Weekly Report, 18-24 JUNE 2018

ORANGEGROVE ATHLETIC CLUB WEEKLY REPORT FOR 18-24 JUNE 2018 – Thanks to Martin for compiling.

They say a week is a long time in politics heck, try a week with Orangegrove! With various training throughout the week; the organisation of a major event in Energia 24; torrential rain to blinding sun; races covering 200ms to 291.15k & as high as 1,080ft; finishing in times from 28:19 secs to 24 hours; from track to Hill & Dale and; with Solstice, the longest day of the year, thrown into the middle of things…it was another eventful and varying week in the Club’s history and one that has enhanced our reputation even further. The main races to be covered this week are:

Tuesday 19th – NORTH DOWN AC OPEN TRACK & FIELD
MEETING @ BANGOR SPORTSPLEX

Wednesday 20th – LISBURN 10K & HALF MARATHON

Friday 22nd – NIMRA HILL & DALE DRINAHILLY 4.75 MILES
Saturday 23rd – Various PARKRUNS

Sat/Sun 23rd/24th – ENERGIA 24 SOLO & RELAY TEAMS

NORTH DOWN AC OPEN TRACK & FIELD MEETING @ BANGOR SPORTSPLEX
What a wonderful week of sunshine we have just had…almost! The weather was so bad on Tuesday evening at the Track in Bangor that Ali McConnell nearly turned up on her bike to compliment the swim and run legs! This Jekyll & Hyde weather however was not mirrored by the bright and sunny performances of the women who did participate in the 200 and 800 metre races which form part of OG’s 2018 Club Championship:

200M Girls (won by Megan Briggs of North Down AC in 28.19)

Reegan Neill-McKenzie 31.66
Well done Reegan!

200M Women (won by Eve Dann of North Down AC in 31.93)

Harriet Anderson 34.38
Lisa Fleming 36.27
Julie McKimm 38.46
Kim Reynolds 38.85
Verity Cornford 39.17
Jill Holland 39.70 (won Race 1)
Jackie Grant 40.79
Jenny Powell 41.35
Judith McCann 41.94
Adrienne Savage 43.64
Jean Stone 45.87

800M Women (won by Catherine Diver of Beechmount Harriers 2:27.50)
Julie McKimm 3:01.90
Harriet Anderson 3:04.87
Lisa Fleming 3:11.78
Verity Cornford 3:16.22
Kim Reynolds 3:17.90
Jill Holland 3:19:59
Jenny Powell 3:26.98
Jackie Grant 3:32.04
Judith McCann 3:33.09
Adrienne Savage 3:40.38
Jean Stone 4:50.09

The women’s races finishing places are interesting as at 1st glance they look very similar but the merit order does change somewhat, illustrating strengths lying more with speed vs stamina. Some great running and very consistent by everybody over the 2 distances with the front 3 of Harriett Anderson, Lisa Fleming & Julie McKimm featuring in both.
The men were no damp squids either with some lightning (nothing to do with the weather) performances with Rodney Corrigan topping both his race groups, Adam Sykes flying out of the stalls, Steven Gilliland showing a flair for speed, David Fletcher featuring prominently and David Montgomery catching some in the long grass:

200M Men (won by Adam Hughes of Loughview in 23.61)

Adam Sykes 24.63
Steven Gilliland 27.54
David Fletcher 28.93
Ian Wilson 29.11
Andrew Bennett 30.79
Rodney Corrigan 31.01 (won Race 2)
David Montgomery 31.17
Jim Harris 32.11
George Gribben 33.20
Dave Gribben 33.24
Brian Todd 35.12
Robin Montgomery 37.62
Reg Sanlon 40.62

800M Men (won by Nigel McKibbin of Dromore AC in 2:13.90)
David Montgomery 2:29.06
Rodney Corrigan 2:32:16
David Fletcher 2:35.14
Dave Gribben 2:36.58
Robin Montgomery 2:46.02
Andrew Bennett 2:46.16
Brian Todd 2:53.77
Stephen Hamilton 2:57.04
Jim Harris 3:04.79
Ian Wilson 3:07.11
Reg Sanlon 3:22.73
George Gribben 3:24.50

LISBURN 10K & HALF MARATHON
I hope the Bangorians above weren’t relying on my promise that the week of Lisburn is always hot and that the evening sun plays havoc with any potential race heroics (PBs!). Yes, usually every year the races at Lisburn on a Wednesday evening are nearly always scorchers and, whilst it was a dramatic change from the previous night…the weather was cooler than normal and despite the sun, contained a breeze at times. Ideal racing weather? I’m unsure but there were some ideal and hot times:

Lisburn 10k
Michael Broadhead (24th/1,712) 37:08
Brian Todd 44:03
Gerald Harvey 51:31
Emma McWilliams 55:48
Marcia Sharkey 56:07
John Ferris 58:13
David Doey 58:48
Lisburn Half Marathon
Eric Fairfield (35th/1,265) 1:25:31
David Gribben 1:30:38
Ryan Kerr 1:37:21
David Roberts 1:40:08
Jonathon Weston 1:43:13
Carolyn Beattie 1:43:13 PB
Ali McConnell 1:46:28
Heather Shanks-Miller 1:49:24

Michael Broadhead, of Paul Pollock’s DreamRunDublin18 and Orangegrove fame, ran a super time along with the consistently formidable Brian Todd in the 10k along with other excellent personal performances in the 10k and HM and Carolyn Beattie sparkling with a HM PB with an excellent time and; with Ryan Kerr setting his stall out with an scintillating and tantalising debut in the vest.

The 10k race was won by Christopher Madden of City of Lisburn AC and Jessica Craig of North Down AC in 31:35 and 35:51, respectively, whereas; the half marathon was won by Keith Shiels of Foyle Valley in 1:10:26 and Rachel Mitchell in 1:18:50.

NIMRA HILL & DALE DRINAHILLY 4.75 Miles

From the proverbial heights of the track to the literal heights of the mountains and specifically Donard Forest in Newcastle for Race 10 of Newcastle AC’s popular Hill & Dale Series.
This 4.75 mile race in Drinahilly includes 1080ft of ascent and is the last in the series which included some interesting, scenic and challenging locations. The final series placings are now available on the NIMRA website. There was 234 runners in this race and it was won by Tony McCambridge of St Malachys AC in 21:56 and Karen Wilton of Jog Lisburn in 25:07. The brave and hardy Orangegrove contingent with Lisa completing all 10 of the Series!, were:

Robin Montgomery 30:35
Verity Cornford 34:48
Lisa Fleming 37:28 (all 10!)
David Doey 40:06
Edwina Ternan 41:36
Selina Myles 42:45

ENERGIA 24-HOUR INTERNATIONAL & NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
The annual Energia 24-hour Race is part of the AAI National Championships and there was also a 24-hr Team Relay, a 12-Hr and a 100Km race and it was held at our very own Victoria Park again over Saturday 23rd and Sunday 24th June 2018.

The 24-Hour is a form of ultra marathon, in which a competitor runs as far as they can and is a 1-2-3 podium men and women’s race. Competitors have ‘crews’ to help them in which ever race is chosen and they tend to ‘fuel’ as they go and only take toilet breaks – although they can leave the course for rest periods.
The men’s world record was set by Greek Yiannis Kouros in Adelaide, Australia at 304km (189 miles) in 1997 and the women’s world record was set by Poland’s Patrycja Bereznowska in Victoria Park, Belfast in 2017 at 260km (162 miles). Eoin Keith currently holds both the men’s Irish track (245kms/ 152 miles, Mary Peters’ Track,Belfast 2013) and the Irish road records (248kms/154 miles, Victoria Park, Belfast 2017); and seventh from Cork’s Ruthann Sheahan in Katowice in 2012 (229km/142 miles).
With representatives around the world the 24 hour race was won by Cork’s Aidan Hogan covering an amazing distance of 243.880k, beating Eoin Keith by under 5k, and England’s Samantha Amend covering 220.049k. Indeed there were 10 finishers out of 128 who ran over 200k in 24 hours!
The 12 hour race had 22 finishers and was won by Ger Copeland of Dublin Bay Runners with 115.773k and Fiona Prue of Ballydrain Harriers with 111.933k.

100k
Now to the 100k (which was won by Tim Brownlie of Willowfield) where we had a lot of interest as our very own super hero Darren Houston was to take on 100k, yes that’s right, 100k…in that sun…through the night…100k! An almighty challenge with many different factors to deal with never mind running for 100k but a challenge that Darren has trained for diligently and has applied a lot of focus to so a massive congratulations to him on behalf of Orangegrove for finishing 7th and covering 100k in 15:43:36! A fabulous achievement and…a Club Record!
Darren Houston 15:43:36

24-Hour Team Relay
Orangegrove had 3 Relay teams entered for this and they were comprised as follows:
OAC A Team: Danny Bradley, Andy McIntyre, Andrew Tees and Heather Flint
OAC B Team: Dave Gribben, Stephen Anderson, Chris Woods and Gillian Logan
OAC Ladies Team: Catherine Fearon, Sarah Steer, Kerris Hamilton and Sharon Corken

As maybe noticed, the A & B Relay Teams were mixed (behind every 3 good men, there’s a better woman!) whereas the sole Ladies’ Team of ensured an overall total of 6 men and women and every one of them stole the show.

Another enormous challenge but also quite different and how do you train, never mind compete, to take turns at running 2 hours throughout 24 hours?! Do you actually get a proper nap? Can you reawaken your legs to do the same again? Does your brain try and talk you out of it?

Well, whatever each of you done, you prepared and performed extremely well and inspired everybody who witnessed your awesome efforts and we salute you! Fantastic times by all 3 teams and whilst breaking 2 Club records OAC A Team only went and won the whole thing covering a jaw-dropping 291.501 km/181.130 m in a really exciting race within the 24 hours – superb!!
OAC B Team whizzed around to cover 266.092 km/165.342 m! and the OAC Ladies made a Club Record for 24 hours Ladies’ time with another super distance achievement of 245.244 k/152.388 m!
OAC A: 1st 291.501 km/181.130 m New Mixed Team Club Record
OAC B: 5th 266.092 km/165.342 m Just smashing!
OAC Ladies: 10th 245.244 k/152.388 m Ladies Race Winners & Ladies Club Record

I feel it is only just to note that as proud as we are of our representatives & their performances in the 100k and 24-hr Team Relay that they too felt the need to express their thanks to all the support, encouragement, assistance, food and help from volunteering they received.
Indeed, gleaming from some runners’ post-race discussions, common themes surfaced based upon the physical and mental challenge involved but also of the emotional journey whereas from a supporting viewpoint…inspiration and pride featured prominently. Well done to all involved and who volunteered and a big thank you to our captains, Jill and Stephen; coach Jacqui; gazebo team, support crew, photographers, marshals, and Robin for Relay Race Director.
PARKRUN

There were a few firsts experienced by members extending to those long distances but there was also a few first Parkruns at various locations including David Fletcher at Ormeau; David Gilliland & Claire Kelleher at Queens and; Sarah Wilson at Castlewellan. Whereas Shona Pryde hit 100 Parkruns at Victoria; Ali McConnell got a Stormont Parkrun PB and; Luke Gibson achieved a fabulous Senior Parkrun PB of 24:11 at Stormont.
The following is a link to our Club’s Parkrun performances last weekend and please consider volunteering on the website:
http://www.parkrun.com/results/consolidatedclub/…

Thanks to Heather Flint, Stephen Anderson, Brian Todd, Alan Montgomery, Eric Fairfield, Jacqui Maxwell, Sharon McFarland, Lisa Nevin, Darren Houston and Bob Given for their photographs.