11 North Down guys headed down to Armagh on Thursday night for the annual road races around the Mall. Condition’s were chilly at around 4 degC but dry and windless. In the men’s international 5k, 2 men broke 14minutes with the race won by Joe Stilin (USA) in 13:58, 2nd place Dan Cliffe (England/Liverpool) 13:59 and olympic triathlon bronze medalist Jonathon Brownlee 3rd in 14:00. Further down the stellar field, North Down’s Michael Dyer set a big pb of 15:06, as did Stephen Wylie in 15:42. Dennis Scott made up the club trio in the 5k with a solid 16:08 after a recent ankle injury.
In the 3k, Craig McMeechan finished 18th overall in 9:34 and 2nd place in the Jun B category. 1 place behind in 9:35 was club coach Francis Marsh (3rd M45). The next 5 North Down athletes came in quick succession with Darren Hamilton 9:59, Reece Simpson 10:00pb, Ben Caughers 10:04pb, Nick Irvine 10:10 and Jamie McMeechan 10:14pb. Terry Eakin, recovering from a recent knee injury, took the M65 category in 11:05. The six to score team just missed out on a podium placing coming 4th.
In the womens 3K race, Nia McNally was 68th and 12th Junior B runner in 12:20.58 min.
Full Results: Armagh International Road Races 2015 Results