San Silvestre Corralejo 5k, Fuerteventura 29/12/24
3 members of the Playfair family took time out of their family holiday in Fuerteventura to race a scenic 5k route from Correlajo and along the beaches. Oliver Playfair certainly didn’t have time to appreciate the views, finishing 3rd in 16:25 ahead of Oliver and Erin.
CIYMS 5k, Belmont Park 26/12/24
6 North Down AC runners took on one of the many festive races available on the Feast of Stephen; the traditional CIYMS Boxing Day 5k attracted 230 runners seeking to burn off excess Christmas calories as they raced around Belmont Park in East Belfast.
Carter Rolston was the club’s first finisher in 4th place in 18:15. Rachel Gibson finished 13th overall and 2nd female in 19:25. Paula Simpson 25:45 and Sarah Gibson 26:02 were followed by Lynne Kerr in 29:05 and Pat O’Driscoll 34:34.
https://www.championchipireland.com/index.html#results
Hawtin Shield, Crawfordsburn 27/12/24
A super turnout of North Down AC members assembled in Crawfordsburn Country Park on Friday 27th December for the 11th edition of the club’s annual 5k handicap trail race in the Country Park. 32 club members ran and even more were involved in calculating time handicaps based on current running form and race times beforehand, setting up the course and marshalling on the day and supporting friends and clubmates around the “traditional” 5k race route in Crawfordsburn Country Park which is acknowledged to be even tougher than the course used for the weekly parkrun.
At the prizegiving afterwards 2 of the club’s senior members, David Seaton and Brian Smith paid tribute to Ken Hawtin who passed away in January, fondly reminiscing about the annual Boxing Day cross country runs from Ballyholme to Orlock and back via the coast to the Hawtin’s home where Ken and Lynn welcomed wet and muddy runners to a feast. In recent years the spirit and camaraderie of these runs evolved into the club’s Hawtin Shield race traditionally held during the Christmas holidays.
Runners were set off in waves at 30 and 60 second intervals with a maximum time handicap of 12 minutes. Ben Jenkins won the 2024 Hawtin Shield in an aggregated time of 28:26. Denis Stewart was 2nd in 28:43 with Mark Carberry finishing a close 3rd in 28:45. The handicap system worked well with over 80% of runners crossing the finish line within 3 minutes of the winner’s time. The fastest individual runs of the day were set by Mark Carberry 16:45, Alex Downey 18:51 and Steven Donegan 18:53 with Tara McDonough 20:49, Stephanie Graham 21:57 and Anna Carberry 23:19 the fastest female finishers.
Club members were delighted to welcome Mrs Lynn Hawtin and other members of the Hawtin family to the event, and Mrs Hawtin presented Ben Jenkins with the Hawtin Shield.
The final results, including time handicaps, were:
Ben Jenkins 28:26
Dennis Stewart 28:43
Mark Carberry 28:45
Tara McDonough 28:49
Luke Hamilton 28:51
Tom Agnew 29:09
Anna Carberry 29:19
Carter Rolston 29:23
Aaron McAuley 29:24
Sinead Mooney 29:32
Donald Smith 29:33
Jill Aicken 29:40
Alex Downey 29:51
Stephanie Graham 29:57
Sophie Hamilton 30:06
Gerry O’Boyle 30:10
Nick Irvine 30:16
Mitchell Brown 30:24
Seb Mair 30:25
Alex Irvine 30:33
Michael Jenkins 30:42
Cara Jeffrey 30:43
Alastair Mair 30:49
Steven Donegan 30:53
Zara Fulton 31:09
Ralph Ingram 31:10
Johnny McWhinney 32:00
Marion Beattie 32:07
Nicole Bell 32:27
Ed Mezzetti 32:33
Caroline Gilmore 35:09
Pat O’Driscoll 42:43
More of Sarah Connolly’s superb event photos at this link:
Christmas Cracker, Castlewellan 28/12/24
The highlight of the local Christmas running calendar is always Newcastle AC’s Christmas Cracker race in Castlewellan. Runners run in pairs, many donning festive fancy dress for the occasion and set off on a challenging course known only to a select few of the local club’s organising committee. The only thing runners know is that the route will take them through the forest trails in Castlewellan, up hills and muddy farmers’ lanes and across fields for a few miles. As the route and distance aren’t published in advance and change every year, runners never know whether to press hard and overtake pairs in front or to hold back as there may be 3 more miles of hills to negotiate before the finish line!
This year’s course was approximately 9 miles long with around 1200 feet of climbing and more than 30 pairs of North Down AC runners, or teams including at least 1 club member were among the 707 pairs of runners who completed the race. Prizes are awarded by gender and combined age group and 4 teams including NDAC runners won their categories; The highly competitive F80-99 age group was won by Clair Quigley and Fiona McQuillan while Glynis Boyle and June McMinn won the F120-139 category. Sarah Gibson and Norman Mawhinney (Scrabo Striders) were first in the mixed 120-139 category and North Belfast Harriers’ Brian Stewart and North Down AC’s Terry Eakin won the M140+ age group.
Craig McMeechan and Jamie McMeechan were the first NDAC finishers in 7th place overall in 1:00:39. Thomas Steele and Ricky Jordan were 18th in 1:04:27 with Jonathan Gibson and Chris Arnold (Peninsula Tri Club) 30th in 1:06:29. Simon Boyle and Ballymena Runners’ John Hasson were 43rd in 1:10:13 and the combinations of Declan Magee and Florian Mada (Ballygalget AC) 1:10:13, Gareth Hardy and Mickael Lenu (appearing as Cruella De Ville and 1 Dalmatian) 1:10:28, Chris Downey and David Massey 1:11:53 and Clair Quigley and Fiona McQuillan 1:13:56 all claimed top 100 spots.
Philip Mulligan and Kevin Mulligan 1:16:06 held off a strong challenge from Daniel Burns (Ballydrain Harriers) and Paul Floyd 1:16:21 with Jamie and Sam Andrews 1:16:58, Gerry O’Boyle and Robert Eadie 1:17:11, Mark Carbery and Anna Carberry 1:17:16, Tara McDonough and Patrick McDonough 1:17:32, Sarah Gibson and Norman Mawhinney 1:18:24, Andrew Nicholson and Craig Manley 1:18:41 and Philip McDonough and Seán Nickell 1:19:28 not far behind.
Lindsay Doulton and Valerie McDonough in matching Tinkerbell costumes finished in 1:21:11 ahead of Andrew Muir and Eamonn O’Reilly 1:21:59, Glynis Boyle and June McMinn 1:25:28, Gerard Adair and John Braniff 1:26:55 and Claire Scott and James Lemon (Peninsula Tri Club) 1:27:42.
One of the youngest teams comprising Luke Hamilton and Hollie Massey finished in 1:31:55 narrowly ahead of the M140+ winners Brian Stewart and Terry Eakin 1:31:58. They were followed by another father and son team, Jonathan and Finlay Magrath 1:32:32. Dean Varley and Rebecca Jordan 1:32:36 were followed by a bunch of bananas containing Stephanie Graham and Alan Massey 1:32:54, Abby and Ella Andrews 1:40:18 and a pair of penguins with a passing resemblance to Wendy Neely and Beth Mulree 1:42:26. Jeremy and Lisa Tomalin 1:42:42 finished ahead of Heather Gale 1:49:59 with ballerinas Sophie Hamilton and Cara Jeffrey pirouetting through the park in 1:54:29. The big babies, Jill Long and Paula Simpson almost certainly had nothing stronger than milk in their bottles as they crossed the line in 1:58:46 followed by Kim McCourt and Joanne Gillam 2:01:47.
https://www.webscorer.com/racedetails?raceid=376028&did=492092
