Hamilton takes podium at UlsterCyclocross Rnd 3
As per usual, the weather in Northern Ireland is never predictable so when you have a race organized you hope the sun will be out. The VC Glendale club had to put up with some unsettled weather while they prepared the course for the racers. When Sunday came the sun came out but it wasn’t early enough to dry the ground so the racers prepared for mud.
The first Dromara cc racer to show the colours was young Oscar Mcbride in the Under 8’s race and Fiadh Kellett in the U6s. Oscar has been slowly creeping up the table week on week and the podium is getting very close. With 20 other racers taking on this course it was a tremendous effort for him to claim 5th place and a mere 10 seconds from the podium. Fiadh was doing what she does best and carving up the U6 course and one to watch for the future.
The young Aoife Kellett has been having another great season int he Under 10’s and this continued on Sunday. Aoife though really earned this after a slow start leaving her in 4th place and work to do. With an excellent last lap, she would move through the field to claim 2nd place.
James Armstrong never has easy races and he makes sure those around him don’t have an easy race. Curtis Mckee and James Armstrong would change positions several times but it was Curtis who this time would put in a great last lap to just hold off young James. It was a fantastic effort on a tough course.
In the ladies race we had a full ladies team ready to take to the start line. Martina Hawkins, Andra Hamilton and Diane Wilson have been making their way up the results as the weeks go by as the courses get tougher. Diane had a great first lap and was breaking in otthe top 10 but bad luck would strike and she would lose a lot of time before making it back to the pits for the second bike. Andra has been putting in battling performances and was going quicker each lap as she claimed 16th place. Martina who worked her way through the crowd to post ever improving lap times to claim 13th and not that far off breaking into the top 10.
The main race of the day is of course the A race which would see Barry Kellett, Neil Armstrong and Nathan Mullan make up the Dromara CC team. Nathan looked delighted to be back at cross and didn’t disappoint with a great effort finishing in 29th place…lets hope he is ready to do some more racing. Neil Armstrong is a man growing into form as the season continues. He would finally finish in 47th with more than half the field behind him. Barry Kellett having taken a tumble in practise still produced a great result against the best cross racers from the province taking 8th place and valuable points for the league.
The final race of the day is of course the B race and Brian Kellett, Paul Hamilton, Richard Cowan, Adi Booth, Gibson Chambers, Darren McCann, John McGuigan, Robert Davison and Mike Barton. The start as always is fast and furious and Paul Hamilton would surf through the crowd to lead the chasing group for the podium places. Brain Kellett would not be far behind proving he is really growing into the cross season. Darren McCann would show that all that great road form wouldnt be wasted on a course that needs plenty of power. Behind them the rest would have there own personal battles for ever improving times. When the chequered flag was raised it would be Paul Hamilton would would snatch 3rd place and his first podium. Brian Kellett would take 7th with Darren not far behind in 12th place.
With the races all finished the clearing up began and a large shout out to all the VC Glendale team for putting on a great professional event full of colour and fun. It takes a lot of organising and effort for these races to happen so it is very much appreciated from all at Dromara CC. Next race is at the Henry Jones Playing Fields in Belfast which is a new course for everyone.
