A MARATHON EFFORT FROM EAST DOWN FIVE

The headline act this week was undoubtedly Virgin Money London Marathon. It is so much more than a race – it is an occasion and one that we can all share by virtue of live coverage on TV. It is easy to see why it attracted 386,050 applicants for places this year. With “only” 40,000 runners gaining entry slots, it is evident that securing a place is a major feat let alone completing the training schedule required. Joe Quinn made his annual pilgrimage to mile 14 to cheer on the EDAC athletes and was delighted to report back that they all made it home safely. It is worth noting that each of them can claim to be a record holder regardless of results as they took part in the hottest London Marathon ever with temperatures rising to 23 degrees! This obviously makes a tough job even tougher and the lack of any decent weather here in the run up was not helpful.

Niamh Kellett ran a well paced race and should be very proud of her finish time of 3 hours 20. She has had to be patient in her build up as she has been nursing an achilles issue and to achieve a result like this is simply superb. This places her 250th female out of 16,400 women who finished. That is definitely something to shout about!

Niamh Kellet

Next EDAC athlete in was Phillip Vint in 3.26. He was pleased with his performance but even more delighted that his wife Helen Vint scraped in under the 5 hour mark in one piece. Helen as ever took it in her stride and gave the heat the respect that it deserved. Joanne Foster, a miracle of motherhood who somehow juggles her training schedule around a family of 6 children who also compete, calmly nipped over to London on Saturday and was home a few hours after the race having churned out a 3.31 marathon. She reckons that the fact that she  has to do most of her training miles on the treadmill to fit in with demands of family was in this case a bonus as she was heat acclimatised to a certain degree! A very accomplished display all round.

Philip Vint

Joanne Carson was the 5th member of the Club to travel and she thoroughly enjoyed the whole event. She had trained diligently and was rewarded with a 4.51 finish in these testing conditions. She would undoubtedly have been quicker on a cooler day but wisely went with the flow and managed to soak up the atmosphere. All in all a successful day for the Club and we congratulate you on your performances.

Helen Vint and Joanne Carson

LONDON MINI MARATHON

While mum Joanne was warming up for the main event, her daughter Kirsti was taking part in the London Mini Marathon. This takes place in the Mall with budding athletes from different age groups getting the chance to run in front of bumper crowds. Kirsti was selected as part of the NI U13 Team as a result of her performances at the Ulster Schools’ XC. She had a fantastic run (35th out of 65)  completing the 3 mile route in 19.23 and was first NI athlete home by 1 minute and 15 seconds! She did herself and the Club proud.

HILL AND DALES HAS A FEW UPS AND DOWNS

Very unusually for such a well drilled event there are no results from last Thursday’s  Hill and Dales race in Tollymore Forest park. Technology is a wonderful thing until it lets us down. We get into the realms of thinking if there are no photos and no times did it actually happen but I am assured by those who went that it did and moreover it was a glorious evening and the course while challenging had its scenic rewards. The EDAC gang who participated are still glad to have been there and look forward to what is in store this week. The addiction to the hills has kicked in!

Hill and Dales EDAC in force

NO MORE NIGGLES FOR NEIL?

Neil McCartan has had a long lay off with frustrating niggles and has not enjoyed his role as spectator although a trip to Portugal for warm weather camp recently softened the blow. He was delighted to announce that he had tested his legs a few times out there and cautiously resumed a program to get him back to racing fitness. It is clear that this is being effective as at the Bay Road 5k Race near Derry he came in 4th overall in an impressive time -15.18. Hopefully this is a positive predictor for the season ahead.

BALLYNAHINCH 5K/10K

 On Saturday 2 brave souls took on the hilly 2 loop course in Ballynahinch. Mark O’Connor managed to clock 43.12 and Gavin McConvey 56 minutes. Neither seemed to enjoy the second loop as the hill was bad enough first time round but the sun shone and there was great grub at the finish so a good day’s toil by both. In the 5K Lauren Madine repeated her success of the year before and came in first female. Callum Kent who galloped across the line with her was 2nd male. Jodi Foster was 2nd placed Female not far behind.  Great pack running from these three. The results have not been published and while these places were clearly correct there seemed to be some confusion for the remainder.

CONNEMARATHON HALF FOR LIZ

While some of our members were baking on the streets of London, Liz O’Hagan opted for the wild and windy course in Connemara. She highly recommends this event for the dramatic scenery which must be truly amazing considering she is enthusiastic about the event despite the gales and sheets of rain that she encountered. She is more than pleased with a time 2 hours and 8 for 13.1 miles given the weather and the terrain. Another challenge notched up for this hardy runner.

Liz O’Hagan – Connemarathon Half

A LEAP YEAR OF MILES

Speaking of hardy and liking a challenge, we would like to mention Keith Reilly who has quietly achieved a remarkable self-set task. He has been officially welcomed into the “Streak Runners International” Group which recognises the evidence that you have run at least one mile every day under your own body power. I thought it best to give the definition of streak running  in case any one had any other mental images of what Keith has been up to!  A mile a day sounds easy but try fitting that in every single day and the fact that running an ultra as Keith has been known to do, does not excuse you from the next day. You cannot carry over your tally. Keith has in fact averaged 3.18 miles over his 366 days. What next we ask?

Keith Reilly – has completed a “streak” of 366 days of running every day

MUD, GLORIOUS MUD

And last but not least another hardy bunch to be given credit. Gareth Amos and his family of 4 girls Lara, Keira, Mia and Lena once again tested the willpower of mother Linda by entering an event – Jaffa Cake Mud Madness – which entailed running but also scaling obstacles and rolling in mud so creating a monster pile of dirty kit for her to wash. Gareth also somehow persuaded Eimear Degan that this would be a fun way to spend an afternoon.  The after photo reveals how much fun it was! This is part of the build up to the Tough Mudder Event which takes place in Ireland for the first time this July. Gareth and his daughter Lara are ambassadors for the event and hope to encourage others to take part.

Matthew Brown with East Down AC’s Eimear Degan, Gareth Amos and Lara Proctor-Amos

It is fantastic as always that our members represent the Club far and wide and we can only keep our fingers crossed that the glimpse of better weather that we enjoyed last weekend will recur and perhaps settle in for a while and allow some pleasant training/racing conditions to encourage us all to get out there and get going!

Alison Carroll 23/04/18