The Carlingford Half Marathon and 10K
On a chilly but bright Saturday morning the runners who had entered the Carlingford Half and 10K gathered ready for the off. The course starts with a fair bit of climbing in the first 3 to 4 miles and then it levels off. There is a 4 mile stretch along the coast which is fairly exposed but thankfully there was little wind to trouble the runners on this occasion. The carriageway straight that leads back to the finish is a mental challenge as it is flat but seems never ending. With 790 in the Half and 230 in the 10K there was a good buzz.
6 EDAC members made the trip to take part and they all made it back in one piece. Seamus Savage led the charge and finished in an impressive 1.34.17 which placed him 106th overall. A great result for him. Cheryl Denvir with her usual stoic determination clocked 1.43.27. Robin Parsons paced the distance well and recorded 1.45.31. Next in was Janine Murray who was over the moon to carve a whopping 4 minutes off her previous best time. She finished in 1.52.24. Not far behind was John Taylor in 1.52.37. It is well known in the club that there is a constant battle for bragging rights in the Taylor household but Nuala his spouse in this occasion opted for a more enjoyable approach and was happy to let him take the win. She breezed in at 2.03.16 more than content to have completed the challenge. One for the diary for next year as it is a good day out according to reports.
Juniors
The McGrady Financial Services Junior XC Series
On Sunday the EDAC Juniors flocked to Tollymore for the 4th of 5 races in the inter club series sponsored by McGrady Financial Services. The cold weather and snow that has been talked about a lot on social media all week never materialised and Sunday started with clear skies and actually felt quite warm. It was the turn of Newcastle AC to host. Since there had been a recent race held there the course was run in the opposite clockwise. The plan was for the sharp uphill section that was in the previous race to be taken away so the kids had an easier run but this is cross country. Instead a longer ascent was ahead of everyone at the end of each 800m lap and the race finished on the hill meaning there were some tired legs on the finish line. Everyone coped admirably with even some sprint finishes.
EDAC Juniors do the club proud
East Down had 27 juniors racing across the age groups. It was great to see that as the ages increased there were more female participants from the club with 4 edac girls running in the final race. The first runner was Coen Canavan who placed 8th in the primary 4 and under Boys’ Race. Fiadh Kellett placed a fabulous second in the primary 4 and under Girls’ rRce with Rosa Canavan not far behind in 5th. The Canavan family were out in force with Mack running in the Primary 5 race where he placed second, only 6 seconds behind the winner. Annie Gill was sole EDAC participant in the P5 Girls’ Race and ran well crossing the line in 5th. Two Taylor girls (not related as far as I am aware) raced in the Primary 6 race with Isla coming in front of Alice this time in fourth and fifth place. Freya Cushie and Dillon Hynds ran in the Primary 7 combined race with Dillon placing fourth for the boys and Freya placing seventh for the girls.
Post Primary Runners
EDAC boys led the charge in the Year eight race with Jarlath Kearney, Luke Napier, David Morrissey and William Taylor finishing in that order. Caitlin O’Neill finished fifth in the Girls’ Race with Orlaith Gill in seventh. It was first, second and third for the year nine EDAC girls with Jessica Martin finishing top of the podium, 22 seconds clear. Abbie Wilson finished strongly in second and Olivia Fleming completed the podium places in third. Four out of the six Year 10 runners came from EDAC with some school ski trips accounting for the reduction in runner numbers. This race started at the bottom of the long hill so although shorter in distance than the final race, runners still had to ascend the hill three times. Thomas Magee and Eoin Rooney grabbed the race by the horns and ran together pacing well. It was only on the last uphill that Thomas pulled away from Eoin finishing in first with Eoin not far behind in second. Cara Napier and Sarah Gilchrist also ran in this combined gender race and finished in second and third places respectively.
Oliver Robinson, Rebekah Wilson, Evie Cushnie, Chloe Fleming and Hollie Noade lined up with four other runners for the final race of the day. This race was slightly longer than the usual 2000m at 2400m and is of the extra 400m wasn’t challenge enough they had three hills to cope with. Ollie led from the start finishing in 8.42. Rebekah Wilson was the third female finisher followed by her teammates who all seemed very glad to cross the line at the top of the hill. Another great race day thanks to Newcastle AC. The final race of the series is the last weekend in March on Sunday 26th. Well done to all the EDAC runners and thanks to the parents for taking time to bring them.