On a busy weekend of racing where weather was always likely to have an influence on proceedings several of the North Belfast Harriers participated in races on the country, road and trail.
Stormont Cross Country
First up on Saturday morning was the annual Northern Ireland Civil Service AC cross country event at Stormont. The course was all on grass (and mud) this year making it a proper test of cross country running. Each lap was approximately 1.1miles and consisted of a number of undulations, turns and muddy banks. As is the usual practice the ladies event (over 3 laps) was combined with the race for the V60 men. The club was represented in this one by Matt Shields and Jim Newberry securing first and second places in the V60 category. Matt finished in second place in the race overall with only the ladies winner Sinead Sweeney from Queen’s AC ahead of him at the end. Full results were:
| Pos | Time | Cat | Name |
| 1 | 00:20:06 | M60 | Matt Shields |
| 2 | 00:21:37 | M60 | Jim Newberry |
In the male open and vets race (over 4 laps) it was good to see a number of club athletes out including some of the ever improving juniors. The strength in depth was illustrated when the club secured the male team prize: Neil Carty(3rd), Andrew Milligan(7th) and Edward Cooke(8th). Paralympian Michael McKillop was next up in 10th place. Full results were:
| Pos | Time | Cat | Name |
| 3 | 00:24:48 | M50 | Neil Carty |
| 7 | 00:25:24 | MJ | Andrew Milligan |
| 8 | 00:25:30 | MO | Edward Cooke |
| 10 | 00:25:47 | MO | Michael McKillop |
| 20 | 00:26:51 | MJ | Amando Bamisile |
| 40 | 00:28:50 | M55 | John Patience |
| 53 | 00:30:54 | M50 | Mark Shields |
| 54 | 00:30:55 | MJ | Niall Armstrong |
Born 2 Run ‘Run Forest Run’ Castlewellan 10k
The final race of the Run Forest Run series, the Castlewellan 10k trail race, also took place on Saturday morning in the spectacular surroundings of Castlewellan Forest Park. The event was won by David McKee from Mourne Runners in a speedy 35:18 who was followed home by some 560 athletes demonstrating the popularity of these events. Six club athletes made the trip to represent the Harriers and take on the challenge and their results were:
| Pos | Name | Cat | Time | |
| 84 | Gordon | Glenn | M45 | 0:48:03 |
| 238 | Anthony | Fleming | M40 | 0:55:16 |
| 248 | John | Beggs | M50 | 0:55:33 |
| 382 | Megan | Beggs | FO | 1:01:05 |
| 449 | Anne Marie | Clarken | F40 | 1:05:45 |
| 551 | Patricia | Bingham | F40 | 1:22:50 |
Sperrin Harriers Parkanaur 10 mile Trail Race
This event marked the fifth and final race of the popular Sperrin Harriers winter league trail series. The series is in it’s eighth year with the 10m race formerly a 4-lap run around Lough Fea near Cookstown but now in it’s second year as a 3-lap run in the Parkanaur Forest near Dungannon. The runners start in the courtyard before heading into the forest, past the deer enclosure, along the Torrent River, past Saint Patrick’s Well and through the ornamental gardens, returning to the courtyard for 2 more laps.
Around 140 runners raced in the prevailing blustery conditions, with wins for Vincent McAlister (unaffiliated) in the male race in an impressive time of 57:17 and Karen Alexander (Acorns AC) in the female race in 62:46. Martsje Hell had a fine race to take second place for the club in the female open in 65:25. Robert Irvine secured first place in the M55 category in 70:42 with Helen Weir in 2nd place in the F45 category in 74:41. Full results for club athletes were:
| Pos | Time | Name | Cat | |
| 15 | 1:05:25.00 | Martsje | Hell | FO |
| 27 | 1:10:42.00 | Robert | Irvine | M55 |
| 41 | 1:14:41.00 | Helen F | Weir | F45 |
| 94 | 1:28:09.00 | Lynn | McCullough | F45 |
| 102 | 1:29:52.00 | Philip | McIlwrath | M40 |
| DNF | Nisha | Sharma | FO |
EAMS World Marathon Day
With Sunday being the 26th of February (26.2) what better reason to hold a marathon event and EAMS duly obliged. Despite fairly horrendous weather conditions around 80 brave athletes took on the marathon challenge with a similar number taking on the associated half marathon. It was a family affair in the McKinstry household with Tucker coming home in 2:03:05 and Lorna completing the course in 2:27:35.
Slieve Gallion Challenge 5k and 10k
Also on Sunday, and enjoying similar weather conditions (i.e. grim) St Martin’s GAC hosted the annual Desertmartin 5k and 10k events. Representing the club in the 5k, Joanne McGurk came home in 30:10 for 67th place overall, while in the 10k Shane Donnelly took a fine win in 36:36.
parkrun
A total of 47 club athletes completed a parkrun on Saturday morning, the majority at the Waterworks. The full results were:
Waterworks parkrun, Belfast # 333 – 25/02/2017
| 6 | Odhran CATNEY | 19:27 | PB stays at 00:19:21 |
| 8 | Frankie SMYTH | 19:39 | PB stays at 00:19:28 |
| 14 | Cian MCGRATH | 20:58 | PB stays at 00:20:33 |
| 17 | Gerard SOWNEY | 21:25 | PB stays at 00:20:47 |
| 25 | Daniel O’CALLAGHAN | 22:42 | New PB! |
| 27 | Lyle CARLETON | 22:45 | PB stays at 00:22:33 |
| 33 | Piaras MCSHANE | 22:56 | PB stays at 00:18:27 |
| 40 | Tony REID | 23:30 | PB stays at 00:21:50 |
| 73 | Donna MCLAUGHLIN | 26:18 | PB stays at 00:24:32 |
| 82 | Greg TURNER | 26:49 | PB stays at 00:26:16 |
| 88 | Joan GRIEVE | 27:16 | PB stays at 00:27:08 |
| 89 | Bronagh CONLON | 27:20 | New PB! |
| 120 | Thomas MCKINSTRY | 29:24 | PB stays at 00:23:09 |
| 122 | John Gerard MURPHY | 29:27 | PB stays at 00:18:49 |
| 123 | Jason REID | 29:27 | PB stays at 00:21:46 |
| 126 | Lynn MCKENNA | 29:41 | PB stays at 00:28:54 |
| 128 | Trisha MURRAY | 29:56 | PB stays at 00:28:39 |
| 130 | Ciara SEYMOUR | 30:06 | PB stays at 00:29:44 |
| 133 | Monica O’KANE | 30:17 | PB stays at 00:29:46 |
| 135 | Lynn MCCULLOUGH | 30:19 | PB stays at 00:23:37 |
| 138 | Joanne MCGURK | 30:22 | PB stays at 00:28:45 |
| 148 | Nisha SHARMA | 31:10 | New PB! |
| 149 | Jacqueline LAWLOR | 31:18 | PB stays at 00:28:58 |
| 151 | Michael LAWLOR | 31:19 | PB stays at 00:25:44 |
| 160 | Margaret STEPHENS | 31:53 | PB stays at 00:28:23 |
| 165 | Catherine O BOYLE | 32:53 | PB stays at 00:32:11 |
| 175 | Eadaoin DONALDSON | 34:33 | PB stays at 00:24:26 |
| 176 | Bernadette DUFFY | 34:34 | PB stays at 00:29:29 |
| 183 | James TOAL | 36:01 | PB stays at 00:30:52 |
| 186 | Mick MURRAY | 36:59 | PB stays at 00:28:38 |
Queen’s parkrun, Belfast # 258 – 25/02/2017
| 15 | Philip Patrick DONNELLY | 20:27 | PB stays at 00:18:34 |
| 47 | John LAVERY | 23:32 | PB stays at 00:20:04 |
| 84 | Jim CLINTON | 25:17 | PB stays at 00:22:42 |
| 101 | Joe WILSON | 26:34 | First Timer! |
Wallace parkrun, Lisburn # 197 – 25/02/2017
| 5 | John MCCONNELL | 19:51 | PB stays at 00:18:24 |
MUSA Cookstown parkrun # 178 – 25/02/2017
| 1 | Cathaoir PURVIS | 17:12 | PB stays at 00:16:51 |
Ormeau parkrun # 192 – 25/02/2017
| 42 | Colin SIMPSON | 22:36 | PB stays at 00:19:51 |
| 70 | Athanasia SEVASTAKI | 24:01 | PB stays at 00:20:21 |
| 257 | Drew CRAWFORD | 34:06 | PB stays at 00:27:06 |
Antrim parkrun # 165 – 25/02/2017
| 3 | Gerard MCNAMARA | 19:26 | First Timer! |
Larne parkrun # 165 – 25/02/2017
| 1 | Ethan GLENN | 19:14 | New PB! |
| 2 | David CLARKE | 19:18 | PB stays at 00:18:11 |
| 16 | Harry PLUMB | 24:28 | PB stays at 00:22:24 |
Bangor parkrun # 147 – 25/02/2017
| 45 | Matt SHIELDS | 23:18 | First Timer! |
| 51 | Kevin MCCANN | 23:42 | First Timer! |
Valley parkrun, Newtownabbey # 130 – 25/02/2017
| 3 | Rory KANE | 19:54 | New PB! |
Limavady parkrun # 100 – 25/02/2017
| 179 | Rosy RYAN | 39:50 | First Timer! |
