There were a lot of positive performances from North Down athletes on Friday evening at the IMC / BMC meeting at Mary Peters. Probably the happiest athlete was James Budde who, defying a cold, finally broke his 1500m hoodoo by going under 4 minutes at 1500m for the first time. James was in the “A” 1500m and unleashed a fierce run down the final straight to dip and collect a new pb of 3:29.54 min. Other pbs on the night went to Josh Lowry who won the “C” 800m from the front in 2:00.74 min (along the way dragging a big pb out of Ciara Mageean) and from Thomas Simpson who ran 2:12.64 in the “D” 800m. Seasons bests went to Michael Dyer, 4th in the “A” 800m in 1:54.16 and from Francis Marsh, 2nd in the “D” 800m in 209.46, after leading all the way only to be pipped at the end. Lauren Scott was not happy with her 1500m time but she was an emphatic winner in the womens’ “A” race. Andrew Mellon was 3rd in an invitational 200m.
