Road and cross country events are usually weatherproof but the current severe conditions have caused a flood of cancellations. Larne AC postponed Saturday’s AES Half Marathon in response to advice from PSNI. The organisers have said all entries will be carried forward to the new date which they hope to announce in a few days. All the local parkruns were cancelled with most Belfast parks closed. The cancellation was a massive blow to Orangegrove AC who had organised a big celebration to mark the 100th parkrun in Victoria Park and were left with a large amount of food.
Though there was an element of relief at not facing the Antrim Coast Road in a blizzard, the postpone ment of the Larne Half Marathon, the traditional opener of the half marathon season, there was disappointment among the large entry from North Down AC. It is one of the mainstays of the Pure Running half marathon series and also plays a big part in the build-up to the Spring marathons. One runner with a result in the Pure Running Series is Pat O’Driscoll who was the NDAC representative on Monday in the inaugural Dune Marathon from Dundalk to Newry and was 2nd M65 in 2:14.24.