NI Road Relay Championships
Running the NI & Ulster Road Relay Championships has been a massive undertaking for Orangegrove Athletics Club. Not only is it a technically difficult event to host, but with so many athletes and spectators descending on the park the logistical challenges of initial registration, registration on the day, preparing race packs, publicity, art work, catering, car parking, setting up, officiating, marshalling and, finally, dismantling after everybody else has gone home etc, have been enormous, and great credit is due to those who took a leading role in it. Not only does the event reflect very positively on our Club, but it is also a great advertisement for Victoria Park, running and athletics in general. The members of the Orangegrove committee, on the back of what has been a difficult year, deserve enormous credit for the energy and commitment they have shown in driving this event to its successful conclusion.
On the day Victoria Park looked an absolute picture, reflecting the very professional nature of the setup. The start and finish areas were thronged with both runners and spectators. The weather conditions were perfect too, reflecting the reasonably good relationship that Orangegrove has with those up above. There was a professional feel to the whole affair. The clubs’ tented village, the signage, the crowd barriers designating the track, the public address system, chipped timing, the catering marquee, the race packs and goody bags, the efficiency of the registration, the exceptional catering, the marshalling and race direction, etc, created an exceptional atmosphere.
Victoria Park is the absolute perfect location for this kind of event. Even the ducks in the lake and the odd low flying jetliner added to the excitement. Helpful and smiling Orangegrove marshals in their orange hoodies appeared to be everywhere and competitors, guests and spectators could only have taken away with them the impression that they had been hosted efficiently and were in good hands! Well done all, especially those, too numerous to mention, who have been beavering away in the background for weeks, even months, losing sleep, worrying and, possibly, at times taking to the bottle. At least it is now a year until it all begins again!
Sounds easy, only two laps of Victoria Park per leg! Not even the length of a parkrun! Done and dusted in less than fifteen minutes. Well, it was not easy! You are representing your club, so you run faster anyway. You are part of a team, so you run faster than is probably good for you. You are in with the very best of athletes, so you run your heart out to avoid being last or to be still running when the next race begins. And there was no hiding place this year with chipped timing. Although only just over 3000 metres there were a considerable number of seriously exhausted participants running in over that timing mat during the course of the day. There was a lot of staggering and wheezing. One or two collapsed. Some saw their lunch again not long after they had consumed it. No, it was not easy! Far from it! However, on the day there was some spectacular running from some of the most accomplished athletes in the country, from international runners to those further down doing their bit for their clubs.
The Female Masters race, which had an entry of thirty teams, was won by the City of Lisburn Club in 36.38, with World Masters 800m champion, Kelly Neely, running the final leg in 11.35. Orangegrove had two teams in the Female Masters’ race, Orangegrove ‘A’ and Orangegrove ‘B’. The ‘A’ team consisted of Trudy Brown, Pauline Bayliss and Julie McKimm. All three ran superbly well to finish in 8th place in 41.15. The Orangegrove ‘B’ team of Emma McWilliams, Joy McAleer and Jill Holland were not too far behind in 15th place in 43.43. Very well done, ladies!
The Male Masters’ race was won by the Willowfield Harriers ‘A’ team in 41.51, although the fastest leg of the race was by Omagh Harriers’ Stephen Duncan in 10.05. Orangegrove fielded three teams in this race. The Orangegrove ‘A’ team of Des Fahy, Tim Robinson, Robin Montgomery and Paul Woodman finished in 18th place out of the 44 teams competing in 47.59. The Orangegrove ‘B’ team, which finished in 33rd position in 50.50, consisted of Chris Downey, Jonny Weston, Rodney Corrigan and Darren Houston. The Orangegrove ‘C’ team of Brian Todd, Martin O’Brien, Stephen Hamilton and Stephen Anderson finished three places below in 53.28.
The final races of the day were for the youngest and fastest, the Senior Ladies and Senior Men. The Female Senior race was won by the Newcastle AC ‘A’ team in 34.30, with international Kerry O’Flaherty running leg 1 in 10.49. The Orangegrove team consisted of Sarah Steer, Lisa Rodham and Zoe Ni Dhuinn Bigg and very well they did too, cruising round in 44.27 to finish in 20th place out of the 33 teams competing at this level. The Senior Men’s race was won by North Belfast Harriers in 40.29. The Orangegrove Senior Men’s team consisted of Andy McIntyre, Graeme Bennett, Martin Doherty and Paul Tyro. The team performed well and finished in 25th place in 51.20 with Paul Tyro running a speedy final leg in 11.45. The fastest leg of the day was achieved in this race by St. Malachy’s Paddy Robb in an incredible 9.52.
Full results can be found here.
Thanks to NiRunning – nirunning.co.uk for the photos. More photos of the NI Relays can be found here – 1 2 3 4
