The 4th event in the Pure Running Half Marathon series took place at Newry on Sunday in glorious sunshine. It was a day for keeping hydrated as the heat got to many of the runners, particularly in the marathon event.
Three North Down athletes conquered the marathon distance with Rab Martin completing it in 3:55:48, James Barr 4:40:41 and Cara Hamilton making round in 5:04:30.
The half marathon had the variety of a lap of the city followed by tow path running and then the customary hill. Of the 473 finishers 9 were from North Down. Our first 5 runners finished within 4 minutes from each other with Colin Walker in 30th, 1:30:33, Eamonn O’Reilly 33rd, 1:31:52, Terry Eakin 35th, 1:32:40, Alan Massey 39th, 1:33:34 and Keith Gilmore returned shortly after in 45th, 1:34:07. Andrew Muir was next in with 1:43:23 claiming 95th place with Sarah Benton finishing 100th in 1:44:06. Paul Galloway, who warmed up for this race with the Belfast Hills 8.8k race the previous day, and who is in preparation for next weeks’ Walled City Marathon, managed 1:53:12 and our club secretary Clare Russell finished in 2:10:14 after running past athletes who had collapsed with the heat.
Well done to all who competed, the next race in the series is the Lisburn Half marathon on 15th June.
