Weekly Report Monday 24th June – Sunday 30th June 2019

With the Summer racing season well under way, we catchup on all the action from Team OAC!

Ards Half Marathon

On Friday 28th June Ards Half Marathon made a welcome return to the racing circuit after a years break. Organised by the relatively newly formed Scrabo Striders, the event gathered some 400 participants each ready to take on the well known undulating route.

Participants are treated to some great views of Scrabo Tower and the LeCale area of North Down as they cover the 13.1 mile course.

OAC had 5 athletes taking on the challenge in what turned out to be hot and sunny conditions for the 6.30pm start. The course had not changed much from previous years with the exception of the start finish area at the newly opened Ards Blair Mayne leisure complex. Participants still had to take on the famous climbs towards Strabo Tower, the descent into Comber and the long drag up The Moat Road before finishing back the leisure centre.

Below are the OAC results, well done guys!

Jonathan Weston: 01:41:26

Heather Flint: 01:52:19

Heather Shanks-Miller: 01:55:44

Andrew Bennett: 01:58:08

Carolyn Beattie: 01:58:34

Antrim Coast Road Marathon

On Saturday 29th June, Larne AC again staged the Antrim Coast Road Marathon after a successful resurrection of the event last year to coincide with the clubs 30th anniversary.

The 26.2 classic race distance takes a point to point route from Cushendall to Larne along the famous Antrim Coast Road, which treats runners to some spectacular views of the Antrim Coast and Glens.

After Friday evening hot and humid conditions it was a wet and thundery affair on Saturday but our trio from OAC battled bravely to produce the below results, with MOD even having time to stop for a Magnum Ice Cream in Carnlough!

David Carberry 03:27:35

Steven Gilliland 03:41:55

Michael O’Donoghue: 04:09:06

Very well done to the OAC lads on what turned out to be tough conditions.

NI Masters Track & Field Championships

Also on Saturday 29th, OAC had a strong turn out for the NI Track & Field Championship organised by the NI and Master Athletics Association and held at the prestigious Mary Peter’s track.

Under the guidance of our experienced track coach, Alan Martin, we had 7 athletes who vied for medals across a number of distances and the results speak for themselves!

George Gribben 100m Bronze and 200m Silver

Jim Harris 400m and 800m gold

Stephen Orr 400 Bronze (Great come back from injury)

David Quigg 400m bronze

Gerry Ward 800m gold

David Montgomery 3000m silver

Ali McConnell 3000m gold

It is super to see some of our experienced road runners step out of their comfort zone by taking to the track!

EAMS Schools Out Marathon

Our resident Endurance specialist Michael O’Donoghue was on the road again on 30th June to complete his 2nd marathon within 24hrs. Yes…you did read that correctly…2 marathons in 2 days and all this off the back of a super performance at Energia 24hr the previous weekend! The man is unstoppable.

MOD ran well to finish in 5:24:36.

We hope you are having a wee rest this week MOD, but knowing you, probably not!