Walled City 10 mile road race, 08/03/25
Like the first appearance of spring daffodils, the 10 mile race in Derry/Londonderry traditionally heralds the end of the winter cross countries and the arrival of a new season of road racing. It’s always one of the biggest races in north west, attracting a large, competitive field of runners, and with more than 2100 finishers this year’s sell out race was no exception. Several club members headed up the Glenshane Pass on Saturday 8th March for the challenging race which started and finished on the track at St Columb’s Park and took in both sides of the river crossing the Foyle Bridge and returning to the Waterside over the Peace Bridge. First of the North Down AC finishers was Thomas Steele in 21st place overall in 59:33. Alan Massey was the next to cross the line in 1:16:14 ahead of Stephanie Graham 1:19:00. Sarah Wilson ran an excellent 1:22:59 followed by Emma Hegarty 1:33:12 and James Gage rounded off the NDAC finishers in 1:41:00.
Spud Run, Glenariff, 08/03/25
While some of the club’s runners crossing the Foyle Bridge might have thought they were getting a hill workout on Saturday, some of the trail runners tackled a mostly off road route from Watefoot up Trosk with more than 370m of vertical ascent (and a tricky descent to negotiate) over the 9.7k or 6 mile course.
David McKeague led the NDAC contingent, finishing in 11th place in 51:37. At the prize giving afterwards David also picked up an award for finishing 2nd on his age groups at the 2024 NI Mountain Running Association races. Gareth hardy finished in 55:44 followed by Jason McMinn 57:48, Claire Scott 1:15;16 and Kim McCourt 1:28:21.
In case anyone’s wondering why it’s called the Spud Run, the sponsors, Glens of Antrim Potatoes provide a bag of spuds to every competitor, although fortunately they aren’t part of the mandatory safety kit to be carried by runners during the race!
Born 2 Run, Castlewellan, 08/03/25
The final race in this year’s Run Forest Run race series took place in Castlewellan Forest Park on Saturday. Starting and finishing in front of the castle and circling the lake, runners enjoyed views of the Mournes in the background and while race directions elsewhere saw runners head for the Peace Bridge, the race organisers ensured that no runners turned into the Peace Maze, the largest permanent maze in the world! All North Down runners finished without any diversions or dead ends with Ben O’Driscoll the first club finisher in 45:57. Christopher Ballentine was next in 46:09 with Stephen Moore 53:21 and Cadey Moore 53:22 not too far behind.
https://www.born2runevents.com/run-forest-run-castlewellan-results/
Lisbon Half Marathon, 09/03/25
The Lisbon Half Marathon is the first of their year’s Super Six Half Marathon race series of hugely popular races in Lisbon, Prague, Berlin, Copenhagen, Cardiff and Valencia. 4 North Down AC runners made their way to the Portuguese capital to join more than 17500 finishers in this iconic half. Simon Boyle was the first of the NDAC runners to cross the line in 1:26:46 with Glynis Boyle the next to finish in 1:38:31, winning the W60 age group. Emma Fox ran 1:46:28 and Lynne Kerr continued her rehab by completing the course in 2:15:51.
https://results.sporthive.com/events/7250556144618307584/races/491104
European Athletics Indoor Championships, Netherlands 06-09/03/25
Irish Olympian and North Down AC athlete Rachel McCann raced at the biennial European Athletics Indoor Championships in Apeldoorn, Netherlands this weekend. Despite running a PB of 53.16 on Friday in the first round of the 400m she finished 4th and concentrated her efforts on racing the first leg of the women’s 4x400m relay. In the final the Irish team of McCann, Lauren Cadden, Arlene Crossan and Cliodhna Manning finished 6th in 3:32.72.
UK Inter-Counties XC Championship
At the UK Inter-counties cross-country championships at Wollaton Park, Nottingham, Katie Moore and Craig McMeechan were rounding off their cross-country seasons representing the NI senior teams. The course comprised fairly fast and firm parkland terrain with a mix of flat and hill sections making it tough enough to maintain pace and position in a highly competitive national championship field. Katie was first up in the Women’s 8k, holding together a great result given a recent knee injury. Katie placed 106th of 266 and 5th scorer home for the NI team that placed 8th of 31 county and regional teams. In the men’s 10k, Craig produced his best performance in this his 3rd appearance in this championship race, coming home 33rd of 277 and 5th scorer for the nine man NI squad that emphatically took both the main 6-to-score but also the 9-to-score team titles. This is the first time the NI men’s team have won the title since 1995. What a fantastic way to end the XC the season!
Irish Schools Cross Country Championships. Galway 08/02/25
At the Irish Schools yesterday there were some great performances by club members. Although the course that looped inside of the Galway racecourse track was fairly flat, the windy conditions made it challenging. The day got off to a great start with Sophie Rankin of Bangor Academy getting a highly impressive 10th place in the minor girls (year 9). Due to a start that was more like a street brawl, Carter Rolston of Bangor Grammar had a fall at the start of the minor boys but still got up and finished a creditable 82nd place. Seb Mair of Campbell College Belfast had a good run in the same race to finish 57th. In the junior girls (year 10) three Sullivan Upper (SU) girls were in action. Coco Smith led the charge with a very good 45th place, she was closely followed by Isla Wiltshire in 58th and Maia Johnston in 59th. Holly Blease (SU) had a fantastic run in the intermediate girls’ race (years 11 and 12) to finish 34th, her highest position in any Irish schools or all-Ireland age-group cross-country championship. In the Senior girls (years 13 and 14), Sophie Hamilton of Regent House put in a good run to finish in 74th place. Meanwhile, in the senior boys 6k, Oliver Playfair (SU) had a great race, also placing 34th in this category and 20 places up on his 2024 senior boys’ position. Just qualifying for the Irish Schools is a great achievement, so it was good to see so many good finishes by our junior athletes.
