weekly roundup 31/05/26: LVAC Super 6, All Ireland Schools T&F, VHI Women’s 10k, Slieve Donard Race, Norn Iron Ultra, VHI Women’s 10k

It’s been another action packed week for NDAC’s athletes  with superb track and field results at the MPT and the Irish Schools. The mountain and trail runners have been busy as well with the highest peak and the longest point to point race in Northern Ireland both featuring over the weekend!

The third of Lagan Valley AC’s Super 6 Series took place on Thursday evening at the Mary Peters track in Belfast. Although club entries were lower than usual there were some great performances by North Down AC athletes.

In the u10 boys’ 600m, Cillian Armstrong was 3rd in 2.11.05 and Soren Neill finished 4th in 2.26.06. Soren also took part in the  shot, finishing 5th with a throw of 3.24m.

At u12 boys’ Harrison Mair was 2nd in the 600m in 1.50.87 and Fox Neill finished 13th in 2.04.54. Fox also took part in the shot put, coming 5th with a throw of 5.92m. 

In the u12 girls’ 600m, Isla Little was 19th in 2.15.73.

Robin Anderson was 5th in the u14 boy’s 1000m in 3.16.74 and Lewis Johnston was 12th in 3.28.13.

In the u14 girls’ 1000m Rose Reavy finished 13th in 3.29.19 andMolly Rankin came 15th in 3.32.91.

Sophie Rankin picked up the gold medal in the u16 girls’ 200m with a run of 6.44.75, whilst in the u16 boys’ 2000m, Isaac Hall was 10th in 7.05.36.

In the u18 women’s discus, Emma Reid won gold with a throw of 36.74m. Emma’s throw was also further than any of the senior women ,and in the senior men’s discus, Emma’s coach Ian McMullan picked up another gold medal for the club with his throw of 35.77m.

Several more North Down athletes were representing their schools having qualified for the Irish Schools Track and Field Championships on Saturday; Catherine McBrinn achieved a PB milestone dipping under 2:20 for the first time, clocking 2:19.71 for 5th in the minor girls’ 800m. In the junior boys Sebastian Mair clocked another PB finishing 8th in the 800m in 2:08.31 and Carter Rolston shook off a recent injury to run close to his PB with 4:32.18 for 8th in the 1500m. Poppy Earl was 3rd junior girl running a 200m PB of 26.01 and she came 6th in the 75m hurdles in 12.44. In the intermediate girls 3000m Caitlyn Dickenson was just outside her PB in 11:21.34 for 9th, while in the minor girls 4x100m relay, Eve Sloan helped Glenlola to 5th place in the final. Tomas Montgomery was 4th in the intermediate boys’ 400m in a PB time of 51.27. Harrison Jamison ran 50.70 to finish 5th in the senior boys’ 400m and Matthew Knight was 5th in the senior boys’ 400m H in 55.39. Emma Reid won a silver medal in the intermediate girls’ discus, throwing 35.87m and came 5th in the shot put with a throw of 11.34m. 

http://live.athleticsireland.ie/textfile.txt

Although the Hill & Dale race series had a week off, 5 North Down Ac runners were among the 161 athletes who lined up in Newcastle for Northern Ireland’s ultimate sea to summit challenge, the 81st Slieve Donard Race. In perfect running conditions the mountain runners ran into Donard Park and made their way to the 852m summit before a fast descent back to the park. A personal challenge in this race is trying to reach the summit in fewer minutes than your age in years – no bother for John Adgey as he “peaked” in a mere 78 minutes on his way to an M80 age group win. Abby Andrews was the club’s first finisher and 2nd F55 in 1:29:20 and also ran the fastest NDAC ascent of the day, 59:01. Jeremy Tomalin finished in 1:32:00 and Lisa Tomalin who also summited in under an hour finished in 1:34:34, narrowly ahead of Clair Quigley who was 2nd F45 in 1:34:43 and John Adgey finished in 2:02:09.

https://www.newcastleac.org/?p=18739#more-18739

 

2 more of North Down AC’s ultramarathon runners headed to the north coast on Saturday for the 5th running of We Run Wild’s “Norn Iron Ultra,” a 106 mile race from Ballintoy to Gortin in Co Tyrone. The superbly organised race, now in its 5th year, keeps drawing runners back for the challenge of running along the Causeway coast and over mountains and forests in less familiar parts of the Sperrins. Club President Mark Weir returned for the 5th time and Donald Smith for his 4th. Despite some of the worst weather ever experienced during the event, Mark finished in 8th place with a 12 minute PB in 25:30:20 and Donald was 28th in 31:01:12.

Special mention must go to 2 more of our experienced ultramarathon club members who gave up their weekend to support the runners; Seán Nickell crewed for Donald and Jill Connolly cheerfully served pasta and hot drinks to cold, tired and sore athletes at an aid station in a GAA club outside Dungiven throughout Saturday night and Sunday morning. 

   

 

In Sunday’s VHI Women’s 10k mini-marathon in Dublin, Tara McDonough joined an all-female field of over 24,000 runners to place 15th in 36:58.