Weekly Report Monday 25th February – Sunday 3rd March 2019

Report by Gilian Logan

With the meteorological start of Spring commencing this week, a large proportion of OAC athletes began their racing season to support marathon campaigns at events across the country and across the water. Read on for a full round up of results and action.

Stranraer Half Marathon – Saturday 2nd March

After the disappointment of travelling to Malta only for the marathon to be cancelled due to a storm last week, our seasoned travelling competitor Michael O’Donoghue (MOD) took a ferry trip to the small town of Stranraer in Western Scotland for the annual half marathon.

The wet and windy weather along with an undulating course and on set of a chest infection did not deter our hearty MOD from the race!

It turned out to be a very worth-while excursion with Michael producing a remarkable PB time of 1hr 32 mins 58 seconds and bringing home an age category prize to boot! Well done Michael!

We look forward to watching your progress through your up-coming marathon and ultra marathon season!

Carlingford Half Marathon – Saturday 2nd March

OAC had a significant southern bound travelling contingent to the picturesque coastal town of Carlingford, Co. Louth for the annual half marathon organised by 26 Extreme.

The course is described on the event website as scenic and mainly flat with only a few small hills, taking in the beautiful Cooley Peninsula and Carlingford Lough.

The conditions, course and weeks of hard winter training seemed to suit and pay off for many of our 14 entrants with no less than 8 personal best times produced!

Below is a full list of OAC results:

Andrew McIntyre 01:18:40.1 (PB 9 seconds and 8th male)
Robin Montgomery 01:26:19.5
Rodney Corrigan 01:32:52.7 (PB by 3 mins)
Colin Simpson 01:34:17.7 (2nd Claim Member)
Pauline Bayliss 01:37:19.3 (PB by 2 mins)
Julie McKimm 01:37:34.2 (PB by 4 seconds)
Brian Todd 01:39:18.9
Stephen Anderson 01:39:27.0
Steven Gilliland 01:40:04.6 (PB)
Ian Grant 01:40:54.9
David Gilliland 01:44:54.2 (PB)
Sharon Howe 01:48:09.3 (PB by 2 mins)
Catherine McIntyre 01:57:13.7 (PB by 5 mins)
Gillian Fisher 01:57:51.8

Congratulations all runners! Training seems to be paying dividends.

SSE Walled City 10 Mile Road Race – Saturday 2nd March

We had two OAC participants make the trip north over the Glenshane pass for the annual SSE Walled City 10 Mile road race.

The event starts and finishes on the race track in Saint Columb’s park in the Waterside area, with good pre and post race facilities in the adjacent Foyle Arena. The route takes competitors along both sides of the River Foyle and includes a sharp ascent over the notoriously windy Foyle Bridge before a fast descent into the Bay Road area. The final flourish takes runners across the iconic Peace Bridge and back to the park to finish on the track.

Weather conditions for the 10am start were dry and favourable, however the weather quickly deteriorated with strong winds and rain descending, making the last 2 miles of the route particularly difficult to keep pace.

It was the Belfast based Larne woman Gillian Logan who was first across the line for OAC, clocking a time of 1:16:27. Native Coleraine man David Doey was next, producing a solid run time of 1:40:28.

So unlike the previous evenings Irish Cup Quarter final football match, it was Larne who won this battle over Coleraine and she didn’t need any extra time to do it!

Next weekend the focus for OAC will be back to our 2019 Club Championship Series as almost 50 members take on the Race to Recovery 10k on Sunday 10th March in Ormeau Park.

We look forward to another week of hard training and good racing.

Photo Credits: Verity Cornford and The Inspirational Runner (Robbie Marsh)