Seán Nickell was back on top of the podium with his second marathon win in a little over a month at We Run Wild NI’s latest marathon in Carrickfergus on Saturday 23rd December. While most North Down AC runners were content with little more than parkrun and last minute Christmas preparations on the Saturday morning before Christmas Seán lined up at Carrickfergus Castle to run the same route as last month’s marathon but in the opposite, anti-clockwise direction, taking in mucky trails, farmers’ lanes, and country roads around Knockagh and the Woodburn reservoirs with nearly 600m of ascent in cold and windy conditions. As before he led from start to finish, completing the course more than 25 minutes ahead of his nearest competitor (the second and third placed finishers on the attached provisional results being among several runners who opted for an early start.) His time of 3:50:56 was only 90 seconds slower than the clockwise course in November. Seàn assures us he has more running challenges to complete in 2023!
