With a break from cross-country races and ahead of the road racing year, most events this week involved ultra miles or forest trails. Spring marathon (and ½) training miles were increasing and there were many Harriers out as usual at Saturday parkruns.
Valentines 6 Hour Challenge
On Wednesday, those who really love their running took part in the latest East Antrim Marathon Series challenge. The conditions weren’t particularly favourable with driving rain and strong winds along the whole of the out and back course. The race started at Loughshore Park; competitors then ran from there along to Gideon’s Green and back ( a distance of 4.2 miles) as many times as they could (or wanted to) inside 6 hours. Greg McCLure completed 9 laps in 6:19:01 for third place overall running 37.8 miles. Whilst Thomas McKinstry completed 7 laps, 29.4 miles; to take 5th place in the ultra challenge.
Tollymore 10k Night Run
Friday evening saw the third and final race in the 26extreme Night Run series in Tollymore Forest Park. Using the same course and the Tollymore Trail Marathon events, it consisted of hilly fire roads and single track that was fully way marked. Helen Weir completed the whole series of three races by placing 6th (23rd overall) in 45:25. And it was North Belfast Harrier James Trainor, who led the procession of head lamps around the forest finishing first and over a minute clear in 38:07. Geoff Swann ran 46:11 to place 26th and Nichola Swann was 84th with 53:30
MMR Donard Wood Trail Race
Saturday morning sunshine greeted the hill runners in Newcastle for the Mourne Mountain Rescue fundraising race organised by NIMRA. The 4.5 mile loop with 350m of climb consisted of forest trail, the Granite Steps and grassy trails. Martje Hell took 2nd on the ladies podium with 38:08. Simon Reeve ran 35:09 and Charles Breen also finished in the top half of the field with 44:02.
photos Jayne Bell NIMRA
Run Forest Run Gosford
Sunday morning saw the penultimate race of the Born2Run Run Forest Run Series take place in Gosford Forest Park. Having been postponed previously due to frozen snow and ice, milder drizzly conditions greeted the runners in County Armagh. The series has been popular with several Harriers participating over the 2017/18 series. Those who ran the 10k included:
Simon Reeve 38:33, Anthony Fleming 52:59, Philip McIlwrath 55:33, Caitriona Pagni 1:05:25, Anne Marie Clarken 1:12:24 and Rosy Ryan 1:34:16.
Last One Standing Castleward
Over the weekend, Atlas running held their Ultra endurance and associated trail races at the Castleward Estate. North Belfast Harriers were represented in the Ultra by Sandy Carr who ran 58.8 miles over a total of 14 hours in which a 4.2 mile loop must be completed on the hour, every hour. Sandy placed 29th overall out of a field of nearly 100 and was 5th lady. The race started at 12pm on Saturday, so most of Sandy’s laps were ran Saturday night into the early hours of Sunday morning.
EAMS & EOI Quad
The final event of the East Antrim Marathon Series and East of Ireland Quadrathon was held on Sunday morning over the hilly Knockagh course. With a several distances available from 10k to Marathon Padraigin Bingeam completed the 10k in 1:00:40
parkrun Results:
Waterworks parkrun, Belfast
| Position | parkrunner | Run Time | ||
| 1 | Conall MCCLEAN | 00:16:26 | ||
| 3 | Matthew LAVERY | 00:17:35 | ||
| 6 | Laurence JOHNSTON | 00:18:25 | ||
| 8 | Joe NORNEY | 00:18:54 | ||
| 9 | Paul CURLEY | 00:19:04 | ||
| 11 | John SLOAN | 00:19:18 | ||
| 12 | John Gerard MURPHY | 00:19:30 | ||
| 16 | Sean MCSHANE | 00:19:49 | ||
| 17 | Piaras MCSHANE | 00:19:50 | ||
| 23 | Geraldine BRANAGH | 00:20:53 | ||
| 24 | Eamon MCCAMBRIDGE | 00:21:00 | ||
| 28 | Ita MCCAMBRIDGE | 00:21:35 | ||
| 34 | Ray CAMERON | 00:22:19 | ||
| 35 | Drew KNOX | 00:22:20 | ||
| 36 | Greg MCCLURE | 00:22:20 | ||
| 41 | Sam CARR | 00:22:56 | ||
| 50 | Sean MCSHANE JR | 00:23:17 | ||
| 51 | Katrina MCAULEY | 00:23:17 | ||
| 56 | Robert IRVINE | 00:23:40 | ||
| 60 | Tony REID | 00:24:14 | ||
| 66 | Catriona MCCAMBRIDGE | 00:24:44 | ||
| 78 | Maurice PALMER | 00:25:37 | ||
| 106 | Philip MCILWRATH | 00:27:03 | ||
| 108 | Heather WILSON | 00:27:10 | ||
| 109 | Lyle CARLETON | 00:27:13 | ||
| 110 | Anthony FLEMING | 00:27:13 | ||
| 115 | Lynn MCCULLOUGH | 00:27:27 | ||
| 118 | Bronagh CONLON | 00:27:41 | ||
| 119 | Thomas MCKINSTRY | 00:27:43 | ||
| 132 | Jim CLINTON | 00:28:45 | ||
| 142 | Leona KNOX | 00:29:24 | ||
| 143 | Jason REID | 00:29:31 | ||
| 148 | Clare O’HARA | 00:29:56 | ||
| 165 | Stella HARRISON | 00:32:11 | ||
| 170 | Margaret STEPHENS | 00:32:32 | ||
| 171 | Monica O’KANE | 00:32:36 | ||
| 172 | Dirdre MURPHY | 00:32:38 | ||
| 190 | Dermot MCGRATH | 00:35:30 | ||
| 231 | Rosy RYAN | 00:45:11 |
Durham parkrun
| Position | parkrunner | Run Time | ||
| 2 | Andrew MILLIGAN | 00:16:36 | ||
Belfast Victoria parkrun
| Position | parkrunner | Run Time | ||
| 52 | Colin SIMPSON | 00:22:13 |
Queen’s parkrun, Belfast
| Position | parkrunner | Run Time | ||
| 35 | Damien GILL | 00:59:59 | ||
| 50 | Ciaran HUNTER | 00:59:59 | ||
| 116 | John LAVERY | 00:59:59 |
Ormeau parkrun
| Position | parkrunner | Run Time | ||
| 11 | Mark SHIELDS | 00:20:05 | ||
| 37 | Paul WILLIAMS | 00:22:23 |
Larne parkrun
| Position | parkrunner | Run Time | ||
| 1 | Nat GLENN | 00:17:55 | ||
Colin Glen parkrun
| Position | parkrunner | Run Time | ||
| 19 | Jack MCCREADY | 00:28:26 |
parkrun du Château de Pierre de Bresse
| Position | parkrunner | Run Time | ||
| 2 | Stephen WALKER | 00:21:20 | ||
Lough Key parkrun
| Position | parkrunner | Run Time | ||
| 30 | Matt SHIELDS | 00:23:46 |
