The Northern Ireland and Ulster Age Group Indoor Championships were held over the weekend in Abbottstown, Dublin. Alex and Ollie Robinson were the only two East Down athletes to attend and it was the first experience of an indoor event for both boys. 

The races are held on a 200m, banked track which can alter race dynamics compared to outdoor events. At indoors meets, over shorter distances where athletes need to stay in lanes for all or part of the races, the greater bank on the outer lanes may have a benefit. However overall shorter laps means having to run more laps to tally up the same distance and the sharper more frequent turns also slows the momentum of runners. This means that the times recorded on indoor tracks tend to be slower than those on outdoor tracks.

Alex started on Saturday lining up for the U16 boys, 1500m metres race. As well as being his first indoor 1500m it was only his second 1500m, the last one being in June 2023, so he was excited to see what he could do. He recognised lots of his fellow runners from previous competitions so knew he had a strong field of seven competitors to race against. From the gun the group stayed together for the first few of the seven laps but slowly four runners pulled away. Alex was in this pack and settled well into the rhythm,  building up speed. On the second last lap he moved into third behind two Lagan Valley runners, with everyone pushing hard for home. Alex Armstrong, who is Ulster schools cross country champion for his school year, led and was being hunted down by his team mate Adam Harrison.  A real battle ensued with Adam gaining the upper hand to finish in 4.27. Rory came in second in 4.28 and Alex completed the podium in a time of 4.32, nearly 10 seconds faster than his June time. He was delighted wit his performance against such a strong field and gaining an ulster medal.

Ollie has focused his training on shorter distances over the last six months and entered the U19, 200m and 400m on Sunday. In this age category runners only need to register for the events but do not need to race to get entry into the All Irelands so It can be an anxious wait until registration closes to see if heats need to be run or whether races are straight finals. 

For the 200m heats were required. Ollie ran in the first of two 200m heats and was drawn in the outer lane. Although considered a better lane Ollie found that his block start was not ideal because of the camber of the track so he didn’t get the push off he would have liked. It is also hard running blind on the curve with no one to chase down. He was pleased with his second place finish but then had to wait to see if his time was quick enough to secure a place in the final. 

His 400m race was a straight final one hour later with Ollie drawn to run in lane 5. In the 400m athletes run in lanes until slightly after the second bend and then merge into lane one for the final 250m. This means it can be harder to change position if runners at behind after the merging point as you need to run wider to pass them. Ollie found the 400m hard and realised that doing 200m not long before left his legs tired. He was pleased though to have done enough to get a third podium position in a time of 53.15.

It seemed to take ages for those who had qualified for the 200m final to be informed. In the end Ollie found out he had qualified and was called to the start not long after this. He ran in lane three and felt he got a better block start. Although tired he raced hard and finished in third. No times are available as yet for these races.

So a successful weekend for both brothers coming home with ulster medals. 

Next up is the All-Ireland Schools’ Cross Country Championships next Saturday in Tymon Park, Tallaght, Dublin. EDAC runners will run for their respective schools either as an individual or as part of a school team. Good luck to all runners.