Club Report 21st – 27th May by Michael O’Donoghue and Brian Todd

Hill and Dale Race 6 – Moughanmore – 24th May

By the looks of it a long-term replacement for the beloved Hen & Cock race, I’ve started to warm to Moughanmore.

This year it was comparatively dry and the grass wasn’t as thick as in previous years, meaning a relatively smooth course to negotiate. Though we were still treated to a boggy section near the finish which caught out many of the unwary.

The course itself is an out and back route over Pigeon Rock followed by the bigger challenge of reaching the summit of Moughanmore and returning to the start. There was a good 1500 ft of climbing to be done in the race, and 9 OAC athletes were up to the challenge, and 239 runners in total.

The times were:

Andrew Tees 37.32
Robin Montgomery 46.33
Michael O’Donoghue 50.59
Verity Cornford 53.29
Edwina Ternan 58.39
Lisa Fleming 1.00.37
David Doey 1.02.08
Judith Dalzell 1.09.47
Selina Myles 1.15.58

Runher Coastal Challenge – Friday 25th May

Always a popular event, it has gone from strength with over 1000 ladies in the race. This year they added a half marathon option to the races along the North Down coast.
We had 2 girld from the club doing the 10k race and their times were:

Ali McConnell 48.36
Kimberley Reynolds 52.30

The winner was Amanda Perry (Ballydrain) with a time of 39.39

Ballyclare 10k – Saturday 26th May
By Brian Todd

A coterie of Orangegrove members made their way to Ballyclare on Saturday morning for the annual May Fair Races, all running in the 10k race. It was a warm and sunny day but the otherwise perfect conditions were a little affected by a stiff breeze that never seemed to favour the runner.

The route was far from flat and it was certainly not a personal best course. Nevertheless, the grass and hedgerows were lush and the countryside looked its very best. The 10k started in the extensive grounds of Ballyclare Rugby Club before following a roughly rectangular route encompassing the town centre, the Rashee Road, Cogry Road, Rectory Road, Station Road (Doagh), Doagh village, Ballyclare Road and back to the rugby club. The 5k runners turned right in the town centre rather than following the Rashee Road.

Well done to County Antrim Harriers for a very well organized and executed event. The post-race hospitality was exceptional and the welcome to all was very warm indeed. In addition, all of us who were running were very appreciative of the support we received from Ali McConnell and Steven Gilliland.

The following times were achieved by Orangegrove runners:

Eric Fairfield…40.25
Michael Gribben…41.05
Brian Todd…45.21
Gerald Harvey…53.05

The 10k race was won by Mark McKinstry (NBH) in 33.06 and Gladys Ganiel (NBH) was first lady in 37.02. The 5k race was won by Aaron Callaghan (East Cast AC) in 17.54 and Jana Ross (County Antrim Harriers) was first lady in 20.34.

EAMS/PWC Challenge – Saturday 26th May

This was an inaugural event. A collaboration between EAMS who are always on the lookout for establishing new events and PWC who engaged their community manager to support the race.

The route consisted of running up from the front gates of the estate up to Lord Carson’s statue and back down multiple times.

As is common with EAMS events there were a number of distance choices present with the majority doing the marathon. There was also a 6 hour challenge for the truly committed. If you just wanted the superb medal all you had to do is do the lap once. For the majority of people in the event to do the marathon we would have to do 24 and a bit laps. This would work out as incorporating about 2300 feet of climbing, not far off the equivalent of climbing Slieve Donard.

Just over 80 athletes entered the race, with the majority after another marathon to tick off, with 13 running the whole 6 hour ultra, and a few there to pick up the superb medal. Some did 1 lap which was the only requirement to get the medal!
I did 25 laps in a time of 5.52.31 and didn’t feel like running another 8 minutes of that hill to make it the 6 hour event and was happy with the marathon!

Irish Milers Club Grand Prix – MPT – Saturday 26th May

There was quite a lot of hype about this track event which had a variety of distances on offer ranging from 100 metres up to 3000 metres. Media coverage focused on whether the 4 minute mile barrier could be broken, which wasn’t on this occasion.
Stephen Orr was the sole OAC representative at the event and completed the 800m race in an impressive 2.08.11.

Newry Merchants Half Marathon – Sunday 27th May

Another inaugural event organised by Newry City Runners. It takes the place of the old event on the calendar and inherits the place on the Pure Running Half Marathon Series.
The route started at The Quays shopping centre heading towards Warrenpoint along the coast and back, which would be a slightly flatter and faster route then the traditional Newry Half Marathon route which made use of the canal paths.

Some great times from our participating athletes with the following results:

David Montgomery 1.30.00
Robin Montgomery 1.32.46
Edwina Ternan 1.35.02
Ryan Kerr 1.38.15
Jonny Weston 1.34.20
Steven Gilliland 1.43.17

The winner was Eamonn White (North Belfast Harriers) in 1.12.50 and first lady was Sinead Murtagh (Newcastle AC) 1.25.33

Simplyhealth Manchester Great Run – Sunday 27th May

Brian Todd was Orangegrove’s sole representative in Sunday’s Great Manchester Run, although he plumped for the half-marathon event rather than the 10k race in which there were over 20’000 runners! The half marathon route was a roughly east-west one with the two football stadia at each extremity, the Etihad and Old Trafford. The second half of the half-marathon route mirrored the 10k route. Conditions were hot to say the least and the course offered very little in the way of shelter. However, the vast enthusiastic crowd and the general razzamatazz eased the pain a bit.

#The race started in Portland Street and finished in Deansgate beside the Beetham Tower (the Hilton). Brian finished in 1.42.39 (493/4810) which was a bit disappointing after a very good first eight miles during which he was ahead of the 1.35 pacer. Nevertheless, the MV65-69 category was won with eight minutes to spare.

The half-marathon was won by Craig Pilsbury in 1.13.58. Carly Needham was first lady in 1.19.30. The 10k race was won Mo Farah in 28.27 and Tirunesh Dibaba was first lady in 31.08.

Edinburgh Marathon – Sunday 27th May

An event which bills itself as one of the fastest marathons in the UK, it has some good grounds for this claim. Starting on the edge of Princes Street it immediately heads East of the city downhill and passes seaside locations on the way to Musselburgh racecourse. There’s a bit of looping in the course and across the different events there’s a total of some 30000 runners, but it is well organised and good for quick times.

Lyndsey Tyro had a superb run in the event with a time of 3.05.45, beating her own PB by over 3 minutes and setting a new ladies marathon club record. This means that both the male and female marathon club records have now been beaten in this spring marathon season. Onwards to autumn!

Parkrun
This week we had representatives at Ecos Ballymena, Portrush, Enniskillen, Armagh, Vogrie in Scotland, and the World Heritage site of Fountains Abbey in North Yorkshire.
A consolidated club report is available at http://www.parkrun.com/results/consolidatedclub/…