter Seymour Orwell SL   --'--" d.n.f. --'--" 75th
76th Alan Dunne Lucan SS   --'--" d.n.f. --'--" 76th
77th Richard Dunne Usher SS   --'--" d.n.f. --'--" 77th
78th John Devitt Orwell L   --'--" d.n.s. --'--" 78th