Athletics NI 2024/25 Cross Country League Results
Between Septembe rand February over thirty clubs took part in the ANI Cross Country League across nine competitions and venues throughout Ulster:
In the men’s competition Annadale Striders won the league with North Down AC finishing 2nd ahead of strong competition from 3rd placed North Belfast Harriers and Willowfield Harriers in 4th place.
The North Down women were 4th. Magherafelt based Tafelta AC and Willowfield Harriers tied for first place with North Belfast Harriers taking 3rd.
Congratulations to everyone who raced XC this season and enjoy the well deserved end of season celebrations next weekend!
Portadown Festival of Running, 23/03/25
This year’s Portadown Festival of Running offered runners the choice of 5k, 10k or half marathon distances following routes starting and finishing at Portadown Rugby Club towards Gilford returning to Portadown along the scenic River Bann towpath where strong headwinds added to the challenge.
North Down AC were well represented in the 10k race with Christopher Ballentine the first of the club’s finishers in 47:02. Marion Beattie was 2nd F40 in 49:02 and Pat O’Driscoll completed another 10k in 1:16:15.
The front of the half marathon was almost a North Down race; Dale Murray led for much of the race only being caught by the eventual winner, Nick Weston of East Antrim Harriers then club mate Matty McParland in the final few hundred metres. Weston’s winning time of 1:12:18 saw him finish narrowly ahead of Matty 1:12:22 and Dale 1:12:24. Positions 4,5, and 7 were all filled by NDAC men with Ashley Dixon 1:13:05, Ricky Jordan 1:14:43 and Johnny Elliott 1:15:26 ensuring NDAC dominated the front of the field. Andrew Nicholson finished with a satisfying sequential time of 1:23:45 ahead of Simon Seaton 1:24:12, Andy Belshaw 1:33;13 and Dean Willis 1:33:32. Matt Ormesher dipped back under 100 minutes with a course PB in 1:39:53 followed by Claire Scott 1:44:40 and Sarah Wilson 1:46:20. Karen Keery 2:02:16, Jenny Keery 2:05:27, David Milligan 2:14;53 and Noreen McCausland 2:29:09 rounded off the club’s finishers.
St Patrick’s Day Marathon, Armagh 23/03/25
To avoid clashes with other races and other St Patrick’s Day events in a city boasting 2 cathedrals commemorating Ireland’s patron saint, the latest Run Armagh/East Antrim Marathon Series race was over an undulating 4 lap course from the Mall in Armagh out the Portadown Road then past orchards and farmland and back into the city on Sunday 23rd March. 2 North Down AC runners faced the same windy conditions as their team mates in Portadown but despite the looped course the headwinds never seemed to translate into tailwinds along any part of the route! Sarah Gibson finished 2nd overall and first female in 3:20:16, and Donald Smith took 6 minutes off his marathon PB to dip under the 3:30 barrier for the first time finishing 5th in 3:27:28.
Dunboyne 10k Road Race 23/03/25
This year’s Dunboyne 10k was also the Athletics Ireland National 10k Championship. 2 North Down runners raced in the Co Meath town with Jessaica Craig finishing 111th (7th senior female) in 33:58 and Tara McDonough was 396th in 39:44.
Coleraine Campus 5k, 23/03/25
The Coleraine Campus 5k offered a variety of time seeded races allowing runners to race against athletes of a similar standard through the UUJ campus. Rachel Gibson raced in the elite race finishing 4th female in 19:55.
North Down Primary Schools Cross Country, 18/03/25
The North Down Primary School cross-country competition was held on Tuesday 18th March in Londonderry Park with Towerview PS winning both the girls’ and boys’ team events. The girls’ team included North Down athletes Rose Reavy who won her race. She was followed by Kristin Montgomery (3rd), Molly Rankin (5th) and Alani Santos (12th). In the boys’ race Robin Anderson (Grange Park PS) was 1st, Eric Pinkett 3rd, Logan Fowles 4th and Ben Dumigan 5th.
East Coast AC Junior XC, 23/03/25
At the 3rd and final race of the East Coast AC Junior Cross Country Races in Larne today, Harrison Mair was 1st in the minor boys, covering the 1600m course in 6:36, and 1st overall in the series. Reeya McQuillan was 14th in 10:23.
Lochlainn Mair was 7th in the minis 800m race in 4:52.
In the junior girls 2000m race Sophie Rankin was 1st in 7:47, Eve Sloan 2nd 8:38 and Isla McQuillan 7th in 10:08. In the overall series Sophie was 1st and Eve 3rd.
In the senior girls 200m race Caitlyn Dickenson was 1st 7:45 and Freya Lowry was 4th 8:34. Caitlyn was 2nd in the overall series.
