72^nd Slieve Donard Race – Preview by Bogusboy

The annual Slieve Donard race, Race 6 of the Hill and Dale will start at 2:00pm on Saturday 20 May at the Newcastle Centre, with the leaders returning to the Newcastle around 2.55pm.  Amazingly within one hour the leading athletes will have climbed the 852 metres to the summit and returned to the point from whence they came.  The course follows along the main street with a marked route to the summit and the same back to Newcastle Centre – a temporary departure from the traditional ‘free choice’. A few will display the cuts and bruises to show that they have raced to the highest point in Northern Ireland and back. Never was this truer than in 2012 when the ‘Prophet’ returned with a hole in his hand.  Not to be worried by such a mere bagatelle he ran his hand under the tap and shored up the gaping wound with a bit of electrical tape – emergency first aid at its very best!  The next day when he peeled back the inch of flapping skin he found a compass, a whistle and a pound coin! The pound coin was deposited in the piggy bank where, five years later, it still remains a prisoner! Continue reading →