Weekly Report Monday 20th May – Sunday 26th May 2019

Report by Gerald Harvey

‘Shut up legs, we are doing this!’ (Belfast Marathon banner)

HILL & DALE SERIES, RACE 6, LUKE’S MOUNTAIN, 23rd May, 2019.
Full emergency kit was required here, in case somebody ended up spending a night on the bare mountain and that would not have been music to anyone’s ears. Andrew Tees finished in 00:42:06, 5th out of 221 runners and Robin Montgomery finished in 00:50:14, 80th place. Well done.

The race was won by Seamus Lynch (Newcastle AC) in 35:43 and first lady was Esther Dickson (Newry AC) in 00:42:42, 12th overall.

BERMUDA HALF MARATHON DERBY, 24th May, 2019.
The Bermuda Half Marathon took place on a hilly route between St. George and the city of Hamilton. Eric Fairfield and Alison McConnell were there, looking tanned and toned. Eric came 28th out of 531 runners and 6th in his age category, in 1:29:45 and Alison came 168th overall and 2nd in her age category in 1:53:50.

The race was won by Lamont Marshall in 1:11:38 and first lady was Rose-Anna Hoey in 1:27:58, 25th overall. The winners’ results are gun times.

BALLYCLARE MAYFAIR 5K & 10K, 25th May, 2019.
The 10K race was the 5th round of the Orangegrove AC club championship and 21 OAC runners competed on quite a difficult course with a couple of long uphill stretches. The first shock to the system is on the Rashee Road, passing Ballyclare High School, to the highest point on the course at the junction with Cogry Road and the second one is on the main road from Doagh village to the outskirts of Ballyclare, where a lane leads downhill to the finish at the rugby club. Much of the route is on quiet rural roads, apparently in deepest countryside, but in fact never far from Ballyclare.

The race was won by Eric Koech (Project Africa) in 31:06 and first lady was Gemma McDonald (Ballycastle Runners AC) in 39:22, 26th overall.

Michael Broadhead was the fastest OAC runner with a time of 37:10, 14th out of 294 runners and first OAC female was Gemma Blake in 42:56, 48th overall.

OAC Results: 1. Michael Broadhead, 37:10; 2. Keith Weir, 37:24; 3. Danny Bradley, 39:35; 4. Robin Montgomery, 40:39; 5. David Montgomery, 40:47; 6. Ryan Kerr, 41:19; 7. Gemma Blake, 42:56; 8. Chris Woods, 43:26; 9. Michael O’Donoghue, 43:26; 10. Julie McKimm, 44:03; 11. Heather Flint, 45:46; 12. Verity Cornford, 51:01; 13. Jacqueline Maxwell, 51:18; 14. Anna Rankin, 51:53; 15. Adrienne Savage, 52:09; 16. Elaine Weston, 54:36; 17. George Gribben, 56:19; 18. Conor Walker, 58:34; 19. Gillian Fisher, 59:28; 20. Martin Walker, 59:50; 21. Marcia Sharkey, 1:04:33.

In the 5K race, Brian Todd and Reg Sanlon continued honing their 5K skills in the Baker McKenzie Super Fives series. Brian finished in 21:21, 30th out of 231 runners and Reg finished in 24:14, 52nd place. The race was won by Gareth Lyons (North Belfast Harriers) in 16:13 and first lady was Ann Terek (City of Lisburn AC) in 19:31, 12th overall.

Well done Orangegrove AC and thanks to County Antrim Harriers who organized the race and the excellent refreshments afterwards. ChampionChip Ireland provided the chip timing.

PARKRUN, 25th May, 2019.
It was a quiet Saturday with only one PB: Robert Hill, 20:55, at Carrickfergus and two first timers: Joshua Gibson at Belfast Victoria Park and Alison Canning at Poolbeg, Dublin.

At Ormeau Park, Belfast City Council have continued to resurface the park paths, but not in a way that park runners are likely to approve of since the new surface is rough with a lot of loose stones.

Remember to volunteer at least three times a year by contacting: belfastvictoriahelpers@parkrun.com

NEWRY CITY HALF MARATHON, 26th May, 2019.
On a warm and windy day, the race started from the Albert Basin, opposite the Quays Shopping Centre, then followed a canal side route towards Warrenpoint as far as Narrow Water Castle and back to Newry. With a flat course and pacers every 5 minutes from times of 1:30:00 to 2:15:00, the aim was to help as many runners as possible set a personal best time.

There were 3 OAC runners, but no personal best times: Jonathan Weston, 1:32:19; Carolyn Beattie, 1:49:13 and Steven Gilliland, 1:49:17.

The race was won by Tommy Hughes in 1:11:57 and first lady was Louise Smith in 1:25:03, 21st out of 653 runners. The event was part of the Pure Running Half Marathon Series.

MULL OF KINTYRE HALF MARATHON & 10K, 26th May, 2019.
The Mull of Kintyre Run Weekend has been voted the best running event in the UK by Runner’s World. Andrew and Catherine McIntyre were at Campbeltown for the half marathon. Andy did very well with a podium finish, 3rd out of 191 runners, in 1:20:02. Catherine was 94th in 1:58:44, not bad at all, especially as this was a multi-terrain race.

The race was won by Garry Muir (Campbeltown Running Club) in 1:18:20 and first lady was Jennifer Reid (Campbeltown Running Club) in 1:37:17, 24th overall.

Ballyclare Mayfair 10K photos by Bill Guiller.