The Christmas season brings its own mix of festive fun and rushing around preparing for the holidays. The NBH, never ones to put their feet up, kept up the pace by participating in their masses in some great events on the local running scene.
The Belfast Association of Rock Climbers & Fell Runners ‘Turkey Trot’, Mourne Mountains, County Down:
The festivities kicked off on boxing day with the Annual BARF ‘Turkey Trot’ race. The 5.7 mile route entailed 435 metres of ascent from the Trassey Track and looped around the contours of Slive Meelmore, Bearnagh and Meelbeg.
Paul Pruzina from Ballydrain Harriers took the top spot (46:00) with Moira O’Sullivan securing the ladies’ top place (58:47). One NBH runner took to the Mournes that day, Gordan Glenn finished an excellent 60th place (1:11:55)
Greencastle 5 miler, Greencastle, County Tyrone:
Away from the Mournes in the foothills of the Sperrin Mountains, an even larger bunch of over 1000 runners took the start line of the Greencastle 5 mile race on boxing day. This race has built its prestige in recent years to become a top quality event and always attracts a strong field of competitors.
Olympian Paul Pollock of Annadale Striders took his third consecutive win at this event clinching the top male spot (24:52, an average mile pace of 4:58) with Paddy Hamilton of Slieve Gullion runners not too far behind. The top ladies’ place was taken by Catherine Whoriskey from City of Derry AC, she held off Catriona Jennings of Letterkenny AC to take the win (28:12, an average mile pace of 5:38).
Five NBH runners made the trip and were well rewarded with the following excellent times, showcasing the breadth of talent amongst the club from various age groups.
| Pos | Name | Name | Age Cat | time | Average pace |
| 4 | Andrew | Annett | MO | 26:12 | 5:14/M |
| 6 | Lindsay | Gordon | MO | 26:49 | 5:22/M |
| 77 | Ray | Cameron | M40 | 32:54 | 6:34/M |
| 102 | Niall | Armstrong | MJ | 34:09 | 6:48/M |
| 148 | Greg | McClure |
M60 |
35:43 | 7:07/M |
Castlewellan Christmas Cracker, Castlewellan, County Down:
This hugely popular event is now in its 33rd successive year and it keeps getting bigger as the years roll on. While running can sometimes be a solitary sport this race offers an end of year opportunity to team up and race with a partner, requiring both runners to finish the course at the same time to register a finishing time for their team.
The race is organised by Newcastle AC and based from the Castlewellan GAC. Newcastle AC comment on their race report that this race actually originated in Ballydrain Harriers country, near Strangford Lough and Scrabo tower. At the turn of the millennium the organisation of the race was handed over to Newcastle AC and has today grown from 425 teams last year to a full 600 teams entering this year.
The course varies each year and this edition entailed 1,000 feet of climbing over an 8.6 mile route. With really pleasant weather greeting the runners, the course led the field out and around Castlewellan main street, down through a few fields and into Castlewellan forest park. The runners even took to a disused section of the old Great Northern Railway line to add in an extra challenge. Some runners also reported seeing a giant rat / wolf / cow type statue looming over the gate of a field…..
A huge number from NBH made the trip to Newcastle on the 27th showing the strength in numbers of the NBH as a club and the excellent reputation this race has for atmosphere, route and organisation. It seems that all runners were well pleased with the day, with fancy dress material flying in the muck, screams of joy / fear echoing throughout the hills and forests and a few well deserved refreshments afterwards, it seemed a great day of racing was had by all.
The top finishing male team was Mark McKinstry of North Belfast Harriers & Seamus Lynch of Newcastle AC (49:47). The top finishing mixed team was Mourne Runners pair, William McKee & Laura Graham (57:53). The top Ladies’ team was taken by Ballydrain Harriers duo, Amanda Perry & Denise Logue (1:05:32).
Given the huge amount of NBH runners participating (who helped make up 35 teams) its best to list them below. Notable performances were NBH runners taking the 1st, 2nd and 4th place in the male under 80 category, a 1st place in the male 80 – 99 category, a 3rd place in the female 80 – 99 category and the general swathe of NBH participation across both the hills and the finishing results.
Photos by Colm McMullan via facebook, and Thomas McKinstry via NBH facebook page
Position / Number / time / Runner 1 / Runner 1 club / Runner 2 / Runner 2 club / Team Age category
1 391 00:49:47 Mckinstry, Mark North Belfast Harriers* Lynch, Seamus Newcastle AC* Male Under 80
2 610 00:50:59 Annett, Andrew North Belfast Harriers* Gordan, Lindsay North Belfast Harriers* Male Under 80
4 37 00:53:40 Black, John North Belfast Harriers* McCambridge, Conal North Belfast Harriers* Male Under 80
6 411 00:54:47 McNeilly, David Newcastle AC* Carty, Neil North Belfast Harriers* Male 80-99
15 504 00:57:56 Rea, Ciaran Unattached Rea, Martin North Belfast Harriers* Male Under 80
19 231 00:59:19 Jennings, Marc North Belfast Harriers* Collins, Matthew Portmarnock AC Male Under 80
26 416 01:00:39 McShane, Sean North Belfast Harriers* McShane, Piaras North Belfast Harriers* Male Under 80
30 224 01:01:09 Hutchinson, Paul Unattached Swann, Kent North Belfast Harriers* Male Under 80
37 604 01:03:05 Wilson, Matthew Willowfield Harriers* Cooke, Edward North Belfast Harriers* Male Under 80
68 208 01:06:14 Hell, Martsje North Belfast Harriers* O’Hara, Alan North Belfast Harriers* Mixed Under 80
86 445 01:07:47 Murphy, John North Belfast Harriers* Knox, Drew North Belfast Harriers* Male 100-119
88 289 01:07:55 Lindsay, Penelope North Belfast Harriers* Plumb, Janice North Belfast Harriers* Female 80-99
109 139 01:10:03 Fairfield, Eric Orangegrove AC* Simpson, Colin North Belfast Harriers* Male 80-99
110 551 01:10:07 Sowney, Gerard North Belfast Harriers* McClelland, Peter North Belfast Harriers* Male Under 80
113 171 01:10:23 Glenn, Nat North Belfast Harriers* Lavery, Greg North Belfast Harriers* Male 80-99
143 331 01:13:04 McCambridge, Ita North Belfast Harriers* McCambridge, Paddy North Belfast Harriers* Mixed 100-119
151 55 01:13:43 Browne, Ciaran North Belfast Harriers* Losty, David Invictus Tri Club Male 80-99
173 330 01:15:26 McCambridge, Eamon North Belfast Harriers* Smyth, Frankie Unattached Male Under 80
192 587 01:17:16 Walker, Stephen North Belfast Harriers* Williams, Paul North Belfast Harriers* Male 80-99
234 359 01:20:41 McCullough, Lynn North Belfast Harriers* Mcguckin, Patrick Mallusk harriers Mixed 80-99
236 130 01:20:57 Drain, Joe North Belfast Harriers* McCann, Kevin North Belfast Harriers* Mixed 80-99
328 487 01:30:12 Plumb, Sandy North Belfast Harriers* Steele, John North Belfast Harriers* Male 100-119
348 395 01:31:58 McLaughlin, Donna North Belfast Harriers* Murphy, Ruth North Belfast Harriers* Female 80-99
366 332 01:33:39 McCambridge, Orla North Belfast Harriers* Kennedy, Jamie Unattached Mixed Under 80
393 145 01:38:21 Fleming, Anthony North Belfast Harriers* Beggs, John North Belfast Harriers* Male 80-99
439 536 01:44:24 Sheridan, Conor East Coast AC* Tester, Rebecca Seapark AC* Mixed Under 80
475 233 01:51:40 Johnston, Karen Ballydrain Harriers* Johnston, John Unattached Mixed 100-119
513 95 02:00:45 Coogan, Kerry North Belfast Harriers* Murphy, Dirdre North Belfast Harriers* Female 80-99
525 609 02:05:04 Young, Hugh Ballydrain Harriers* O’Reilly, Paula Ballydrain Harriers* Mixed 120+
526 92 02:05:20 Conlon, Bronagh North Belfast Harriers* Grieve, Joan North Belfast Harriers* Female 100-119
532 475 02:06:55 O’Kane, Monica North Belfast Harriers* Curran, Pat North Belfast Harriers* Female 100-119
539 392 02:09:31 McKinstry, Thomas North Belfast Harriers* McKinstry, Lorna Unattached Mixed 80-99
547 556 02:11:35 Stephens, Margaret North Belfast Harriers* Murray, Trisha North Belfast Harriers* Female 100-119
553 534 02:24:00 Sharma, Nisha North Belfast Harriers* Lemahieu-Lamb, Jansje North Belfast Harriers* Female 80-99
554 575 02:24:47 Toal, Sinead North Belfast Harriers* McCarthy, Leeanne North Belfast Harriers* Female 80-99
Lough 5 Road Race & Walk 2016, Omagh, County Tyrone
On New Years Eve more than six hundred runners headed to the townlands outside Omagh, to the shores of Lough Macrory for this 5 mile race.
The men’s race was won by Emmett McGinty from City of Derry (26:43) and the ladie’s race was won by Catherine Whoriskey also from City of Derry (28:07). Two NBH runners participated here, Michelle Doogan and Clare Corey, who finished close together in 522nd (58:24,0) and 523rd (58:29,5).
Gaasterlân Run, Balk, The Netherlands
On Christmas Eve Martsje Hell participated in a half marathon event in her native Netherlands. The race was based around Balk near the north coast of the Netherlands. Here Martsje had a great race and took top spot in the ladies half marathon event (1:31:17), giving an international flavour to the NBH holiday of racing. Maybe the flat roads of the Netherlands inspired Martjse to successfully tackle the steep hills of Glenariff a week later…
Parkrun results, Saturday 24th December 2016 @ various events through the province and Sunday 25th December 2016 @ Waterworks:
As ever NBH showed up in droves to participate at local park runs; as well as the normal Saturday parkruns there were some Christmas Day parkruns. There were two 100th parkruns, three 50th parkruns and three new PBs. (Additional results to be included soon)
Photo via Waterworks parkrun, Paul & Luke receive some well deserved cake on their 100th parkruns
24/12/2016:
Antrim
15th Rebecca WALLACE 19:40
Belfast victoria
37th John PATIENCE 19:30
71st Colin SIMPSON 22:00
Colinglen
21st Elaine HOLMES 27:37
Carrickfergus
6th Ray CAMERON 20:40
Larne
12th Callum MCILROY 22:38
25th Harry PLUMB 24:49
26th Janice PLUMB 24:49
27th Penny LINDSAY 24:50
28th Sandy PLUMB 24:54
29th Nat GLENN 25:08
Limavady
23rd Eadaoin DONALDSON 25:38
27th Philomena DONALDSON 29:33
MUSA Cookstown
1st Cathaoir PURVIS 17:09 – New PB
Ormeau
13th Eva KISSENPFENNIG 21:20
29th Paul WILLIAMS 22:22
Queens
6th Jake HARBINSON 17:50
18th Philip Patrick DONNELLY 19:28
58th Damien GILL 22:02
73rd Ciaran HUNTER 22:47
Valley
13th Matthew LAVERY 21:45
41st Kevin MCCANN 24:44 – New PB
Wallace
10th John MCCONNELL 19:40
Waterworks
9th John Gerard MURPHY 19:58
12th Drew KNOX 20:20
21st Paddy MCCAMBRIDGE 21:27
24th Ita MCCAMBRIDGE 21:49
27th Max REID 22:18
29th Greg MCCLURE 22:42
30th Gordon GLENN 22:49
61st Anthony FLEMING 25:00
64th Lyle CARLETON 25:06
68th Tony REID 25:21
70th Lynn MCCULLOUGH 25:33
71st Sarah Jane STEWART 25:35
83rd Jim CLINTON 26:37
89th John GRIBBIN 26:47
105th Catriona MCCAMBRIDGE 27:55
106th Joe DRAIN 27:59
120th Bronagh CONLON 29:11
124th Sandy CARR 29:16
125th Matt SHIELDS 29:17
126th Orla MCCAMBRIDGE 29:18
130th Lynn MCKENNA 29:49 – New PB
139th Claire BRADY 30:17
140th Fiona MAGILL 30:21
141st Trisha MURRAY 30:22 – 50th Parkun
142nd Irene MCGREEVY 30:44
147th Bernadette DUFFY 31:22
157th Marian HAYES 32:56
158th Margaret STEPHENS 33:03
159th Jansje LE MAHIEU – LAMB 33:04
160th Michael LAWLOR 33:05
161st Mick MURRAY 33:11 – 50th Parkun
190th Gabrielle MALLAGHAN 41:28
191st Padraigin BINGHAM 43:11
199th Thomas MCKINSTRY 51:34
Parkrun 25/12/2016 :
Waterworks
1st Conal MCCAMBRIDGE 16:15 – 50th Parkun
4th Andrew MILLIGAN 17:28
7th Stephen WALKER 18:51
13th Piaras MCSHANE 19:22
21st Conor O’RAWE 20:01
27th John Gerard MURPHY 20:23
31st Niall ARMSTRONG 20:42
36th John MCGUIGAN 20:55
45th Damien GILL 21:26
50th Lauren COX 21:39
51st Ciara O’RAWE 21:40
52nd Anne FITZPATRICK 21:47
53rd Michael FITZPATRICK 21:47
58th Ita MCCAMBRIDGE 22:15
59th Paddy MCCAMBRIDGE 22:16
75th Ciaran HUNTER 22:54
87th Ray CAMERON 23:57
88th Mark SHIELDS 23:59
94th Greg MCCLURE 24:06
98th Kevin MCCANN 24:15
99th Tony REID 24:16
108th Vincent BRADLEY 24:33
120th John LAVERY 25:13
123rd Matt SHIELDS 25:21
132nd Jim CLINTON 25:40
142nd Athanasia SEVASTAKI 25:54
143rd Donna MCLAUGHLIN 25:54
149th Lynn MCCULLOUGH 26:13
170th Catriona MCCAMBRIDGE 26:45
209th Orla MCCAMBRIDGE 28:24
210th Brendan MCCAMBRIDGE 28:25
216th Gordon GLENN 28:46
221st Bronagh CONLON 28:56
224th Paul WILLIAMS 29:05
248th Marian HAYES 29:46
266th Bernadette DUFFY 31:21
267th Philomena DONALDSON 31:22
275th Eadaoin DONALDSON 31:52
280th Mick MURRAY 34:21
302nd Margaret STEPHENS 36:21
303rd Kerry MCSHANE 36:55
304th Jansje LE MAHIEU – LAMB 36:55
312nd Padraigin BINGHAM 38:49
