Weekend Report – September 27th

A fair bit of activity was compressed into last weekend. With the sun shining across Northern Ireland Saturday was a fantastic day to be out an about whatever the reason. First up was the popular Aurora Bangor 10k organised by our friends in North Down AC.

A quintet of members were amongst the 531 runners; Chris Downey was the first Orangegrover over the finish line in 53rd place with a (chip) time of 41:24, followed by Graeme Bennett in 45:14, Paul Gruhn in 51:00, Nicola Downey was the sole OAC lady taking part and bagging another 10k in 59:47 while Eoin Woodman finished the event in 01:08:28. Well done one and all.

The Aurora Bangor 10k was won by a local athlete, North Down AC’s Francis Marsh with a time of 34:11 whilst first lady was Breege Connolly of North Belfast Harriers who stormed round the course in 35:52.


Saturday also saw two members; Verity Cornford and Selina Myles head up to Ballymena for the third Slemish Challenge. The event which has both a half marathon and 10k route is hosted by the North West Mountain Rescue Team (NWMRT), so an organisation which is extremely relevant for many in OAC benefited from the race – the challenge was organised in conjunction with Ballymena Runners.

Both OAC members opted for the 10k (correct choice!) with Verity completing the course in 52mins45secs (13th/26) and Selina just two places behind with a time of 55:31. Great running ladies – those post-race mars bar and apple sandwiches were hard earned.
The Slemish Challenge (10k) was won by William Fleck in 42:17 followed closely by first lady, Sonia Knox who was second overall with a time of 42:32.


As if that wasn’t enough a shed load of Orangegrovers also headed to Portballintrae on Saturday to take on 26Extreme’s Causeway Coast 10k, half marathon and marathon.

The routes which incorporate elements of; beach, farmland and road and include numerous stiles and gates are scenic but tough – made all the tougher by the heat. There were however gritty performances on display by the entire club, by both new members and the more seasoned trail runners alike.

As ever the OAC spirit was also displayed by our support crew who energetically encouraged participants on to the finish line irrespective of which club they represented – the crew even helped a caterpillar to temporary safety.

In the 10k Alan Montgomery ran a superb race and was the first OAC member home in a time of 56:26 (26th/216), closely followed by Ian Wilson in 57:40.

Sharon Corken was first lady over the finish line completing the course in 01:01:19 (42nd/216) followed by Alison Hall-Thompson in 01:01:39, Anna Rankin another new member who made it look easy was next home in 01:02:16, just ahead of Jenny Powell in 01:02:19, Sarah Malcolmson in 01:02:58, Melinda Wilkinson in 01:03:14 and Sharon McFarland in 01:10:40.

Andy McIntyre led the OAC runners home in the half marathon with a fantastic time of 01:4:09 – 11th out of 418 runners! Darren Marshall was next over the line in 01:55:19, followed by Rodney Corrigan in 02:01:24 and Ian Grant in 02:03:17.

Sarah Steer was first OAC lady back into Portballintrae 109th overall and 21st female in 02:12:59, followed by Lisa Fleming in 02:18:23, Sharon Dickenson in 02:30:40, Jill Holland in 02:36:09 and Catherine Fearon in 02:45:49.

Finally we must recognise yet another epic performance by Robin Montgomery who secured 10th place in the very competitive marathon category with a time of 03:47:56 – this was a new PB for Robin around the Causeway Coast marathon course.

Well done to everyone for achieving these great times in what was unseasonably warm weather, apparently we have Sharon Dickenson to thank for that – as a farmer’s son I know the value of a warm spell in September more than most!

The winners for all the distances were as follows:

The Ultra Marathon (a gruelling 40 miles) was won by Jonny Steede in 5:01:08, first lady was Jacqui Toal in 6:43:06.

Matthew Jones broke the tape in the marathon with a time of 3:16:36, first lady was Amy-May Garvey in 4:02:02

First home over the half marathon course was Liam Dunne in 1:31:20 and first lady was Karen O’Hanlon in 1:46:17

And on the 10k front Andrew McLiane was first in 39:15 and 1st lady was Paula McAllister in 47:09


Chris Downey followed up his strong performance at the Aurora Bangor 10k by stretching his legs round the Rathfarnham 5k on Sunday in a rather impressive time of 19:48, placing 173rd out of 907 finishers.

The event was won by Jon Travers from Donore Harriers with a time of 14:21, first lady was Teresa Doherty from Finn Valley AC in 16mins27secs – you can see why the organisers bill this annual race as the fastest 5k in Ireland.


On Sunday some 40,000 runners took to the streets of Berlin for the 42nd BMW Berlin Marathon.

Orangegrove AC was represented by two of our most accomplished runners; Thomas Leitch and Michael O’Donoghue who completed the route around the German capital in excellent times of 3:01:07 and 04:00:16 respectively. Well done Thomas and MOD – wunderbar!

Despite running with a serious footwear malfunction for over half the race Kenyan Eluid Kipchoge won the men’s title in 2:04:00 while Gladys Cherono, made it a Kenyan double by winning the ladies race in 2:19:25. Inspiring performances all round, particularly for anyone patiently awaiting the results of the London Marathon ballot.


Saturday’s Parkrun in Victoria Park pulled in 242 runners, this included Gerald Harvey who achieved a fantastic new PB of 22:29. It was also great to have Darren Moan back running again after a spell of injury.

Darren is of course a familiar face, and voice in Victoria Park, volunteering in all weathers to make parkrun happen week in, week out. Runners were also treated to iced parkrun buns. Parkrun can only happen because of volunteers, to do your bit please contact Gerry on: belfastvictoriahelpers@parkrun.com


Looking ahead we as a club host the 2015 NI Road Relay Championships on Saturday. The Relays have grown to become a major part of the Northern Ireland running calendar and with more relay teams and juniors entered than ever before it promises to be an exciting day’s running.

Like parkrun large running events such as the relays are only possible because of volunteers. A lot of hard work has already gone into preparing for the event and thank you to everyone who has been involved so far, there are still opportunities to help out and ensure this year’s relays an even bigger success than last year. As our club motto says “working together we achieve more” – so if you are available and want to donate some time or supplies get in touch!

If you haven’t been to the relays before please don’t miss the opportunity to get involved, see some fantastic running and welcome teams from clubs across Northern Ireland to Victoria Park. Of course don’t forget we also have a total of seven teams representing Orangegrove AC in the masters and seniors categories who deserve your encouragement and support.

Good luck to all our runners and volunteers for Saturday – go Orangegrove! #NIRoadRelays

Thanks to NiRunning – nirunning.co.uk for the photos