Weekly Report – 7th August-13th August 2023

Connswater 5 Mile Challenge

A fantastic OAC turnout at our local Connswater 5 Mile Challenge on Friday evening. This race starts from CS Lewis Square taking the runners along part of the Connswater Greenway and into Victoria Park before finishing back at CS Lewis Square. Congratulations to Danny Bradley on coming 6th.

Well done everyone, and thanks to Eric Fairfield for his great photos.

Danny Bradley – 28.04
Keith Weir – 30.46
Gemma Blake – 36.06
Stephen Anderson – 36.23
Edwina Ternan – 36.35
Colin Simpson – 37.55
Elaine Weston – 43.39
Verity Cornford – 44.29

Lurig Challenge Run

Ian Wilson was representing Orangegrove in the Lurig Challenge Run. This race is the highlight of the Heart of the Glens Festival. This is an off-road race with breathtaking views in one the country’s more unique races.

The 3.8 mile race starts in the main street of Cushendall adjacent to the Curfew Tower. After the short dash up main street there is a sharp incline and a set of steps up, followed by a mile long farm track to the base of the mountain. Next comes an assault to the top of Lurig (1073 feet), with spectacular views, before a fast descent down the mountain, back along the farm track for a sprint to the village and the finish. Well done Ian, looked like a seriously steep ascent from the videos online.

Ian Wilson – 54.41

100 Miles Berlin – The Berlin Wall Race

Michael O’Donoghue outdid himself this weekend with a 100 mile ultra along the Berlin Wall. He had high praise for the race ranking it as one of the best events he’s ever done, commenting on how well organised German races are and the unique cold war history elements of the course.

As with any race of this length there are always downsides. In this case the negatives were; being intimidated by a wild boar, and the humidity making a few runners ill – in Michael’s words to me this evening “I boked twice, but it was light in comparison to the retching the Germans were doing.” Despite this he had a great time – and securing the 100 mile club record (by about 5 hours) as he did so. Well done Michael, incredible running!

Michael O’Donoghue – 27 hours 31 minutes

Feile 10k

Back to talking about a distance most of us are more comfortable with. On Sunday Elaine Weston was out again for her 2nd race of the weekend at the Feile 10k, part of the community arts festival. It was record numbers for this year’s run with almost 1000 runners taking part. Well done Elaine!

Elaine Weston – 53.11

Parkrun Report

12/08/23

Not much news on the parkrun front this week, though we did have new locations for Catherine McIntyre and Alison Canning, in Cookstown and Singapore respectively. Such exotic locations – I’ve always wanted to go to Cookstown. That’s Catherine’s 43rd parkrun location and Alison’s 56th.

Results

Huddersfield

John Gribben – 35.25

Belfast Victoria

Tom Smith – 23.15
Paul Woodman – 24.36
Alison McConnell – 27.37
Anna Rankin – 27.52
Gavin McGucken – 29.06
Judith McCann – 29.38
Selina Myles – 29.45
Verity Cornford – 29.46

Enniskillen

Elaine Bates – 28.10
Jean Stone – 36.15

MUSA Cookstown

Andrew McIntyre – 17.26
Catherine McIntyre – 40.02

Ormeau

Melinda Wilkinson – 28.45

East Coast Park

Alison Canning – 24.43

Stormont

Keith Weir – 19.29
Kimberley Reynolds – 25.15
Gillian McGucken – 29.50

Orangefield

Colin Simpson – 24.35
Heather Flint – 25.14
Kerris Hamilton – 27.00