Scrabo Hill Race, 15/08/24
4 of the club’s intrepid hill runners ran one of the shortest but toughest events on the NI Mountain Running calendar on Wednesday 15th August. The 6k course included more than 350m of elevation with runners covering a 2 lap course through Killynether Woods and the Scrabo quarries before the final climb to the tower. Matty McParland was the first NDAC finisher in 7th place overall in 31:09 followed by David McKeague who was 12th in 32:31 taking 2nd place in the M45 category. Gareth Hardy reached Scrabo Tower in 34:47 and Clair Quigley was 4th female and 1st F40 in 38:16.
Thomas Steele – Festival of Running 5k, Orlando, 17/08/24
Thomas Steele packed his North Down AC vest and running shoes for a transatlantic trip to Florida and during his stay there raced in the Festival of Running 5k where he finished first M40 in 18:38.
Seán Nickell & Donald Smith, Berliner Mauerweglauf, 17/08/24
Seán Nickell and Donald Smith were in Berlin for the weekend to take part in the Berliner Mauerweglauf – the Berlin Wall trail ultramarathon, a 100 mile race along the trails and Berlin city streets, passing iconic landmarks like Checkpoint Charlie, following the route of the Berlin Wall. The race takes place annually on the Saturday closest to 13th August, the date of the installation of there border barricades in East Berlin which eventually led to the wall. The route includes memorials to victims of the wall and each year the race medal commemorates one of those who died as they tried to escape to the West. This year’s medal was dedicated to Silvio Proksch – here’s his story https://www.chronik-der-mauer.de/en/victims/180595/proksch-silvio
Seàn completed the 100 mile race in 21:43:16 in 71st place and 12th M50 while Donald’s goal of a sub-24 100 mile race was achieved with seconds to spare in 23:58:22.
Storming the Castle, Carrickfergus 18/08/24
This Carrickfergus 10k race is always a club favourite as NDAC runners frequently enjoy views of the castle across the lough during long training runs along the coastal path. This year Alan McConnell was the first club member to storm around a breezy Carrickfergus and return to the Castle in 18th place overall in 38:08. Chris Downey wasn’t too far behind in 39:21, just ahead of 3rd lady, Sarah Grant 39:29. Sarah Gibson 42:29 was 2nd F50 with Luke Hamilton 44:26, Heather Beattie 47:59 and Paula Simpson 50:55 the next to finish. Alex Downey completed his first 10k race in 52:32 4 seconds ahead of Nicola Downey with marathon man Cliff McCausland running a shorter race than usual in 56:05. Sophie Hamilton was next to finish in 56:37ahead of Stefan Butler 58:48, Judith Gillespie 1:00:05, George Emerson 1:00:48, Christina Steele 1:01:37 and Helen Beattie 1:03:07.
https://www.championchipireland.com/index.html#results
Jamie Moffatt, U20 Home Countries International, Windsor 17/08/24
Jamie Moffatt was selected for the Northern Ireland team for the u20 100m at the Thames Valley Athletics Centre near Windsor. He finished 5th in the final in 10.93.
https://meets.rosterathletics.com/public/competitions/details/schedule?id=25396&tcId=5381
Cameron McCracken, Scottish Athletics National Senior & U17 Championships, Grangemouth 18/08/24
Cameron McCracken’s recent superb form was rewarded with an international call up to represent Ireland as part of the U17 international development team in Grangemouth this weekend. He won the gold medal in the U17 100m hurdles in an excellent time of 13.73.
https://results.scottishathletics.org.uk/Sen17/
