Manchester Marathon
Promoted as one of the flattest and fastest marathon courses in the UK, Manchester welcomed 14,000 runners on Sunday and by all accounts even the weather played ball, serving up perfect conditions for the assembled athletes, amongst them two of North Down’s finest.
Dougie Gordon has been in great form recently and duly delivered on his potential by claiming a fantastic new Pb of 3:11.46. Unfortunately Helen Byers had suffered an injury affected build up to Manchester and knew in advance that she was not destined for her fastest time, however a clocking of 3:46 reflects a tenacious character and was good enough for an excellent 134th in age category.
Irish Indoor Juvenile Championships
The third and final day of the Irish Indoor Age Group Championships that took place in Athlone, on Saturday 6th April, was primarily for the relays along with some field events.
Niamh Fenlon may have been North Down’s only individual representative, but she didn’t disappoint as she claimed a silver medal in the U15 long jump with a best effort of 4.83m (just 3cm below her pb).
Niamh then joined teammates, Poppy Dann, Beth Hammond & Lucy Kerr, for the 4x200m relay in which they finished a very respectable 3rd in their heat with a time of 1:52.44, however this wasn’t quite enough to advance to the final.
English National Relay Championships – Sutton Coldfield
Running in the colours of Herne Hill AC (home club of Francis Marsh) Jessica Craig was in top form at the weekend and was delighted to contribute towards a successful team effort, with the London club returning home from the West Midlands as silver medalists in the Senior ladies race. Setting off on the second leg (of six) Jessica covered the 3.16 mile distance in 17:58 an excellent contribution to a strong team including English International athlete Katie Snowden.
