The Weekly News – 16/07/2018
A busy week for East Down AC athletes kicked off on Monday evening with the Ballyvea 10K at Silent Valley where Gordy Graham took second place in a time of 36:01. Junior athlete Callum Kent was 5th in the 5K race in an excellent time of 20:57.
Wednesday evening saw EDAC members descend en masse to Killough for the 10K race which makes up part of their Village Festival celebrations. Although the race time clashed with the World Cup semi-final, a beautiful summer evening and a reputation for a well organised race with a very picturesque course meant that almost 200 runners still turned up to compete.
EDAC runners at Shore 10K Killough
The winner was Drew Fowler of Ballydrain Harriers in a time of 36:03 with East Down athletes packing the field thereafter: Paul Burns finished in 7th place in 38:39, Dermot Cahill 13th in 39:54 and Niamh Kellett was East Down’s star performer finishing as 2nd place female and 14th place overall in a fast 40:05.
EDAC at Shore 10K Killough
All of the East Down runners dipped below the hour mark for the distance with Declan Teague 16th (40:23), Deirdre Weatherall 23rd and 4th placed female (41:37), James Magennis 31st (42:28), Mark O’Connor 33rd (42:50), Raymond Milligan 41st (44:00), John Manley 56th (46:48), Tom McClean 58th (47:41), Donal Smith 67th (48:46), Catherine Gilchrist 81st (50:18), Sean Sealey 91st (51:41). Cathy Burke was 100th across the line in a time of 52:56, Roisin Gaffney 102nd (53:20) Joanne Carson 105th (53:45), Gary Small 127th (56:53), Hellen Vint 129th (57:04) and Seamus Savage finished 143rd in 59:37.
Sea2Sky 10K
On Friday evening it was the very popular Sea2Sky 10K in Newcastle and it was a case of déjà vu all over again for Gordy Graham as for the second time in 5 days he finished in second place overall and in an identical time of 36:01! This was an impressive performance in a quality field of over 600 runners and a solid improvement on last year’s 4th place finish (36:56).
East Down AC Junior stars Lauren Madine and Callum Kent took part in the 5K race with Lauren clinching a podium position as 2nd placed female (10th overall) and Callum a highly creditable 7th place overall in a field of over 150 runners.
Gordy Graham with Callum Kent (Sea2Sky Newcastle)
Neil McCartan was another East Down athlete to turn out twice in one week and he also managed two PB performances in top class races. On Wednesday Neil travelled to Watford to take part in the British Milers Club (BMC) Gold Standard track meeting. As the name suggests this is an elite level competition with a strict qualifying standard and Neil finished in 6th place in a field of 16 in the 1500m race in a time of 3:50:28 (that’s 4:07 mile pace!). The race was won in a time of 3:48:00 and only 3 seconds separated the top ten finishers.
On Saturday Neil turned out again, this time stepping up in distance to 3000m, running in the Irish Milers Club meeting at the Irishtown Stadium, Dublin. Neil was very satisfied to finish 4th in a new personal best time of 8:27:73, missing out on a podium place by a mere 0.20 seconds.
Following a run of bad luck with various injury and illnesses, Neil is now reaping the rewards of his hard work and dedication and with the track season only getting underway these results bode very well for the remainder of Neil’s season and hopefully further improvement and success will follow.
Also taking place on Saturday were the Irish Juvenile Track and Field Championships at Tullamore stadium. East Down AC had several young athletes qualify to run in the Championships: Iona Bunbury competed in the u15 80m hurdles, Anna Gardiner in the u13 600m and Kirsti Foster in the u14 800m. Although there were no medals coming home this time it was a terrific experience for these talented juniors and they should be very proud to have qualified for the Championships.
Kirsti Foster Anna Gardiner & Iona Bunbury at the Irish Juvelile Track & Field Championships Tullamore
RGU 10K & Relay
Next Wednesday (25th July) is the date for the annual Downpatrick RGU 10K incorporating a 2 x 5K Relay race. Online entry is still open at www.athleticsni.org and entries will also be taken on the night.
Paul Burns
16th July 2018