weekly roundup 26/05/25: LVAC Fab 5, Hill & Dale – Millstone, May Fair 10k, Marconi 5k, Granite Peaks 25k, Newry Half Marathon & 10k, Edinburgh Marathon

LVAC Fab 5, MPT 22/05/25

The third Fab Five meeting took place on a sunny Thursday evening at the Mary Peters
track in Belfast. A good number of club members took part with some impressive results.
In the u12 boys’ 400m, Harrison Mair was 3rd overall and 1st in his heat in a time of 1.13.05.
In the u14 girls’ 600m, Sophie Rankin was 3rd (1.50.10), Eve Sloan was 17th in 1.59.61, and
Molly Rankin, running against older girls, was 30th in 2.11.76. Eve also took part in the shot
put, finishing 12th with a throw of 5.40m. In the u14 boys’ 600m, Adam Downey was 16 th in
2.23.12. There was also a 1,000m walk for u14s and women and Jenny Keery
finished 3rd in 6.47.42
In the u16 girls’ 80m hurdles, Eva Patton was 2nd in 13.18, whilst in the 3,000m Caitlyn
Dickenson was 8th in 11.35.93, setting a new PB.

Emma Reid who only started throwing javelin in the last few months continued her fine form by
winning the event with a commanding throw of 22.95m. In the long jump Jessica Kindle was
6th (3.68m) and Caitlyn Dickenson was 7th (3.17m).
Moving on to the u18 and senior events, Matthew Knight won the 400m hurdles in 56.28. In
the 3,000m it was good to see Valerie McDonough and Lindsay Doulton making their track
debuts for the season. Valerie was 14th (12.01.75) and Lindsay was ]17 th (12.30.85).

In the senior men’s 3,000m B race Dean Varley was 2nd recording a new PB of 9.51.83. John Ewing continued his excellent return to form finishing 6th in a track PB of 9.59.67, and Alan McConnell was 11th (10.23.73).

Finally, in the u18 and senior men’s 3,000m A race Daniel Dines won in a new PB of 8.53.17 PB and Kyle McLellan, in his debut race in North Down colours came 5th in 9.06.18.

Hill & Dale 7, Millstone 22/05/25

What a beautiful evening for a mountain run! North Down AC were well represented once again at another tough Hill & Dale race with athletes running a single loop of @7.5k with almost 500m of vertical ascent from Donard Park over Millstone Mountain. Congratulations to June McMinn on yet another age category win. June also placed 30th out of 78 women in a strong field, finishing in a fantastic time of 1:04:25.

Great performances, with David McKeague finishing 16th overall in 44:52, closely followed by Gareth Hardy in 46:52 – clearly both racing for the best seats in O’Hares and the post-run debrief! !

Ben Jenkins (52:25), Abby Andrews (57:32), Luke Hamilton (59:02), and Cameron Jenkins (59:05), all storming in under the hour mark.

Photo Credit: Richard Cowan

May Fair 10k, Ballyclare, 24/05/25

5 North Down AC runners were in Ballyclare for the May Fair 10k on Saturday. The 10K course took in a loop to the top of The Square in the town centre, along country roads to Doagh before a long climb on the return to the finish at the Rugby Club. Thomas Steele was the club’s first club finisher in 10th place, and 3rd M40 in 37:42. Sarah Gibson was 1st F55 in 44:44 followed by Andrew Muir 45:49, Paula Simpson (3rd F55) 52:39 and Pat O’Driscoll 1:07:34.

Sarah Gibson, Thomas Steele & Paula Simpson

Marconi 5k, Ballycastle, 25/05/25

Sarah Connolly headed to Ballycastle on Sunday 25th May for the annual Marconi 5k race, finishing in 24:52.

Granite Peaks 25k, 25/05/25

David McKeague returned to the Mournes on Sunday for his second race in four days, The 25 Granite Peaks route started and finished in Tollymore and the mountain runners tackled more than 1500m of climbing over the course, ascending from the forest park and over Slieve Loughshannagh before crossing the Ben Crom Dam and heading back via the Brandy Pad and Trassey Track. David finished 7th overall in 3:00:47 and 2nd M45.

Lough Cutra Half Marathon, Gort, 25/05/25

Lisa Tomalin was first lady at the Lough Cutra Half Marathon on Sunday. Running through the beautiful grounds of Lough Cutra Castle in Gort, Co Galway, Lisa didn’t hang around to enjoy the views, completing the race in 1:40:31.

Newry Half Marathon 25/05/25

Garry Morrow won the Newry Half Marathon on Sunday in a fantastic time of 1:13:49 while club mate Matthew Norman was 30th out of 753 finishers in 1:23:38. Runners headed out of the city centre and followed the river towards Carlingford Lough turning around at Narrow Water Keep and racing back towards Newry.

In the 10k race Sanda Hall set a new PB of 51:10 taking more than 2 1/2 minutes of her previous best time, and Mick Hall finished in 52:44.

Edinburgh Marathon, 25/05/25

3 North Down AC marathoners headed to the Scottish capital on Sunday for the Edinburgh Marathon. They were treated to all Scottish seasons over the course of the event from sunburn early on until they ran the final 6 miles through hailstones into a headwind! Dean Willis was the club’s first finisher in 3:40:10 followed by Anna Carberry on her debut marathon in 3:56:16 and Aodhan Quinn in 4:26:12.