16 North Down athletes and their supporters headed to Armagh on Thursday night for the 24th (Annual) Armagh International Road races. Temperatures were a bit chilly around 5-6 degrees Celsius with a slight breeze, but at least it was dry!
First up was the women’s 3k race where Rachel Gibson, recovering from a recent cold, held a solid run together with 20th place in 10:39. Melissa Eccles made a great debut in this event coming home 32nd in 11:22, while Katie Moore equalled her track pb placing 34th in 11:27.
With injuries to some of North Down’s top men, all club focus switched from the international 5k to the open 3k where a team prize was a major target. Stephen Wylie got stuck in with the early fast pace and – despite slowing – ended up with a pb of 9:18 in 12th place. Next came: Francis Marsh 15th in 9:25 (1st M45), Brian Barron 18th in 9:35, Dennis Scott 24th in 9:43, Craig McMeechan 42nd 10:02 (6th Jun B), Nick Irvine 43rd in 10:02, Corey Brown 57th in 10:24, Lloyd Hannigan 60th in 10:29, Reece Simpson 76th in 10:48, Jamie McMeechan 77th in 10:49, Ben Caughers 79th in 10:51, Terry Eakin 78th in 10:52 (1st M60) and Ciaran Farren 84th in 11:01. With some great packing for the scoring 6, North Down men took 1st team prize for the second year in a row.