Aaron in the top 20

On Sunday 16th January Aaron McGrady took the chance to grab a last minute entry for the Manchester League, an event which is close to where he lives at present. It seemed like a good opportunity to test his legs before he comes home to run with the East Down AC team in the upcoming NI & Ulster Intermediate Championships at the end of the month. He had a good run out and said that it was a fast course, not too muddy but long enough at 9.6km. He paced it easy at the start and then ramped up his efforts in the second half. These tactics took him from being outside of the top 15 into an 8th place finish so it worked well. In comparison to his previous 14th place finish at Manchester league this was a decent improvement.

The Mathieson Cup

More locally other club members were tackling the first post Christmas cross country. The event known as the Mathieson Cup was ably hosted by Mallusk Harriers at the City of Belfast Playing Fields. They were pleased to see a record turnout and the runners were delighted that the weather was kind. There have been some very cold and icy versions of the same event in years gone by but on Sunday the sun shone and while it was nippy in the wind, the blue skies were uplifting. 

Juniors get the day started

The Junior Races started at 10.40am. Seeing the younger athletes attack racing with gusto always builds the atmosphere and is almost like a warm up act. The fact that there are seniors warming up during their races ensures that they get good support so it works both ways. There were 4 junior categories, boys and girls combined and with the distance  adjusted according to age. No matter how short the race, all had to face a dreaded hill not long after the start and some had to so the climb multiple times as the races got longer. The infamous sharp incline requires a bit of momentum in the run up and even the most agile can come to grief. The remainder of the loop incorporates a few rise and falls and some slippy turns. There was not an excess of mud but the going was soft and leg sapping especially for the later races.

Charlotte leads the way

One of EDAC’s youngest members Charlotte Mulhall ran in the 800m Primary Race. Showing no fear in the face of the stampede of 82 eager runners, she was a gutsy 21st out of 31 girls and beat a fair few boys as well. Kelsey Murray went in the U12 race of 27 runners and did her best to hold her own over the 2K lap. In the U14 race Aaron Lennon followed the advice to hold back and try to pace the 3K distance, managing to come in 7th of the 22 boys. Adam Mulhall also turned out in the same race coming a creditable 13th. Last of the junior races was the U16 with 24 runners in total. Jacob Crawford ran strongly and finished 4th. He was not far off podium but could not close the gap. He was pleased though with his final sprint as he managed to hold off the fast finishing Rudy Mayne of Loughview AC. All the juniors were a credit to the club as usual.

Over to the Ladies

As the juniors recovered their breath, the Ladies were gathering on the start line. East Down AC had a team of 4 in the field of 176. Catherine O’Connor went off on the front line and when the lead pack snaked out before the hill, she was in the top 20 and determined to stay there. She paced the 3 lap 6K well and was happy to finish in 11th place in 25.22. Sharon Madine made the top 50 coming 49th in 28.15. Janine Murray (31.35) and Alison Carroll (32.37) finished 105th and 121st respectively. The general feeling was that the course was challenging but doable but they all found the last lap tough going when their mud clogged spikes started to drag. The team placed 16th out of 36. 

Good team effort from the men

The Men’s Race started as soon as the last women crossed the line. There were 190 of them in total for the 8K race. Neil McCartan gave it a real blast off the start and got himself into 2nd place but as the 2nd lap of 4 began, he was gradually overhauled by Craig McMeechan of North Down and then by St Malachy’s runner Conall McClean. These two went on to come 2nd and 3rd respectively. The race was won by Stephen Connolly of Annadale Striders in 26.31 and Neil dug in gamely to hold on to 4th place in 27.23. He was encouraged by his run and is looking forward to the Intermediate Championships on 30th of January. Gordy Graham pushed hard throughout and placed 14th in 28.43. Neil Curran felt that his pace dropped off more than he would have liked but he was a creditable 22nd in 29.29. Mackenzie Murray at 16 was too old for the Junior races so entered the Senior event. He did not look out of place in the slightest and was 4th home for the club in 31.01. Marty Willcox and Mark O’Connor are both big fans of cross country clocking up race after race with ease. They finished in 32.08 and 36.43 still smiling as usual. The team as a whole placed 4th out of 34 which was a great achievement. Well done guys!

More mud ahead

This weekend stays with cross country and the club will have representatives at Comber for the club race which precedes the International event the same day. Good luck to all involved.