More success for Grainne in Cherryfield

On a cold and very windy morning 26 runners from CSH turned out for the second BHAA XC race of the year. It was a 2mile race for ladies and a tough 5miles for the men. Conditions were very good underfoot on this narrow course but the strong wind on the day ensured that it was not going to be easy. The 8 CSH ladies lined up first with the advice from Tony being "find the shelter", not an easy thing to do when its difficult to just keep moving forward. As in the previous BHAA race Grainne Butler was first lady home for the club finishing 8th in the large field of 75 ladies in a time of 12mins 53secs. Grainne's performance also earned her a very convincing first place in her category. Second lady home was Angie McElligott in a time of 14mins 3sec followed by Shirley Mitchell in 14mins 35sec. By the time the 18 men from CSH lined up in the large field of 278 men for their 5mile race the conditions had got much worse. It was a tough 3.5 laps with rain making an appearance as the race progressed. First home for CSH was Paul Cowhie in exactly 28mins which earned him 10th overall in the race and 2nd in his category. Next home for CSH was Dave Sweeney who was making his return to BHAA after a gap of a number of years. Dave finished a fantastic 22nd in the race in a time of 29mins 4s and is sure to feature in the BHAA Garda teams in the BHAA races to come. Third home for CSH was a place that was fought for throughout the entire race between Ger Clerkin and Jason Harte, on the day Ger finshed just ahead of Jason in a time of 31mins 4sec compared to Jason's time of 31mins 10secs. Throughout the field there were plenty of CSH pairs supporting each other (or maybe doing battle for places!). Coming home very close together were Andy Davies in 32mins 57sec and Paul Carolan in 33mins 6secs - Andy's performance also earned him a team prize as part of the OPW team. Also running along side each other for most of the race was Bren Farrell and Brian Doyle. It was certainly a great race for the CSH spectators. The day finished in the usual BHAA manner with tea and coffee in the clubhouse. Special mention also has to go to our CSH member who was part of the Eircom organising team, Joe Delaney - Thanks Joe for a great race. Its not true that you will do anything for 10 BHAA league points! And then a final mention to our CSH member who nearly made the race - hopefully Owen will have more luck finding the next BHAA race in Swords on 4th Feb. Full results for CSH members are in the results section of the website.