Ards Half Marathon
As in previous years this was classed as the NI Half Marathon Championship event. Consequently, the standard of competition was pretty high with many of the best local runners present and strong representation from the Belfast clubs and the local club Ballydrain Harriers. Numbers were well above 600 with only the Half Marathon and a walk being the constituent events.
A total of 8 athletes from OAC made it to the start line. Among them Darren Moffett and Paul Edgar who had done all the first half of the series and were now beginning the second half, along with 6 others drawn to this hilly but scenic and enjoyable event.
The event as always proved to be a well organised one with several pacers, water stops, well-placed marshals and good crowd support throughout. In addition, there was strong support from OAC members dotted throughout who knew the course well enough to move between good vantage points. It was a relatively warm evening, which took its toll on some of the runners, but conditions weren’t as severe as Lisburn 9 days previously.
Finishing times were:
Michael O’Donoghue 01:44:04
John Neill 01:45:09
Mark Williamson 01:47:19
Darren Houston 01:56:59
Darren Moffett 01:57:02
Peter McKenzie 01:57:28
Paul Edgar 02:06:24
Well done everyone. Next month promises to be very busy for the club racers with 2 more events in HM series, resumption of the club championship, a popular Born 2 Run event, the start of the Ards Triple Series and the Energia 24 hour event.