North Down athletes took home a whole host of age group category prizes at the Bobby Rea Memorial XC races which supported the Ulster even age group races at UU Coleraine. Weather conditions made races tough with strong winds and driving rain, but the course held up well. Jessica Craig finished 4th woman (2nd U20, U20 1st prize) in the M60+/womens 5k. Closely behind was Stephanie Hambling in 5th (1st W40). Finishing ahead and 1st M60 was Terry Eakin. Good runs also in the 5k from Fred Murdoch and Norman Lellyett.
[Not a valid template]5 North Down athletes lined up in the mens 8k race and looked in with a shout for the team race, but were beaten into 2nd place by host club Abbey AC. John Carlisle moved up to 5th place on the last lap when Paul Pollock suffered stomach problems, but was hit by a “killer” stitch moments later that slowed him down (karma!); slipping back to 11th. Finishing the last lap well was Niall Robinson in 7th (1st U20), followed home by Francis Marsh in 9th (1st M40) with Mark Weir picking up 1st M35. Paul Brown ran well in tough conditins. The race was won by Ciaran Doherty (Letterkenny), 2nd Conor Flanigan (NBH), 3rd Jarlath Falls (NBH), 4th Andrew Agnew (Abbey).