QUEEN’S 5K inc. the NI & ULSTER CHAMPIONSHIPS

The annual Queens 5k took place on a wet Wednesday last week. It is well known as a top class event aimed at those seeking to clock a PB or mark their current form for the road season or track season ahead. It is a flat circuit round the bridges on the River Lagan and entices athletes of significant calibre to pit themselves against each other as well as the clock. The less than clement weather was shrugged off once the gun was fired and the stream of athletes found their rhythm and pushed themselves to the limit for the full 5K. The top 2 males breached 15 minutes and third place was only 2 seconds outside.

1	Neil	Johnston	M	MO	Springwell Running Club	0:14:50
2	Declan	Reed	M	M45	City of Derry Spartans	0:14:58
3	Chris	Madden	M	MO	City of Lisburn AC	0:15:02

On the EDAC front, Neil Curran felt slightly out of his depth due to the pace off the start but was pleased overall with his run and time of 16.57. Davy Foster ran a swift 17.43. Adam Morgan stayed the pace well with a time of 21.04 and Paddy McDonald finished in 21.42. He was 353rd out of 731 runners which puts it in perspective.

EAST DOWN DO WELL IN LADIES RACE

In the Ladies’ race, the top end was equally hard fought as can be seen by the podium times and the small margins dividing them.

 

1	Nakita	Burke	F	FO	Letterkenny AC	0:16:49
2	Kelly	Neely	F	F40	City of Lisburn AC	0:17:01
3	Sarah	Lavery	F	FO	Beechmount Harriers	0:17:06

EDAC had only 2 females in the race but were amply represented as Catherine O’Connor was 6th female home in a strong run clocking 17.31 and Caroline MacNabb placed 12th in a time of 18.16.

THE 3K

Queens 3K takes place  shortly before the main event kicks off and had an entry of 136 athletes.  Mackenzie Murray (the sole male EDAC Junior)  ran well to come 12th Junior Male in a time of 10.36. EDAC female Juniors had a pleasing 8 entries. Kirsti Foster set off at a lick and shadowed the eventual winner Tara McDonough (NDAC)  all the way to the line coming 2nd to her by a handful of seconds in a time of 10.43.   Lucy Foster (11.03)  just missed out on podium by 2 seconds as Amelia Tyler ( NDAC) slipped in just ahead of her. Lauren Madine was 7th female home in 11.26.  Jodi Foster was 9th in 11.43 followed by Kari Foster (12.00), Kara Trainor(12.04), Emily Burns (12.32)  and Anna Kearney (13.37). It was fantastic to see such a turnout. Well done all.

ST MALACHY’S HIGH SCHOOL 5 AND 10K RACES IN CASTLEWELLAN PARK

On Thursday past St Malachy’s Castlewellan held an event to raise funds for the Trocaire Lenten Appeal and their ICT suite. There was a 5K and 10K on offer and it was widely advertised that the 10K was a challenge with significant climbing ( to the top  of Slievnaslat!) and some tricky descents. The difficulties of the course were not eased by the heavy rain and blustery conditions but the runners who turned out were well prepared and seemed to thrive on the effort required to complete the route.

Callum Kent recorded 22.42 in 20th place out of 308 in the 5K run. Seamus Savage ran in the 10K but in the absence of any results all I can say is that apparently the events went well with a good turnout in all categories and that the charitable aims were met.

OMAGH HALF MARATHON

Such was the rash of withdrawals from the ranks of club members who had been due to race in Omagh that it was rumoured that perhaps they knew something to warn them off but those who made the journey were rewarded with a fine day, almost too hot for some, and a well organised event. Often this race features in the training plan of those bound for the Belfast Marathon as it provides a long run with plenty of company to break up the tedium of training plus a chance to experiment with pacing or nutrition before the main race.  It is popular and sells out in advance but injury and illness can strike and disrupt good intentions and so it was that a reduced party of EDAC turned up on the day.

The first EDAC athlete home was Dee Murray in 1 hour 25 minutes. He worked hard on the tough course to get that time.  Niamh Kellett ran an impressive 1.28 with no sign of difficulty.  Gavin Hynds was next in 1.33 and happy to get that as he went out hard to stay with a pacer and suffered in the latter stages. Chris Smith was unfortunately forced to withdraw at the 8 mile mark after feeling under the weather. Hallie Jennings was happy with her 1 hour 50 and Janine Murray was glad of the company of Gareth Amos to get her in under the 2 hour mark. Gareth’s performance is all the more admirable as he ran over 8 miles prior to the official half as a planned extension to the mileage of the race.  Gavin McConvey was just outside the 2 hours and well pleased with his performance as his 2 hours and 5 seconds1 is a PB at this distance.

TEAM PERFORMANCES

In the team competition East Down Men came 47^th out of 73, while the Ladies

fared much better taking 26^th place out of the 66 competing teams.

MACKENZIE WINS THE 5K

Mackenzie Murray had his second race of the week lining up in the 5K race in Omagh and confirmed his good form of late by winning the U15 category in a time of 20 minutes on the button which placed him 17th overall.

DUNDALK 5K

Suzy Smith found a good race in the Dundalk – the Patsy Kelly 5K organised in memory of a local athlete who died while out running with friends in January 2010, and she finished in 29.34  484^th in the field 770 participants.

EAMS FATLAD SERIES 2019-2020

Barry Milligan took part in the first of the 2019/20 EAMS Fatlad Series on Saturday and clearly found the going to his liking as he recorded a PB 3.55.26 for the marathon distance. The race route started from Carrick Castle and turned at Gideons Green on the way to finishing back at the Castle again. Well Done Barry!

 MARAKESH EXPRESS STILL GOING STRONG

You will recall that I have been mentioning the exploits of the Marrakesh Express, Tommy Hughes, in recent weeks as he set new records, almost on a weekly basis, for his Age 55 category, in distances from 10K to half marathon.

Well he’s bee at it again on Sunday when he completed the Rotterdam marathon in 2.30.12 and in the process knocked a massive 7 minutes off the previous Irish record!!

WANTED!! -MARSHALS FOR BELFAST MARATHON

You may remember a few weeks ago I issued a call for marshals to assist at the Belfast marathon on SUNDAY 5 May. Because of recent legislation relating to the organising of road races on public roads many more marshals are needed this year than previously, as we all know form our recent experiences at Jimmy’s Ten. The Marathon Board are still looking for as many marshals as they can get so if you’re going to be  in the City on that day, and remember the race begins at Stormont at 9.00am, could you possibly lend a hand? If you made yourself available early in the day you could be free within 45 – 60 minutes of the race beginning to follow up on anyone you’re hoping to support on the way round, OR if you prefer you could volunteer for later in the morning and help at some of the streets in the last 5 miles where you can easily see your friend or family member, when they need you most! Either way could you please consider helping out? If you can help in any way  you could also enable your club to benefit from the £100 on offer to any club which provides 6- 10 marshals.

So Please get in touch with me Joe Quinn on 07395814122 or by email at www.jaykwin69@gmail.com and I’ll process your offer to get you a place which will meet your requirements.

 

Joe Quinn & Alison Carroll

8 April 2019