From one o’clock on Saturday afternoon to the same time 24 hours later athletes ran repeatedly around Victoria Park as part of the 24 hour, 12 hour, 100KM and relay races. North Down were well represented in the event and had plenty of support as members of the club attended regularly throughout the 24 hours to encourage, feed, comfort and provide entertainment, including cheer leading to the runners.
Cara Jeffrey and Sean Nickell completed the 24 hour version and performed remarkably well as they completed 116.02Km, Cara and 172.19Km, Sean. Michael Stevenson also undertook the 24 hr challenge but succumbed to injury during the race. He did however still manage to cover 66Km in the near 9 hours of running that he completed.
Paul Dowey ran in the 100Km race and achieved a magnificent 3rd place thanks to his fastest Km, the 100th, completed in 4:07.
The relay teams completed 24 hours of running with each runner competing for 2 hours then 6 hours rest, repeated 3 times. The ND team of Colin Walker, Fiona McQuillan, Alan Massey and Gavin Jones amassed a total of 284Km which was enough to claim 3rd place. Unsurprisingly from this quartet the pacing of the 2 hour legs was sharp, meaning a podium place was thoroughly deserved.
As we complete the 3 laps of the Victoria park run next time we can appreciate the efforts our fellow athletes put in this weekend. Well done.