Born 2 Run – DAMBUSTERS TEN MILES
Credit – Born 2 Run official photographer
Gordy Graham returned to the scene of his 2021 triumph for the 2022 renewal of the Dambusters 10 Mile Road Race on Saturday, in fine form and aiming to improve on his previous time for the event. However, he found that while he wasn’t really under pressure to keep his position at the head Continue reading
ARDGLASS FESTIVAL 5 AND 10KS
The weather remained warm and sunny for the revival of the Ardglass Festival 5 and 10K road races and attracted sizeable entries from a number of local clubs, though the entry from East Down was somewhat disappointing as it was later in the week for the Co. Down 5K in Downpatrick. No doubt a number of valid excuses were available for these, namely it’s the middle of the holiday season, it wasn’t known about or was forgotten about, or it didn’t fit in with my training schedule or I have an injury. Whatever the reason word has it that you missed a super community event with 2 challenging distances and the pleasure of kippers from the BBQ afterwards!! Continue reading
BOB AND BERT’S 5 AND 10K RACE SERIES AT STORMONT 
Sharon Madine headed to Stormont Estate on Saturday, no doubt encouraged by the attractive title of the event, and the fact that the title refers to the well known chain of coffee shops. There was a 10K and 5K option but luckily she chose the 5K as it turned out to be “the toughest 5K she’d ever run”. The route took the runners past the play park and onto the trails which then led them onto a steep climb to the front of Parliament Buildings. Of course what goes up must come down so the consolation for Sharon was the long descent Continue reading
PORTAFERRY GALA TEN MILE ROAD RACE
Like most of the road races over the past 2 years, the Portaferry 10 Miles had been forced into the lockdown brought about by Covid 19, so it was with a considerable feeling of pride that the Committee welcomed almost 200 runners to the picturesque Co. Down village to help celebrate the 55th Annual Gala week on Tuesday night. Despite the threatened severe heatwave, the temperature was just about ideal for running by the time the race began at 7.30pm. Portaferry has a very scenic route but when you’re running hard it tends to get overlooked. 
It is also quite a tough course especially if you haven’t ran it before and this is what caught East Down’s Gordy Graham out somewhat. The first half of the route is reasonably flat though the 2nd half contains a few fiendishly placed hills which led Gordy to comment that he found it a very tough second half as he “kept finding hills where he didn’t want them”. However while his 58.05 time was not a pb for him, by about 90 seconds it still counts as a best for the course for him as it was his first time to run the race. That plus an overall 6th place and the prize for first Over 35 runner were compensation for him and he later described it “as a good hard workout!! “ Continue reading
SHARON TAMES THE SEA2SKY
Sharon Madine was the only EDAC athlete to compete over the weekend when she gave an admirable account of herself in the 9thrunning of Born 2 Run’s Sea to Sky series of races in Newcastle on Friday night. Sharon chose the 5K race for her test, which distance she has been improving her performances at in recent months. There was a sizeable entry of 121 in the 5K, and after a fairly sedate start in the relatively flat surroundings of Donard Forest the route ascended via a mixture of road and forest tracks through the foothills of the Mournes and then onto open mountain with boggy marshland underfoot. However it wasn’t long until the wet conditions disappeared and led to a swift descent to the promenade and the finish line. Sharon was delighted to finish not only 11th overall but 3rd female! The only 2 to beat her were Ciara Savage, in 1st place, from the local Newcastle & District AC and Hayley McAteer, 2nd place, from the Lagan Valley Club. Congratulations on another inspiring and nicely judged race bySharon. Continue reading
The All Ireland Age Group Track and Firld Championships
Saturday 9th of July was the second day of events at the All-Ireland Age group championships in Tullamore. East Down had 2 contenders for medals Ollie Robinson in the Under 17 Boys 400 metres and James Wright in the Under 16 boys High Jump. Both of them earned their places at the All Irelands by placing top at the Ulster finals a few weeks ago, having both only recently adopted their events.
400 METRES – Bronze for Ollie!
There were two heats for the U17 400m with the top 3 finishers from each heat and the fastest 2 from both heats outside of these placings qualifying for the final. Ollie ran a well-paced race in the outside lane in the first heat getting the fastest qualifying time overall of 52.5. This earned him one of the optimum lanes for the final, lane 3.
Conditions were good for the heats with little wind but the heat built up so by the time the final came around two hours later it was hot and humid. The atmosphere had built in the stands with the commentary encouraging lots of support for the athletics running the finals. Ollie started well and was careful not to be drawn into chasing the runners in lane 4 & 5 who pushed hard in the first 100m, having learnt from his previous School’s All-Ireland final that pacing at the start of the race is key. With the staggered starts in 400m races it can be nail biting for supporters who don’t get a real idea of positioning until the final straight. Ollie settled well and waited until the last 150m before upping his speed. He crossed the line in 3rd in a time of 51.92, a whisker away from the second placed runner who crossed in 51.90.. He earned himself a well-deserved bronze medal for his efforts and is looking forward to breaking 50 seconds for the distance by next year.
HIGH JUMP – GREAT PERFORMANCE BY JAMES
A recent donation of high-jump equipment has enabled East Down to offer high jump coaching to its junior members. This included a session from guest coach, Wendy Phillips, whose athletics accolades include representing Northern Ireland in the high jump at the Commonwealth Games.
At 6′ 6″, 15 year old East Down junior, James Wright has a natural advantage in high jump. In June, James took gold at the NI Age Group Track and Field event at Antrim Forum and qualified to represent Ulster under 16s at the All Ireland Championships. Wendy provided James with additional coaching to prepare for the All Ireland event. Like most of todays high jumpers James jumps backwards over the bar in the jumping style known as the Fosbury Flop, popularised and perfected by American athlete Dick Fosbury. James and East Down are really grateful to Wendy for her support in this most technical of events.
With the high jump scheduled as one of the first events at 10am on the Saturday, James travelled down the day before and was in place early in the morning keen to give his best in his first ever All Ireland competition. He certainly didn’t disappoint. Each high jumper elects the height at which they will begin their participation in the event, with the height increasing in 5cm increments. James chose to start at 150cm and cleared jumps through to a height of 165cm placing him joint 5th overall in the competition. This was a tremendous performance by the East Down youngster and represents a great start to his career at this level. James has cleared 168cm, his best so far, in the Down High School Sports Day a few weeks ago (setting a new school record in the process) and is keen to improve his technique and thus his PB, over the coming months.
AFTERNOON OF MILES – MARY PETERS TRACK
Saturday also saw the Afternoon of miles at MPT in which the outstanding performances were 16 years old Jacob Crawford’s 2nd place in the great time of 5 minutes dead and Catherine O’Connor’s 5.11 time in winning the ladies B race. Neil McCartan and Neil Curran also competed in their respective categories in the event organised by North Belfast Harriers.
All in all it was a highly successful weekend for the East Down competitors in a variety of events across the country. Not a race but worth a mention was the Monday Senior outing which took in Slievenaslat and the surrounds. It was a beautiful evening and much enjoyed by all who took part. 
Next up is the Portaferry 10 Mile (or 2×5 mile relay) which closes for entry so get yourself registered if you are looking for a chance to race. https://athleticsni.org/Fixtures/Portaferry-10-Mile-Road-Race-and-Relay
Joe Quinn
11th July 2022
International Under 18 Mountain Running Cup 
East Down AC’s Ollie Robinson had the privilege of representing NI & Ulster at the U18 International Mountain Running Cup in Saluzzo, Italy on Sunday 26th June. He along with runners from various clubs (Joshua Muckian, Ben Acheson and Ethan McMullan) gained selection through trials that took place earlier this season and they were there to test themselves against the top U18 runners from England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland as well as representatives from countries as far spread as the USA, Sierra Leone, Spain, Bulgaria, Slovenia and Hungary. Italy as host nation had the advantage of fielding 2 teams. Continue reading