10TH Burma Challenge

The fifth and final evening of the 10^th annual Burma Challenge took place last Wednesday 22^nd in this round all 70 people took off together on lovely sunny evening with Jody Sweeney and Orla Healy first male and female back in the field with 57 completing the Burma under 30 mins and all home under 45 mins we hope all these people will continue to come to the field and keep the fitness level you have reached over the past five weeks.

Burma results: The team challenge this year was the biggest ever with 15 teams, each had 5 members all eager to do their part for one another. In 15^th we had Lisheen on 375.34, 14th Rahealty 369.08, 13^th Ballyduff 368.18 12^th Moyne 368.17 11th Killoran 368.02 10^th Moyneard 367.15 9^th Manselstown 366.25 8^th Cooleeney 365.48 7^th Boulabeha 364.17 6th Longorchard 363.47 5th Ballyerk 360.25 4th Lisdonowley 357.14, the leader after round one Klyemakill were 3^rd 354.30, 2^nd  Moynetemple 350.02,  Derrafadda with Patrick Bowe, Liz Power, Sean Kennedy, Sinead Tynan, Euphrasia Ruddy keeping them in 1^st place in a time of 344.08.

Family Challenge: In the Family Challenge we had 11 families taking part and this year we  have new winners in Joe and Edel Leahy on 102.16, John & Esther Hogan 114.18 in second and winners for the last 4 years  Ray & Liz Power 115.23 finishing in third, 4^th  Paddy & Leona Doyle 119.22 5^th Tim & Cora Doyle 123.50 6^th  Gerry & Caroline Phelan 131.06 7^th  Kieran & Catherine Britton 132.04 8^th  Thomas & Breda Moore 136.22 9^th  Jody & Niamh Sweeney 137.06 10^th  Tom & Bernie McGrath 141.16 11^th  Niall & Sinead McGonagle 143.04.

On the final night there was a special presentation made to two participants who since its inception back in 2004 have completed the Burma Challenge 10 years in a row these were Billy Tracey & Eileen Ryan.

As we close the 10^th Annual Burma Challenge we would like to say thank you all those who participated in this event over that last 10 years (of which there are over 500), we salute our brain child of this event John Flynn for all the hard work he put in and every year adding a bit of variety to it.  It started only as an idea to get people and to exercise and have a bit of fun as well.

We would also like to thank Eibhlis Purcell, Catriona Daly Elaine Flynn Shiela Ryan & Martin Flynn who kept times, results, team news up to date, also to thank the stewards and PJ Ryan in the lead car who looked after the participants safety while enroute, to everyone who made the tea at the end each night and to all those who brought cakes and buns it was much appreciated. Finally we hope you all enjoyed our 10th Burma Challenge and that you keep it up. We look forward to seeing you all again on the June Bank 4th June for Mini Marathon @ 3pm. 

Night 4:  The fourth evening of the Burma Challenge was held last Wednesday 15^th it was the Relay Challenge and what a sight it was to see all 15 teams with all five members of their team lined up in the sportsfield waiting to go to their respective change over stations on The Burma circuit.

In the Relay event the 5^th member of each team walked/jogged/ran their 1^st K , they were the walkers of week one but after just 4 weeks they are all jogging their 1K to hand over their baton to the next member of their team so keep it up. According to the lead driver on the night PJ Ryan the lead changed a good few times until finally JJ Fitzgerald came in to view leading his team Kylemakill back into the field closely followed by Patrick Bowe (Derryfadda) to the delight of his team mates, Ballyduff were lead home by Patricia Ryan in third with Thomas Moore bringing home Rahealty in 4^th, could be the team to watch out for on the final night as they have moved from 15^th to 10^th up to 7^th.

The Leader Board did not change a lot with DerryFadda still on top at 220.06, Moyne Temple 221.45 holding on to second and previous leaders Kylemakill 225.28 up to third, Lisdonowly are only 45 sec back in 4^th. So now we are down to the final evening of the 10th Burma Challenge and no matter who gets the prizes this Wednesday the real winners are the 80 people who walked, jogged and carried the relay baton for a lot of people this was a first time to do so, hopefully not the last as we may do it again next year.

Night 3:  The third evening of the Burma Challenge took place last Wednesday and it was the turn of the bikers and what a sight it was to see 70 of them on all makes and models leaving the field and heading for Moyneard cross into a very strong head wind and in 9 mins 26 secs we had the first of them back, it was Damien McDonnell followed by Richard Daly 9:49, Orla Healy 10:27 was the first of the ladies followed by Katie Chappell 11:34 was next.  Tthe good thing is everyone of them got home safe and well if not a little tired.

The Cycle Challenge always upsets the leader board and last week was no different. The Leaders from week two Kylemakill 204.39 have dropped to fourth, runners up that week Killoran are now in 12^th, Moyneard were third are now 11^th, Lisdonowly 203.10 were 10^th after week two are now third, Moyne – Temple 199.56 were 6^th going in to the cycle are in second, Derryfadda have jumped from 7^th to be the new leaders on 199.12 going into the relay round on this Wednesday 15^th. In the Family Challenge Joe & Edel Leahy are the Leaders on 62.39, Power’s have moved to second 69.41, with Hogan’s 69.51 in third. As we head in to the final week it will be interesting to see how the leader board will change with the addition of the relay round. It’s hard to believe that we are coming to the end of the 10^th Burma Challenge and that we have had great fun and exercise over the past 5 weeks. Look forward to seeing everyone on the final night. 

Night 2:  The second evening of the Burma Challenge walk jog run took place from Moyne sportsfield last Wednesday May 1^st in ideal conditions, this was the handicap round and the biggest turnout of the ten years with 81 people getting a handicap of some kind with a difference of thirteen minutes between first off and last to go which worked out very well with 38 on the final 300 meters of the track in single file all making their way to the finish. Ross Alexander 16.49 and Orla Healy 20.16 were the first man and woman home. In the team challenge Kylemakill 132.12 are the leaders, with Killoran on 135.04 second and Moyneard 135.48 third only eight minutes separating the 15 teams and with the cycle round on this Wednesday 8^th it could turn the teams upside down. It was also the first evening of the Family challenge, where we have 11 families taking part. It must be said that the level of fitness in this group is very good last week 54 people completed the course under 30 minutes and all under 45 mins. Next week we have a new event it’s the relay challenge where one person from each team will walk jog or run 1k each with all times been totalled to give team result. Again thanks to all who supplied cakes and biscuits for the cuppa afterwards as the chat and banter is so enjoyed by all and race strategies are discussed looking forward to the next evening.