Weekly Report 1st October – 7th October, 2018.

Club Report, 1st October – 7th October, 2018.
‘Slow and steady wins the race…except in a real race’ (Anonymous).

NI & ULSTER ROAD RELAY CHAMPIONSHIPS, 6th October, 2018.
The dismal weather on Sunday was a reminder of how lucky we were with the sunny, warm and dry weather on Saturday. The stage was set perfectly for an entire day of running and the OAC team pulled together on and off the track to ensure it went well and afterwards worked hard to quickly restore Victoria Park to its normal condition.

As usual there was a lot of pent up power in the starting pen of every race. If Scotty (of Star Trek fame) had been in charge, he might have been saying: ‘I cannae hold her much longer Captain’.

Our most successful runner was Jacob McKittrick who won the U13 Boy’s Race (1 lap) in 5:35, narrowly holding off Ben Acheson (Willowfield Harriers) and Colm McKee (Willowfield Harriers), respectively one and two seconds behind. Brilliant running from one so young and definitely a talent for the future.

In the adult relays, the highest placed OAC finish was achieved by the Masters Ladies A team, 14th out of 59 and their times were remarkably even, being covered by only 11 seconds. The Masters Men A team did nearly as well, 15th out of 61.

The fastest OAC man was David Montgomery in 11:39 (leg 4 of the Masters Men race) and the fastest lady was Edwina Ternan in 13:24 (leg 3 of the Senior Ladies race). Michael O’Donoghue, proving you cannot rule him out at almost any distance, ran really well to achieve a PB time of 12:26 (leg 1, Masters Men race).

The full ChampionChip timed results:
Senior Men: Jonny Weston, 12:24; Steven Gilliland, 13:29; Darren Houston, 13:13; Danny Bradley, 11:49. Total: 50:54, 28th/36.
The race was won by St. Malachy’s AC in 40:12.

Senior Ladies: Victoria Irving, 15:15; Gillian Fisher, 16:01, Edwina Ternan, 13:24. Total: 44:39, 21st/30.
The race was won by QUB AC in a new record time of 33:19.

Masters Men:
A: Des Fahy, 12:16; Eric Fairfield, 11:52; David Gribben, 12:22; David Montgomery, 11:39. Total: 48:08, 15th/61.
B: Michael O’Donoghue, 12:26; David Roberts, 13:45; Stephen Hamilton, 13:26; David Fletcher, 12:39. Total: 52:14, 39th/61.
C: Brian Todd, 13:36; Stephen Anderson, 13:38; Ian Grant, 13:31; Rodney Corrigan, 12:37. Total: 53:21, 43rd/61.
D: Jason Lanyon, 15:06; George Gribben, 17:18; Gerald Harvey, 14:49; David Gilliland, 14:36. Total: 1:01:48, 60th/61.
The race was won by North Down AC A in 42:32.

Masters Ladies:
A: Pauline Bayliss, 14:10; Rachel Woodward, 14:00; Heather Flint, 13:59. Total: 42:08, 14th/59.
B: Heather Shanks-Miller, 14:52; Sharon Corken, 15:10; Kimberly Reynolds, 14:30. Total: 44:30, 26th/59.
The race was won by Beechmount Harriers Masters A in 36:42.

Now it is all over for another year, thanks to all the spectators and O’Reilly Stewart Solicitors who sponsored the event.

PARKRUN, 6th October, 2018
Despite the main event at Victoria Park, there was plenty of parkrun activity and several runners managed a PB: Tom Smith, 21:09 (Victoria Park); Judith McCann, 25:40 (QUB).

Paul and Lyndsey Tyro were first timers at Milan North, Italy with Paul finishing in first place. Andy and Catherine McIntyre were first timers at Salisbury parkrun.

Also running in England were Antra Balcuna (Worsley Woods, Manchester) and John Gribben (Huddersfield).

Remember to volunteer occasionally by contacting:
Belfastvictoriahelpers@parkrun.com

BANK OF AMERICA CHICAGO MARATHON, 7th October, 2018.
Gillian Logan arrived late after Aer Lingus cancelled her flight, then by all accounts race day was damp and humid. She did well to finish in a time of 4:07:10.

The race was won by Mo Farah in a new British and European record time of 2:05:11. The winner of the ladies race was Brigid Kosgei in 2:18:35.

Photos: Dave Samuel (Scrabo Striders Running Club), Chris Woods, Alan Montgomery, Gerald Harvey.