Hill & Dale Race 2, Tollymore, 17/04/25
The second race of this season’s Hill & Dale race series took place in the beautiful grounds of Tollymore Forest Park on the evening of Thursday 17th April. North Down AC were well represented once more as runners must complete 6 out of the 10 races to be in contention for the overall series prizes. Those who had completed the course before knew that they had to run a fast first kilometre on park roads before the climbing really started on narrow tails giving very limited opportunity to overtake for several minutes. After forest trails and some open mountain running the runners were treated to a tricky technical descent before a sharp uphill climb to the finish line on a course of @6.5k with nearly 400m of vertical ascent.
Oliver Playfair was the first of the NDAC runners to climb uphill to the line. Despite racing in road shoes he finished 23rd in 32:58. David McKeague was just 5 places behind in 33:49, also finishing 3rd M45. Gareth Hardy completed the course in 36:06 followed by Clair Quigley 41:51 Jeremy Tomalin 43:59, Kevin Mulligan 44:48, Abby Andrews 45:24, Nigel Playfair 45:55 and Claire Scott 46:47. Glynis Boyle 48:22 was 2nd F60 and June McMinn took 1st place in the F65 age group in 49:42. Trevor Patterson 55;42, Jennifer Johnston 1:08:12 and Kim McCourt 1:08:13 rounded off an enjoyable evening for club members with Kim even managing to get her hands on one of the much sough after Hill & Dale branded mugs at the prize giving afterwards!
https://www.webscorer.com/190404?pg=results
Belfast to Dublin Ultra, 18/04/25
The Belfast 2 Dublin Ultra on 18 April 2025 is an annual 170km / 107 miles ultramarathon which alternates direction each year and follows the old bus route between Belfast and Dublin. This year’s race began outside the Europa Hotel at noon on Good Friday and runners had 30 hours to reach the finish line at St James Gate in Dublin.
30 runners began the race in torrential rain which followed them to Dublin and 15 finished.
Mark Walker won the race in 16:42:15, 38 minutes ahead of the next finisher.
Track & Field
Thomas Paterson
On Wednesday 16th , Thomas Patterson took his 3000m PB down to 8:46.82 at the Watford open.
Rachel McCann
Athletics Ireland have named a 14-strong team for the World Athletics Relays which take place in Guangzhou, China on Saturday 10th and Sunday 11th May.
Rhasidat Adeleke (Tallaght Athletic Club) – Women’s 4x400m & Mixed 4x400m Sharlene Mawdsley (Newport AC) – Women’s 4x400m & Mixed 4x400m Sophie Becker (Raheny Shamrock Athletic Club) – Women’s 4x400m & Mixed 4x400m Phil Healy (Bandon AC) – Women’s 4x400m & Mixed 4x400m Rachel McCann (North Down AC) – Women’s 4x400m & Mixed 4x400m Lauren Cadden ( Sligo Athletic Club) – Women’s 4x400m & Mixed 4x400m Kate O’Connell (Lucan Harriers AC) – Women’s 4x400m & Mixed 4x400m Cillín Greene (Galway City Harriers) – Men’s 4x400m & Mixed 4x400m Conor Kelly (Finn Valley AC) – Men’s 4x400m & Mixed 4x400m Marcus Lawler (Clonliffe Harriers) – Men’s 4x400m & Mixed 4x400m Jack Raftery (Donore Harriers) – Men’s 4x400m & Mixed 4x400m David Bosch (UCD AC) – Men’s 4x400m & Mixed 4x400m Chris O’Donnell (North Sligo AC) – Men’s 4x400m & Mixed 4x400m Callum Baird (Ballymena and Antrim AC) – Men’s 4x400m & Mixed 4x400mWhitehead Road Race, 21/04/25
While the Boston Marathon may have taken the accolades for the oldest race involving North Down athletes over the Easter weekend, the Whitehead 5 mile road race, long established in its traditional Easter Monday date has been a fixture in the local athletics calendar since 1924. The race takes in 3 laps of the surprisingly hilly town across the lough from Bangor.
Denis Stewart
Boston Marathon, 21/04/25
The Boston Marathon is one of the world’s oldest and most prestigious marathons. Most marathon runners dream of achieving a Boston Qualifying (BQ) time at another marathon enabling them to apply to the Boston Athletic Association for a spot on the start line in Hopkinton, Massachusetts on Patriots’ Day. The 26.2 mile route through the Newton Hills (including the infamous “Heartbreak Hill” between 20 and 21 miles leads runners into Boston eventually running along Beacon Street, although not quite as far as the Cheers Bar, before the final 2 turns, perhaps the most sought after directions in marathon running, “right on Hereford, left on Boylston,” to the iconic finish line permanently painted in North Down AC colours across Boylston Street. The BAA share North Down AC’s colours, but the yellow and blue line was a welcome sight for the first NDAC finisher at the 129th Boston Marathon, Marc Neil in an excellent time of 2:45:05. Thomas Steele was close behind him in 2:46:58 and quickly followed by Declan Magee 3:03:58, Fiona McQuillan ran a fantastic 3:10:30. Paul Floyd was the next club finisher in 3:18:52 with Ricky Jordan 3:20:23, Andrew Nicholson 3:26:01, Sarah Gibson 3:26:49 and Paula Simpson 4:10:13 all recording superb times on this challenging course. 2 more of North Down AC’s 6 star finishers, Noreen and Cliff McCausland who have both run the 6 world major marathons, were involved in the race, though the multiple marathon finishers spent race day handing Gatorade to runners and cheering clubmates at the 19 mile aid station.
