weekly roundup 07/04/24 Dundalk 10k, Omagh Half Marathon, London Landmarks Half Marathon & Irish Indoor Age Group Championships

Despite Storm Kathleen forcing the cancellations of many local parkruns and some races including the 6 and 12 hour endurance challenges at Florida Manor near Killinchy, as well as causing travel problems for those traveling further afield, North Down AC’s athletes still managed to cover plenty of windswept miles over the weekend. For some it was their final long runs ahead of the London and Belfast Marathons while others managed to find races thankfully unaffected by the weather.

Brian Geddis, Dundalk 10k

Brian Geddis headed to Co Louth on Saturday 6th April for the Dundalk 10k. The event also offered a half marathon option with the half marathon runners doing 2 laps of the 10k course with an extra section to complete the extra 1.1km. Brian’s course looped through the town and its northern suburbs with the long return leg towards the town testing runners as they battled the strong headwinds. Brian finished 19th overall and 1st M60 in 43:43.

https://www.myrunresults.com/events/dundalk_half_marathon__10k/5122/results

Omagh Half Marathon

The Omagh half marathon, starting and finishing in the town and taking runners through the undulating Co Tyrone countryside is always one 0f the most popular spring marathons in Northern Ireland, selling out well in advance of race day. This year more than 3400 runners tackled the course in windy conditions with Aaron McAuley the first of the NDAC finishers in 1:25:09. Fiona McQuilan 1:27:27 was 9th woman and 3rd F40. Simon Boyle was next to finish in 1:29:03 followed by Clair Quigley in 1:33:38. Sarah Gibson was 1st F50 in 1:33:49 and Helen Byers was the next NDAC athlete across the line in 1:42:25. Glynnis Boyle 1:43:26 was close behind her and Emma Hegarty ran strongly on a windy day to finish in 1:59:14.

https://www.myrunresults.com/events/34th_spar_omagh_half_marathon__5k/5013/results

[Aaron McAuley]

[Sarah Gibson, just!]

[Helen Byers]

Paula Simpson & Heather Beattie, London Landmarks Half Marathon

Paula Simpson and Heather Beattie took a bumpy flight to the capital for the London Landmarks Half Marathon, Starting at Pall Mall and finishing near Downing Street the course took the North Down AC duo and nearly 25000 other athletes from Westminster to the City and back. Paula didn’t hang about to admire the views of the Old Bailey, St Paul’s Cathedral or the Tower of London, or gaze across the Thames at the Shard or the London Eye as she finished in 1:49:44 and 12th F55 out of 582 in her age group. She even beat TV presenter Dermot O’Leary by a few seconds! Heather Beattie competed her first half marathon in a fantastic debut time of 1:57:15.

https://results.sporthive.com/events/7150153523280253696/races/488085/bib/737

[Heather Beattie]

Irish Indoor Age Group Championships

With the outdoor track & field season just around the corner, the final indoor competition of the season took place in Athlone over the weekend.

Jamie Moffatt was aiming for gold in the U19 60m, however, that chance all but disappeared when a poor start left him trailing from the gun, however, he did well not to panic and recovered to take the silver medal in 6.93s.

Cameron McCracken survived a scare in the U17 60mH when he clattered the final two barriers in his heat, but managed to stay on his feet for a comfortable win and progressed to the final where he ran a faultless race, setting a new lifetime best of 8.50s and earning a well-deserved silver medal. In the 60m sprint, he narrowly missed a PB and making the final when finishing 3rd in his heat with a time of 7.42s.

Curtis Hughes took a significant chunk off his PB in his heat of the U17 200m to finish 2nd in 23.60s but, running in one of the tight inside lanes, couldn’t repeat that in the final and had to settle for 5th place in a time of 23.79s

Caoimhe Fenlon finished 6th in the U15 shot putt (2.72kg) with a best effort of 9.20m, a PB of almost 1 metre, and 6th in her heat of the 60mH in 10.43s, just outside her PB.

[Caoimhe Fenlon]

Despite finishing 2nd in his heat of the U19 400m in a time of 52.77s, Conor Adair did not progress to the final

Ethan Isles came 4th in his heat of the U19 800m in a time of 2:08.48 but did not progress to the final

In only his first season of athletics, Ben Kirk came 4th in his heat of the U17 60m in time of 7.54s. Ryan Hamilton has been suffering from a severe chest infection for the last few weeks so it was no surprise when he finished 7th in his heat of the U17 60m in 7.86s

[Jamie Moffatt]