[Not a valid template]The Northern Ireland & Ulster Road Relay Championships, which were held on Saturday in Victoria Park and impressively hosted by Orangegrove AC, attracted over 140 teams in pre-entries across 4 races. The North Down Senior Ladies Team of Jessica Craig, Rachel Gibson and Kerry Speers stole the day by winning the Open Ladies 3 x 3380m Relay in a Course Record time of 36:12 min, over half a minute inside the existing record, and collecting the generous bonus on offer. It was an exciting race as Judith Lonnen got defending Champions City of Lisburn away to a flier with an opening leg of 11:19 min. Jessica was next in 11:44 min, resisting any temptation to get drawn into a duel and put the team firmly in 2nd place, trusting her team mates to do the chasing over the next 2 legs. Rachel cut the gap significantly with 11:52 for the next leg but it was not until the last lap of the last lap that Kerry got the team ahead for the first time. Both teams finished inside the previous record.
It was not the first success of the day as Craig McMeechan and Amelia Tyler had won the U17 boys race and the primary girls race respectively in the preliminary individual races for Juniors which had been held earlier. The Junior results have now been added. See below at end.
North Down had 2 teams in the Ladies Masters event, also over 3 x 3380m. The ‘A’ team had remarkably similar splits with Ali Robinson 9th in the strong opening leg in 13:22 min. Valerie McDonough ran next, gaining 3 places and running 13:23. Catherine Roberts then ran 13:21 for the final leg with the team in 7th. The ‘B’ team of Jill Aicken, Marie Devine and Janice Sheppey ran 46:56 min for 17th. Disappointingly there are no times available for the splits in the mens’ races, held over 4 x 3380m.
The Masters team of Mark Reid, Johnny McGrath, Robert Martin and Trevor Patterson ran 54:07 min for 26th. The club had 3 teams in the Mens’ Open event and it was another good performance by the club. The ‘A’ team of James Budde, Dennis Scott, Francis Marsh and Chris Speers were 4th in 42:06 min. There was virtually a blanket finish in the first leg but North Down were third, a position they held for 3 legs. However runs for St Malachy’s by Joe McAllister and Paddy Robb on legs 3 and 4 moved them up to eventually second and Chris had no option but to finish 4th. The ‘B’ team of Jamie McMeechan, Nick Irvine, Ben Caughers and Gareth Watton were 20th in 46:49 and the ‘C’ team of Reece Simpson, Ciaran Farren, Peter Speers and John McGarvey were 25t in 51:02. Both teams were a mixture and included Juniors and Masters who sacrificed there availability for the Masters event.
Relay Results
| CATEGORY | TEAM | NAME | AGG TIME | LEG TIME | POS |
| Masters women | North Down A | Ali Robinson | 13:23 | 13:22 | (9) |
| Masters women | North Down A | Valerie McDonough | 26:45 | 13:23 | (6) |
| Masters women | North Down A | Catherine Roberts | 40:06 | 13:21 | 7th |
| Masters women | North Down B | Jill Aicken | 14:21 | 14:21 | (15) |
| Masters women | North Down B | Marie Devine | 29:54 | 15:33 | (17) |
| Masters women | North Down B | Janice Sheppey | 46:56 | 17:02 | 22nd |
| Senior women | North Down | Jessica Craig | 11:44 | 11:44 | (2) |
| Senior women | North Down | Rachel Gibson | 23:36 | 11:52 | (2) |
| Senior women | North Down | Kerry Speers | 36:12 | 12:36 | 1st |
| CATEGORY | TEAM | NAME | AGG TIME | LEG TIME | POS |
| Masters men | North Down | Mark Reid | 12:21 | 12:21 | (21) |
| Masters men | North Down | Johnny McGrath | 25:18 | 12:57 | (21) |
| Masters men | North Down | Robert Martin | 38:43 | 13:25 | (22) |
| Masters men | North Down | Trevor Patterson | 54:07 | 15:44 | 26th |
| Senior men | North Down A | James Budde | 10:08 | 10:08 | (3) |
| Senior men | North Down A | Dennis Scott | 20:23 | 10:15 | (3) |
| Senior men | North Down A | Francis Marsh | 30:54 | 10:31 | (3) |
| Senior men | North Down A | Chris Speers | 42:04 | 11:10 | 4th |
| Senior men | North Down B | Jamie McMeechan | 11:29 | 11:29 | (22) |
| Senior men | North Down B | Nick Irvine | 23:16 | 11:47 | (21) |
| Senior men | North Down B | Ben Caughers | 34:47 | 11:31 | (19) |
| Senior men | North Down B | Gareth Watton | 46:47 | 12:00 | 20th |
| Senior men | North Down C | Reece Simpson | 11:26 | 11:26 | (21) |
| Senior men | North Down C | Ciaran Farren | 23:53 | 12:27 | (23) |
| Senior men | North Down C | Peter Speers | 36:26 | 12:33 | (23) |
| Senior men | North Down C | John McGarvey | 51:00 | 14:34 | 25th |
Juniors (Individual Races)
As stated above, Craig and Amelia had won their races beforehand, Craig in 10:38 min and Amelia in 2:38. Also in the primary races, Poppy Dann was 21st in 3:27 and Euan Tyler was 12th in the boys race in 3:05. Eve Dann was 18th in the U13 girls with 7:57. In the U15 girls, Jessica Scott was 4th in 6:04, Anna Scott 6th in 6:11, Anna McDowell 12th in 6:44 and in the U15 boys, Steven Yathindran was 7th in 5:41.