Slieve Croob Hill Challenge enjoyed by one and all

Dromara’s Slieve Croob festival started with a cold start at Finnis Primary School with a Children’s Gymkhana designed to allow children to come and test their skills on a range of courses.  There are 6 different stages to try and complete with the idea that you can have another go to see if you can improve on your time. Many of the children smashed their time on the second time around before finishing for the prize giving, drinks and a biscuit or two. The photos can be found here

This year Dromara CC decided to try out a new event with the Off roaders setting up a challenging course from the top of Slieve Croob down a marked course. It certainly tested the group of Dromara CC finest Enduro riders and a few selected guests. Most riders these days are racing around trail centers so it is great to see what can be created with the natural resources on Slieve Croob. All in all it was a great success with all the riders ready for next year.

With the MTB finished it set us up for the main race of the day and the Challenge to cycle from the start of Dree Hill to the top of Slieve Croob. It is a 3.3 mile course with up 16% gradients on the way to the finish line. The weather has certainly been changeable all week but the rain and wind held off to allow 55 riders to complete the challenge. Last years winners Darnell Moore and Wannita Broome returned to defend their titles, however, there would be plenty of competition for the win.

Darnell produced another scintillating display completing the time in 13min 55 seconds with the Chris McGlinchey next in 14mins 52 seconds just proving how fast Darnell’s time was. Helen Stack completed the climb in 20mins 26 seconds to take the ladies title for 2018 with our very own Diane Wilson taking second in a time of 21mins 41 seconds.

With the fast boys and girls showing their skills we cannot forget about the many who stepped up and put their wheel on the line to take on this challenge. Joanne McCallum showed great determination to complete the challenge on a mountain bike, Eillen McKee gave everything to make it to the finish line and Glyn O’Brien having taken part in the downhill MTB event couldn’t help beating the 20min barrier.

Once all the riders had finished their challenge we headed back to the Kings Pub in Finnis for a BBQ and a drink to discuss the awesome climbs and await the spot prizes. This year we had great support from See Sense lights, Dave Kane Cycles, Mourne Cycles, Cafe Velo Magasin and Abernethy Butter Company.

The final presentation of the day was to present the Mayor Murnin Mark of Down District Council for a £1500 cheque to go towards his charity

Presentation photos can be found here

Finally we cannot forget the many volunteers from Dromara CC that gave up their time to support this great event. We also had two guest photographers, Sharon McFarland and Bronagh Kirk, who captured the days event perfectly. Hopefully you will all be looking forward to next years event.

Results of the Hill Climb are below:

Results for the Mountain Biking:

Photos Can be found here by Bronagh Kirk and here by Sharon McFarland