On a wet and windy Friday night 12 North Down AC’ers made the journey down the pennisula to Greyabbey to run the well organised 5 & 10K. With at least 14 athletes competing in the races this was a decent turnout given the weather and the recent busy schedule of races.
The course consisted of 1 lap for the 5k and 2 for the 10k of the hilly back roads with a forested flat road before turning onto the coast road for a final flat mile to the finish.
First up in the 5k was an impressive run by Clare Russell running the distance in 25:51 placing her 19th overall, next up was Karen Sinclair in 28:13. Laura Gilmore clocked an impressive run in 30:39 and finishing in 28th position overall – a great run by our only junior runner taking part.
In the 10k there were 11 athletes running the course with a number of PB’s being smashed! At the halfway stage Gareth Watton was looking on form as he was holding 6th position but sadly had to pull out of the race due to back problems. First over the line for the club was Eamonn O’Reilly with an impressive run in 40:50 finishing 27th overall. Just behind Eamonn was Andrew Muir who ran 41:24. Jodi Smith kept up her impressive form with a 41:40 finish to be the first NDAC lady to cross the line and second lady overall. Colin Walker was not far behind Jodi in 42:12. Valerie McDonough took +20secs off her best time to run a new PB of 42:48 and being the 3rd lady overall. Philip Mulligan finished in 59th position in 44:46 with Davie Seaton not far behind having a good run in 45:25. James Barr had a good run for the club to cross the line in 47:11 with club newcomer Helen Byers running well for a PB in 47:57. Heidi Rodgers had a good run in 48:56 followed by Trevor Spencer in 57:01.
A special mention goes out to Jodie Smith and Valerie McDonough for being the second and third placed ladies in the 10k.
Well done to everyone for making the journey down to Greyabbey on what was a windy and damp evening. Congratulations on some great results and apologies if any runners were left out of the report or for any mistakes in timings etc.
Photos of the night are in our ‘Gallery’ section. Thanks to Roy Kerr for photos too!