weekly roundup 14/06/25; Hill & Dale Race 9, Run the Runways, Co Down 5k, Belfast Milers Club, ANI U14-U19 Championships, Summer Spine Sprint South, Kim McCourt – Ironman Austria, NIMRA Flagstaff to Carlingford

Hill & Dale Race 9 12/06/25

The penultimate race in this year’s Hill & Dale Race series, The Meels, was held in unseasonably cold and stormy conditions on Thursday 12th June. The yellow weather warning and heavy rain saw the organisers modify the scheduled race route over Spellack, Meelmore and Meelbeg to a shortened course with runners descending from Meelmore into Happy Valley and back to the Meelmore Lodge. The North Down AC contingent hid their disappointment at missing several hundred metres of extra climbing well and committed to getting back down to warm, dry clothes and shelter as quickly as possible. 

Ben Jenkins was the first runner back to Meelmore Lodge in 51:41 closely followed by Jeremy Tomalin 53:11. Abby Andrews won the F50 age group in 54:58 followed by Cameron Jenkins 57:50, Kevin Mulligan 1:04:10 and Willy Hoey 1:04:31. Two more age group winners rounded off the NDAC finishers with John Adgey once again claiming M80 honours in 1:09:05 and June McMinn taking 1st place in the F65 AG in 1:13:21.

https://www.webscorer.com/race?raceid=394038

Run the Runways, BHD, 12/06/25

Ben and Cameron Jenkins flew back from the Hill & Dale race just in time to check in for the Run the Runways 5k at Belfast City Airport shortly after the airport closed to flight traffic, at 11pm on Thursday evening. 495 runners were cleared to take off along the runway for one of the more unusual races in the running calendar. In addition to racing for personal bests, or to beat clubmates and colleagues, the individual runners and corporate teams taking part in the challenge raised more than £40000 for the Air Ambulance NI. Cameron completed the run in 24:35 narrowly ahead of Ben in 24:48 with Michael Jenkins completing the course in 35:05.

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

Co Down 5k, Downpatrick, 13/06/25

Several North Down AC runners took to the streets of Downpatrick on Friday evening for a series of 5k races comprising 7 1/2 laps around the town centre. Runners were grouped into races against other athletes of similar ability ensuring close fought road racing.

Pat O’Driscoll ran in the over 30 min race finishing 1st M75 in 32:03. In the 22 – 30 min race Paula Simpson was 2nd F55 in 24:17 and Beth Mulree ran 25:05.

2 NDAC runners tackled the elite race with Kyle McLellan finishing 11th in 16:42 and Alasdair Mair 28th in 17:56.

In the 18-22 min race Sebastian Mair was 7th and 1st U13B in 17:59 1 place ahead of club mate Carter Rolston in the same age group 18:04. Tara McDonough was 1st female in 18:29, running the second fastest time by a woman in any of the races. Sophie Rankin was 1st U13G and 2nd female followed by Valerie McDonough 2nd F50 and Sarah Gibson 20:51 and 1st F55.

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

Belfast Milers Club, 14/06/25

At Saturday’s British Milers Club ‘Record Breaker’ meet at MPT the north Down athletes enjoyed a great day of racing and getting wet in the day’s constant drizzle! Dean Varley and John Ewing kicked things off in the men’s E race 800m, with Dean setting a 2:06.83PB in second, and John clocking a season’s best 2:09.29. In the women’s 1500m B race, Rachel Gibson came through some midweek niggles to get around injury free in 4:56. In the men’s C mile, Daniel Dines had a breakthrough performance in winning with a 7 sec PB in 4:18.10 after taking on the lead at half-way point. In the men’s D mile, Thomas Patterson made good use of a trip home from his London base, to place 3rd, just a whisker outside his PB in 4:25.09. In the same race, Josh McDowell was similarly close to his PB clocking 4:39.56 in 8th. In the men’s E mile, Ollie Playfair won easily by 9 seconds in 4:42 PB, with Nick Irvine bettering his 2024 time with 4:56.40 and Francis Marsh clocking 5:08.3s

NI & Ulster U14 0- U19 Championships, 15/06/25

In Sunday’s NI&Ulster U14-U19 champs at MPT, Holly Blease topped off the group’s performances winning gold in the under18 girls 2000m steeplechase in her debut over the barriers, clocking 8:18.26s. In the huge field in the girls U15 1500m, Caitlyn Dickenson placed a commendable 12th in 5:20.2s. In the U16 girls 1500m, Maia Johnston set a 1500m PB in 5:25.32 in 7th. In the boys U15 1500m, Seb Mair (6th 4:57.68) and Carter Rolston (4:58.54PB) had another close race, while Ethan Constable took his 1500m PB down to 4:49.46 for 6th in the u16boys race.

 

Jill Connolly – Montane Summer Spine Sprint South, 14/06/25

A 46 mile “sprint” along the Pennine Way from Edale to Hebden Bridge with 2000 meters of elevation.

 

I have been following this race for years and when I noticed it was within an hour’s drive of my in-laws, I thought I may as well throw my name in the hat. I was really lucky to get a place, as it sold out in a matter of minutes. So it was time to go live the Spine experience instead of following online this year.

Preparation for this race is absolutely key. That would usually mean a certain type of running training, however this time it was all about the kit. This is an entirely self sufficient event. There are no aid stations in the Sprint, so you must carry all water and food from the start. The kit list is also exactly the same as it is for full Spine, meaning that my pack was going to weigh 6.5kgs, and I would be carrying around a poo shovel. As soon as Transgrancanaria was finished in February, I made sure to do all my long runs wearing a running vest with the full kit. This massively slows you down, but it is the same for every runner in the event. So the key for me was to get used to wearing it and get my body adjusted to running with more weight.

I have never been on the Pennine Way so the route was to be a complete surprise. And what a great surprise it was – absolutely incredible views from start to finish.

I started the race with a very controlled pace. Many other runners flew past me in the first couple of miles. But with the heaviest pack at the start, and the biggest climbs first, my strategy was to move well in the beginning, but save the push for the later miles. Once we up over the first climb, there is a lovely stretch of flat pavers that I bounced along, finding my rhythm. One by one I began to pass many of the runners that shot off in the beginning.

By the half way mark I knew I was making good progress working up through the field, but had no idea on my placing. I wanted to stay focused on running my own race, so kept pushing on but always focused on how I was feeling, instead of where others were around me. That all changed when I got to the final stretch….. A runner from the other race (challenger south) informed me as I ran past that there were only two women in front of me. At this point I had only just passed a female runner, who was still looking very strong. So it was time to give it all that I had, the “sprint” was on for the podium.

I crossed the finish line as third lady and 14th overall finisher in 10 hours and 14 minutes. Only two minutes ahead of the next female runner. The sweaty last two pictures are very representative of how much I pushed it in those final miles!

 

 

Kim McCourt, Ironman Austria 15/06/25

Many North Down AC athletes are also triathletes. Time and space have limited reports about some of our runners who have already competed in local and international triathlons this season, however it would be remiss to omit mention of Kim McCourt who completed another Ironman triathlon in Austria on Sunday. Kim completed the 3.8k swim in the lake at Klagenfurt in 1:39:22 then the hilly 180k cycle in 7:44:33 before running a marathon in 4:47:02 to complete Ironman in an overall time, including transitions, of 14:31:00. 

NIMRA Flagstaff to Carlingford, 15/06/25

Gareth Hardy headed for the Cooley Mountains in Co Louth on Sunday in the latest NI Mountain Running Association race along the ridge between Flagstaff and Carlingford. Gareth completed the 10.3 mile race with over 3400 ft of climbing in 15th place in 2:21:12.