Kilruddery, Co. Wicklow
| Irish MTB XC Championships 2008 Kilruddery, Co. Wicklow |
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| 20 July 2008 On Sunday 20th July Team Worc hosted the prestigious All Ireland MTB Championships in the excellent venue of Kilruddery, Bray. The weather forecast showed that it was to be a bright, sunny day, and for once, they were correct! As we got to Newry it was pouring out of the heavens, which made us think a bad day was ahead of us, but, in Southern Ireland, it felt as if you where in Spain! The Hard to Beat Gang had a fellow guest travelling with us today, Mark Downey (Banbridge CC) and you will find out how he did below.. The day got off to a flying start with the under 8s' completing 4 laps of a small course which seemed to be tricky enough as there was a bombhole! The event was won by Banbridge's Shenna McKiverigan with Mark Buller taking 2nd. Ben Hanna managed to finish a very creditable 4th (the doping team should have him checked!). He seemed to like the course as he said it was very quick. The under 12's had 1 lap of the main course to complete, which was 5.70 miles long and it was almost like a downhill/xco/bmx course, a 3 in 1! It was won by Mark Downey with James Currie taking silver and Rachel Mayne bronze. A Banbridge 1-2-3! The under 14s' had the same as the under 12s' and was a very exciting course. The best part was the VERY steep and high bombhole, an item not to be attempted by the faint hearted! The race was won by IMBRCs' Ben Gregory a start to finish leader. In 2nd was Robert Anderson from Juiced Orchard, who was also injured from falling down the bombhole. OUCH! A sore shoulder meant that he was in a sling for most of the day. XMTB's Chris Oakley grabbed third from Dan Runciman and I finished 5th. Missing from the Sports line up was Martin Grimley (Dromara) with both his rivals, Stephen Prentice (Banbridge CC) and Ronnie Ogilby (XMTB) showing up. Ronnie was unable to finish due to a broken chain but Stevie finished a respective 22nd out of the 40 who completed the course. Ross Galway rode well in the Experts class but is still trying to get back on form after a 3 week holiday in California (lucky you) and finished the race a tired MTBer. The prizes where presented by the Cycling Ireland President, which included a personalised T-SHIRT! Thanks must go to Team Worc for a well run event, and the music throughout the race!! For full results go to www.mtbireland.com Report by Zak Hanna Photographs by Pauline Galway More photos here 
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Ross 
Stevie
Ross
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