weekly roundup 07/12/25: Lanzarote Marathon, Run for Rescue, Irwin Speirs Memorial XC, Rudolph Run, Irish National Novice and Uneven AG XC Championships

Lanzarote Marathon, 06/12/25

More accustomed to ultramarathons in the mountains, Seán Nickell showed he has lost none of his speed on the roads as he ran his first road marathon in more than 5 years on Saturday. The Lanzarote Marathon follows an out and back coastal route between Costa Teguise and Puerto del Carmen with a maximum elevation of 30m. Seán finished 9th in the veteran male category in 3:28:20.

NIMRA Run for Rescue, 06/12/25

The annual NI Mountain Running Association trail race in support of the Mourne Mountain Rescue Team was held over a challenging route of a little over 10k with approximately 350m of climbing, in Tollymore Forest Park on Saturday. Instead of a race entry fee runners made a donation to the Mourne Mountain Rescue Team instead, raising over £3000 for this vital local charity. 9 North Down AC runners tacked the course with Gareth Hardy the club’s first finisher in 15th place in 51:14. David McKeague was 17th in 51:37 followed by Jamie Andrews 1:01:48, Philip McDonough 1:02:07, Kevin Mulligan 1:03:14, Luke Hamilton 1:03:54, Donald Smith 1:08:27, Sophie Hamilton 1:21:06 and Trevor Patterson 1:22:03.

At the NIMRA race series prize giving following this race Gareth Hardy received an honourable mention for completing all of this season’s mountain races while Trevor Patterson was 3rd M55 in the race series.

David McKeague, Jamie Andrews, Kevin Mulligan, Donald Smith, Philip McDonough, Tevor Peterson, Luke Hamilton, Sophie Hamilton & Pip

Irwin Speirs Memorial XC, Cookstown 07/12/25

North Down AC were well represented at the Irwin Spiers Memorial XC in Cookstown on Saturday. Recent rain ensured the course was as muddy as ever, sapping the energy from the runners’ legs on each lap.

In the 1000m U10 race, Fox Neill was 3rd in 4:06 and Soren Neill finished in 5:03.

The U14s raced over 1 mile with Eric Pinkett finishing in 6:43 and Kristyn Edwards in 6:48.

Philip Mulligan was 2nd in the 3 mile O60 race in 22:41 and Terry Eakin was 1st M75 in 25:57.

Helen Byers led the NDAC women in the 3 mile race in 24:19 followed by Clair Quigley 25:47, Lindsay Doulton 36;05, Sarah Wilson 26:09, Heather Beattie 26:40, June McMinn 27:01 and 1st F65, and Claire Scott 27:55.

The men completed an extra lap for 4 miles with Kyle McLellan leading the NDAC men in 5th place in 25:23. Dean Varley 28:49, David Massey 30:33, Colin Walker 32:42 and Alan Massey 37:19 completed the line up.

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

Clair Quigley, Heather Beattie, June McMinn, Lindsay Doulton, Helen Byers, Claire Scott and Sarah Wilson

Dean Varley, David Massey, Alan Massey, Colin Walker and Kyle McClellan

and after… with Terry Eakin and Philip Mulligan

Rudolph Run, Eskra 06/12/25

Pat O’Driscoll also made his way west to County Tyrone on Saturday although he wisely opted for the 10k Rudolph Run on the roads around Eskra instead of joining his clubmates at the muddy MUSA sports grounds. He completed the race in 1:13:07.

Irish National Novice and Juvenile uneven Age Group XC Championships, 07/12/25

Several of North Down’s junior athletes qualified for the Irish National Championships at the Sport Ireland campus at Abbotstown on Sunday. The muddy conditions grew worse as the races progressed, testing all the athletes stamina and resolve as well as their technical abilities.

The under 11s raced over 1500m with Daly Seaton the first of his clubmates in 11th place in 5:44. Harrison Mair 5:51, Casey Seaton 6:05, Finn McCullough 6:12 and Rory McCullough 6:18 all had excellent races too. The NDAC team was 4th, missing out on 3rd by a single point, however Daly and Harrison were both part of the Ulster team which came 2nd.

At Under 15 Harrison Mair completed the 3500m course in 48th place in 13:32 while in the girls’ race Catherine McBrinn was 14th in 13:55 followed by Sophie Rankin 14:04, Caitlyn Dickenson 15:32, Coco Smith 15:45 and Eve Sloan 16:29. The girls’ team was 5th and Catherine and Sophie were both part of the Ulster team that finished 2nd.

In the U15 boys, Seb Mair went out hard and held on for a very respectable 48^th place. Carter Rolston was unfortunately unable to finish with a virus.

In the U17 girls, Maia Johnston led our squad of four home in 58th, followed by Isla Wiltshire in 87th, Freya Lowry in 103^rd and Abbie Small in 119th.

In the U17 boys, James Blease came home in 125th.

Andy Lowry raced the mens’ 6000m race finishing 158th in the biggest race field of the day (219 finishers) in 26:24.

The women’s 4000M race proved ultra-competitive, with podium positions wide open until the final stages. Tara McDonough took the lead for the first kilometre setting an honest pace for the relatively short XC course. Dearbhla Cox (Annadale Striders) made her decisive move with 500m to go, overtaking 2019 European U23 bronze medallist Stephanie Cotter (West Muskerry), who held on for silver on her return to national competition. Alex Murphy claimed bronze in 15:59, leading Dundrum South Dublin AC to the women’s team title. Tara McDonough was 8 seconds behind the top 3 taking 4th place in an incredible 16:07.

https://myrunresults.com/events/123ie_national_novice_xc_2025/5916/results