weekly report 03/11/24: Born 2 Run Minnowburn, Montalto 12 hour Challenge, Ulster & NI Uneven The Group XC Championships, McConnell Shield XC, Jog On Cancer 10k, Scottish Short Course XC Championships, Tommy Run 5k, New York Marathon

Born to Run, Minnowburn 02/11/24

The first race of this winter’s Born 2 Run’s Run Forest Run 10k trail races took place on Saturday 2nd November at Minnowburn with runners starting and finishing on the Mary Peters Track with the rest of the route passing through the trails along the banks of the Lagan and through the National Trust estate at Minnowburn.

10 North Down AC runners took to the trails with Brian Geddis the first to finish in 45:48, winning the M65 age group in the process. Christopher Ballentine 50:12, Ben O’Driscoll 50:50 and Abby Andrews 53:18 were followed back to the MPT by Jill Aiken 54:49, Cadey Moore 55:30, Stephen Moore 55:30, Nicole Bell 1:05:55 and Sinead Mooney 1:05:56. The final NDAC finisher not only completed this 10k, but achieved the incredible milestone of finishing his 200th competitive 10k race in 1:21:36 taking 2nd place in his M75 age group. Congratulations to Pat O’Driscoll.

https://www.championchipireland.com/index.html#results

Montalto 12 hour Challenge, 02/11/24

The Montalto Challenge races took place in the Montalto Estate near Ballynahinch overnight on Saturday 2nd November. Runners had to complete as many 5k laps through the estate grounds as possible within 3, 6 or 12 hours. One of North Down AC’s regular ultraruners was taking part and naturally Jill Connolly opted for the 12 hour challenge where she completed 17 laps for 85k finishing 1st female and 3rd overall.

Ulster & Northern Ireland Uneven Age Group Championships, 02/11/24

At the Ulster & NI Uneven Age Group Championships at the Finn Valley in Co Donegal on Saturday 2nd November Daly Seaton came 7th in the u11s and therefore qualified for Ulster. In the u13 girls, Sophie Rankin finished 6th and also qualified for Ulster. Also running in this race were Eve Sloan (34th) and Molly Rankin (79th despite losing a shoe). In the u13 boys, Isaac Hall was 36th and Adam Downey 54th and in the u15 girls Caitlyn Dickenson was 39th. Ollie Playfair was 8th at U19boys and Holly Blease had another good run for 19th in the U17girls, while Alex Downey was a solid 20th in his first venture moving up into the U17 age group.

Molly & Sophie Rankin

McConnell Shield XC, Ballyclare, 02/11/w4

At the McConnell Shield in Ballyclare Robin Anderson was 1^st in the u12 boys, with Logan Fowles also picking up a medal by finishing 3^rd. In the u14 girls Isla Wiltshire was 1^st and Jessica Fowles just missed out on a medal by finishing 4^th. Carter Rolston finished 1^st in the u14 boys’ race.

Left to right: Sophie Wiltshire, Isla McQuillan, Logan Fowles, Robin Anderson

Robin Anderson & Logan Fowles

Isla Wiltshire

In the senior women’s race over 3 miles Fiona McQuilan was the club’s first finisher and 1st F40 in 20:32. Clair Quigley finished in 21:43 ahead of Olivia Cumming 23:04, Glynis Boyle (1st F60) 23:08, Claire Scott 23:25, Marion Beattie 23:45, Beth Mulree 27:06 and Lisa McMeechan 28:59.

The men took 3rd team in the 88th running of the McConnell Shield X-country race at Ballyclare for the second year running. Racing over 5 miles, the team was led home by Craig McMeechan 4th 26:43, Daniel Dines 11th 28:32, Francis Marsh 26th 31:17 and Dean Varley 32:26 in 35th.

Jog On Cancer 10k, Lurgan 03/11/24

The rescheduled Jog On Cancer 10k took place in Lurgan Park on Sunday 3rd November, the original proposed date having had to be cancelled because of last month’s storms. Beth Mulree took on the race completing a back to back weekend of running after cross country the previous day, finishing in 54:03.

Scottish Short Course Cross Country Championships, 02/11/24

At the Scottish short course 4k XC champs held at Kirkcaldy, Mark Carberry placed a very respectable 46th in 12:08 (race winner 11:19) running for Stirling University, with Luke McDowell experiencing this packed race for the first time placing 172nd out of 467 finishers in 13:29, representing Glasgow University.

Tommy Run 5k, Co Durham 03/11/24.

On Sunday at Seaham Co Durham NE England, Rachel Gibson placed 3rd overall and 1st female in the Tommy Run coastal 5k (measured at 5.3k), clocking 21:03. The course. followed the beautiful sea front at Seaham on a mixture of road, paths, promenade, and some trail paths starting at the Tommy War Memorial statue of a First World War soldier by artist Ray Lonsdale, beside Seaham war memorial.

New York Marathon, 03/11/24

One of the most iconic marathons in the world, the New York Marathon was held on its traditional date of the first Sunday in November. From the opening strains of Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York” as runners began the race crossing the Verazzano Narrow’s Bridge from Staten Island with views of the Manhattan skyline athletes are greeted by a wall of sound as they run through each of the city’s 5 borough from Brooklyn over the Pulaski Bridge into Queens, the Queensboro Bridge into Manhattan, the Madison Avenue Bridge into the Bronx and the Willis Avenue Bridge into Manhattan and the finish line beside the Inn in the Park in Central Park.

3 North Down AC runners headed to the Big Apple with Sarah Gibson first of the trio to finish in 3:12:52 followed by Paula Simpson in 4:15:44 and Cliff McCausland with a new PB in 4:38:31.