Lagan Valley AC 5th Fab Five Meeting, MPT 22/08/24
The fifth and final Lagan Valley AC Fab Five meeting took place on another rainy
Thursday evening, but that didn’t prevent some great performances by the North
Down AC athletes who took part.
In the under 12 boys, Adam Downey was 2nd in the shot put with a throw of 6m.
Adam also took part in the 1,000 metres where he finished 10th in 4.01.87. Molly Rankin finished 17th in the U12 girls’ 1,000 metres in a time of 4.14.03.
At under 14s, Travis Truedale was 1st overall in the boys’ 200 metres in
26.48. In the under 14 girls’ 1,000 metres, Sophie Rankin was 10th in 3.33.03, whilst
Caitlyn Dickenson was just behind her in 11th in 3.33.27.
In the under 16 girls, Rachel Chacko finished 4th in her heat of the 200 metres in
30.92, whilst Freya Lowry, who just missed out on the under 14s by one day, finished
5th in her heat in 35.20. Alex Downey continued his fine form in the under 16 boys’ 1
mile race, winning with a PB of 4.51.06. Alex took the lead following a slow first lap of 80s, including the extra 9m required to complete the mile distance, before controlling the front with 74s and 73s laps before producing an Ingebrigsten like final lap of 65s.
Moving up to the under 18s, it was a good evening for Ben Kirk who was 1st in both
the 400 metres (52.75) and the long jump (5.31m). This was the first time Ben had
raced over 400 metres so he now has a PB as a benchmark. In the senior men,
Conor Adair was 3rd in his heat of the 400 metres, finishing in 52.32. In the senior
men’s mile, it was another fine run by Daniel Dines who finished 3rd with a PB of
4.27.10. He was followed home by Josh McDowell (6th in 4.47.71) Nick Irvine 4:58 and Alan
McConnell (19th in 5.25.93).
A huge thanks to Lagan Valley AC for putting on these meetings.
Alex & Adam Downey
Strangford 5k & 10k, 23/08/24
The annual Strangford 5k & 10k races took place through the town and the Castleward Estate on Friday 23rd August. North Down AC was represented over both distances. Carter Rolston came 3rd in the 5k in 19:05. In the 10k Declan Magee was 6th in 38:28 and Gerard Adair finished in 48:01.
https://www.championchipireland.com
Carter Rolston
Portrush 5 mile road race, 23/08/24
heather and Helen Beattie made the trip to a cold, wet north coast on Friday evening for the Portrush 5 mile race. Starting on the West Prom they ran 2.5 miles towards Portstewart and the turnaround point. Heather was first to finish in 37:56 and Helen followed in 49:01.
https://www.championchipireland.com
Helen Beattie
Burnsall Feast Sports and Classic Fell Race, Wharfedale 24/08/24
Sebastian and Harrison Mair took on their first fell race in the beautiful setting of Burnsall in Wharfedale in the Yorkshire Dales on Saturday and they completed the race in style with Seb wining and Harrison finishing second!
Two Towers Race, 24/08/24
David McKeague and Gareth Hardy were in mountain racing action in the Mournes on Saturday at the Two Towers Race. The 8k race with 900m of ascent started at Happy Valley off the Trassey Road. Runners followed the Ulster Way and the Mourne Wall over the summit of Slievenaglogh to the first of the towers at the top of Commedagh. They dropped to the Brandy Pad passing Hare’s Gap before passing the race’s second tower at the summit of Meelmore from where they descended to the finish line in Happy Valley. David was first of the NDAC duo to finish in 18th place in 1:37:20 with Gareth finishing 30th in 1:42:43.
Gareth Hardy
Star Track Competition, Magherafelt, 24/08/24
Rathlin Run, 24/08/24
8 North Down AC runners took the ferry from Ballycastle to Rathlin Island on Saturday to race a hilly 5k or an even hillier 10 mile course at two of the best local races in the running calendar.
Sarah Connolly was the first of the NDAC runners to complete the 5k finishing 6th overall and 2nd female in 21:43 with Abby Andrews claiming 2nd F50 spot in 26:12.
6 club members raced in the blustery conditions along undulating 10 mile race from Church Bay to the West Lighthouse and back to the finish line in front of McCuaig’s Bar. Donald Smith was the first back to the line in a course PB of almost 5 minutes in 1:23:34, chased all the way by Ben Jenkins who finished 10 seconds later in 1:23:44. Claire Scott took first F50 honours in 1:24:08 with June McMinn winning the F65 age group too in 1:31:05. Cameron Jenkins completed his first race in almost 2 years in 1:31:24 and Ella Andrews rounded off the club’s finishers in 1:39:15.
https://rathlinrun.com/race-results
Donald Smith, Cameron Jenkins, Abby Andres, June McMinn, Claire Scott, Sarah Connolly
Sarah 2nd 5k
Claire
Antrim Coast Half Marathon, 25/08/24
Several North Down AC runners headed to Larne on a cold, wet and windy Sunday morning to join a field of world class international athletes at the Antrim Coast Half Marathon. In the elite race Kenya’s Nzioka Matata broke 1 hour in challenging running conditions t finish in 59:48 while Ethiopia’s Yalemzerf Yehualawi won her 3rd consecutive Antrim Coast Half in 1:05:34.
Craig McMeechan was the first of the North Down AC runners back to Larne in 40th place overall in 1:09:11. Dale Murray finished 74th in 1:12:46 followed by Andrew Nicholson in 1:19:47 and Finn Johnson 1:19:56. Chris Couchman completed the half in 1:26:55 with Luke Dobson running a superb debut half marathon time of 1:28:44. Steve Wise was the next finisher in 1:35:42 with Olivia Cumming finishing in 1:46:20 and Sinead Mooney in 2:23:42.
https://antrimcoasthalfmarathon.com/results/
Craig
Andrew
Steve
Luke
Olivia
Abbott Longford Marathon 25/08/24
The longest run of the week was in Longford where Sarah Gibson raced in the marathon on Sunday. Starting and finishing in the county town the route took runners around a single lap via Roosky. Sarah finished 2nd female and 24th overall in 3:10:33.
