Joe McAllister of St Malachy’s AC won his third road race win in as many weeks as he took the Bangor Classic 10K, sensationally beating the favourite, Kenyan Joseph Kibor by 8 seconds with Paul Rowan of Willowfield 3rd. There were 220 athletes in the race which was sponsored by North Down Borough Council and marked a revival of the famous promotion of the 80′s and 90′s. It was a good day for Northern Ireland runners as in the associated British police 10 miles championship, Northern Ireland Cross Country Champion Stevie Cairns running for Border and Lothian featured in a rare dead heat with Steve Rees-Jones of Hampshire after slugging it out every step of the way.
The Bangor Classic was run over a new course along the coast road to Groomsport and back to finish in Ward Park. Unfortunately, much as the many runners would have liked to have claimed their times as pbs, it soon became apparent that the 10K course was two or three hundred metres short. The times in the 10 mile race were free of any such anomaly.
Running in North Down colours were Michael Dyer 14th in 32.51, James Budde 16th 33.16, Jamie Stewart 25th 34.00, Robin Brown 48th 37.20, Thomas Simpson 60th 38.43, Derek Jeffers 61st 38.45, Hilary Kernaghan 75th 40.58, Michal Jenkins 82nd 41.22, David Bell 101st 43.26, Debbie Matchett 110th 44.33, Roy Graham 112th 44.38, Roma McConville 124th 46.50, Emer Quinn 140th 49.18. Prizewinners were Derek 1st M60, Hilary 2nd F40, Roma 1st F45 while had there had been a Junior Category, Jamie and Robin were 1st and 3rd. Though he now lives in Enniskillen George Graham is forever a North Down legend and he was 1st M65 with 98th in 43.06.