A busy week of racing offered widely varying terrains and distances for the NBH athletes to test their spring fitness after a hard winter’s training. There was truly something for everyone with events taking place in mountains, forests, and on the track, not forgetting the weekly opportunity to take in a parkrun.
First up was this popular ladies only race organised by Ballymena Runners. The supported charity this year was the Cancer Fund for Children. A large field of over 350 ladies toed the line last Tuesday night in the village of Galgorm. From there the runners faced a gentle climb into Ahoghill and some winding country roads before returning to Galgorm to the finish outside the community centre. Four ladies represented the harriers and their results were:
| Pos | Name | Cat | Time |
| 181 | Linda Beggs | F35 | 0:48:02 |
| 357 | Caroline Hill | F40 | 1:07:33 |
| 360 | Rosy Ryan | F40 | 1:10:35 |
| 361 | Loretto Hawkins | F65 | 1:10:39 |
The annual Hill and Dale series got underway on Thursday evening with the first race at Castlewellan. Though not as extreme as some of the more mountainous races in the series it was still a stern test of strength and fitness as athletes negotiated the 5.5m course which had over 1,000 feet of climbing. Four NBH runners took part with Neil Carty finishing 4th overall and winning the V50 age category. A fine run also by junior Sean McShane saw him take 3rd place in his age category. Full results were:
| Pos | Name | Cat | Time |
| 4 | Neil Carty | MV50 | 0:35:11 |
| 52 | John Murphy | MV45 | 0:41:19 |
| 186 | Sean McShane | Mjun | 0:50:13 |
| 187 | Sean McShane | MV45 | 0:50:15 |
One participant reported an ‘unending steep hill at the start’ of the 10k course but it didn’t seem to hold back a total of 7 NBH athletes with 2 more preferring the extra distance and opting for the half marathon. The course for both was a mixture of tarmac and forest paths, taking runners inland from the Castle and twice crossing the Glenarm river before returning to finish at the Castle. Frankie Smyth ran a stormer to take 5th place of the 357 finishers in the 10k in a speedy 42:34.
Full results for the 10k were:
| Pos | Name | Cat | Time |
| 5 | Frankie Smyth | MO | 0:42:34 |
| 130 | Paul Somerville | M50 | 0:58:02 |
| 150 | Fiona Magill | F35 | 0:58:27 |
| 196 | Joanne McAllister | F40 | 1:01:26 |
| 203 | Liam Smyth | M50 | 1:01:50 |
| 204 | Lynn McKenna | F45 | 1:01:51 |
| 209 | Paul Armstrong | M50 | 1:02:49 |
and for the half marathon were:
| Pos | Name | Cat | Time |
| 25 | Gerald McNamara | M45 | 1:39:48 |
| 100 | Gordon Glenn | M45 | 1:57:27 |
The British fell running championships opened on Saturday morning with foggy conditions adding to the challenge of racing up and down Meelbeg, Meelmore, Bearnagh, Slievenaglogh, and Commedagh, a total of over 9 miles with 4,000 ft of climbing. Many international runners joined local runners including our own Simon Reeve and Martsje Hell in a feast of mountain running with nearly 300 athletes completing the course. Results for Simon and Martjse were:
| Pos | Name | Cat | Time |
| 182 | Simon Reeve | MV40 | 2:24:40 |
| 255 | Martsje Hell | F | 2:54:42 |
Sunday afternoon saw the track and field specialists enjoy an afternoon of competition at the Mary Peter’s track in south Belfast. Andrew Milligan and Darragh Andrews represented the harriers in the 800m and 200m respectively. Their results were:
Men’s 800m:
| Pos | Name | Time |
| 6 | Andrew Milligan | 2:04.11 |
Women’s 200m:
| Pos | Name | Time |
| 6 | Darragh Andrews | 37.78 |
The Portadown 10K and 5K road races returned to the running calendar after an absence of one year. All proceeds from the event go to the Mandeville unit in Craigavon Area Hospital. Harrier Emma Emsley took part in the 5k:
| Pos | Name | Cat | Time |
| 81 | Emma Emsley | FO | 0:38:40 |
It was a cold, blustery day on Sunday 15th April when 10 North Belfast Harriers travelled to Dublin’s Phoenix Park to run the AAI National 10k Championship Great Ireland Run. The run through Europe’s largest urban park was fairly flat up until 4.5km; however from then on the runners encountered multiple steep uphill sections which will be familiar to any runners who undertake the Dublin marathon (however, instead of going down the hills in the marathon the runners were instead going up them)! With 10,000 runners taking part competition was intense, contributing to fine performances by the club’s athletes despite the difficult conditions.
With four finishers in the top 40 of the men’s race, a championship team medal may be a possibility for Mark McKinstry, John Black, Philip Goss and Eamon White. Congratulations to Robert Spears who recorded a new PB and also to Rosy Ryan who flew the flag for the ladies. Full results were:
| Pos | Name | Time |
| 14 | Mark McKinstry | 0:32:00 |
| 22 | John Black | 0:32:35 |
| 26 | Philip Goss | 0:33:11 |
| 39 | Eamon White | 0:33:36 |
| 109 | Piarais McShane | 0:36:37 |
| 297 | Sean McShane | 0:40:50 |
| 329 | Ray Cameron | 0:41:22 |
| 1222 | Philip McIlwrath | 0:50:13 |
| 1701 | Robert Spears | 0:53:46 |
| 3711 | Rosy Ryan | 1:23:47 |
Making a welcome return to racing, Vernon Shiels was the club’s sole representative in Sunday’s Garvagh forest half marathon. The course was 3 hilly laps of the forest. Conditions were good though slightly slippery underfoot in places after rain just before the start of the race. Vernon hasn’t raced since the Jude Gallagher 10 miler in Limavady last June but he nevertheless ran strongly to claim 4th place in 1:25:24. Details were:
| Pos | Name | Time |
| 4 | Vernon Shiels | 1:25:24 |
parkrun (Sat 15th April)
NBH runners participated in parkruns in Porterstown, Penrose and Jersey this weekend in addition to the more local events in and around Belfast. The full results were:
| Waterworks parkrun, Belfast # 390 – 14/04/2018 | ||||
| Pos | parkrunner | Time | Note | Total runs |
| 2 | Laurence JOHNSTON | 0:18:30 | PB stays at 00:17:39 | 85 |
| 7 | Drew KNOX | 0:20:07 | PB stays at 00:18:42 | 239 |
| 11 | John Gerard MURPHY | 0:20:40 | PB stays at 00:18:49 | 351 |
| 13 | Greg MCCLURE | 0:20:42 | PB stays at 00:18:41 | 316 |
| 27 | Sam CARR | 0:22:01 | PB stays at 00:20:24 | 104 |
| 30 | Gary BLYTHE | 0:22:19 | PB stays at 00:21:14 | 114 |
| 40 | Tony REID | 0:23:19 | PB stays at 00:21:50 | 359 |
| 41 | Maurice PALMER | 0:23:27 | New PB! | 40 |
| 46 | Daniel O’CALLAGHAN | 0:23:44 | PB stays at 00:21:06 | 36 |
| 48 | Sean MCSHANE | 0:24:02 | PB stays at 00:18:34 | 163 |
| 53 | Joe WILSON | 0:24:29 | PB stays at 00:24:26 | 56 |
| 79 | Saul THOMPSON | 0:26:26 | New PB! | 2 |
| 82 | Coleen THOMPSON | 0:26:33 | PB stays at 00:23:51 | 18 |
| 86 | Kevin MCCANN | 0:26:45 | PB stays at 00:21:54 | 69 |
| 88 | Matt SHIELDS | 0:26:49 | PB stays at 00:17:44 | 281 |
| 96 | Holly BENNETT | 0:27:14 | First Timer! | 1 |
| 107 | Catherine SEAWRIGHT | 0:27:54 | New PB! | 9 |
| 112 | Padraigin BINGHAM | 0:28:12 | PB stays at 00:26:52 | 69 |
| 118 | Nuala MAHON | 0:28:28 | PB stays at 00:27:02 | 120 |
| 119 | Gerry ANDERSON | 0:28:29 | PB stays at 00:23:26 | 91 |
| 121 | Stella HARRISON | 0:28:31 | PB stays at 00:26:30 | 245 |
| 149 | Robbir SPEERS | 0:30:23 | First Timer! | 1 |
| 162 | Marian HAYES | 0:31:03 | PB stays at 00:24:30 | 108 |
| 163 | Gabrielle MALLAGHAN | 0:31:04 | PB stays at 00:27:25 | 100 |
| 164 | Eadaoin DONALDSON | 0:31:05 | PB stays at 00:24:26 | 154 |
| 182 | Lynn MCCULLOUGH | 0:32:29 | PB stays at 00:23:37 | 108 |
| 183 | Sandy CARR | 0:32:29 | PB stays at 00:22:55 | 197 |
| 185 | Jacqueline LAWLOR | 0:32:57 | PB stays at 00:28:48 | 141 |
| 191 | Michael LAWLOR | 0:33:20 | PB stays at 00:25:44 | 113 |
| 200 | Thomas MCKINSTRY | 0:34:09 | PB stays at 00:23:09 | 177 |
| 204 | Margaret STEPHENS | 0:34:25 | PB stays at 00:28:23 | 189 |
| 206 | Grainne STEPHENS | 0:34:26 | New PB! | 4 |
| 207 | Mick MURRAY | 0:34:27 | PB stays at 00:28:38 | 63 |
| 230 | Catherine CARLETON | 0:36:58 | PB stays at 00:31:42 | 51 |
| 231 | Emma TONER | 0:36:59 | PB stays at 00:29:47 | 19 |
| 232 | Eileen KEENAN | 0:37:00 | PB stays at 00:30:45 | 21 |
| 233 | Lyle CARLETON | 0:37:01 | PB stays at 00:21:22 | 79 |
| 249 | Coirle FINNEGAN | 0:42:10 | PB stays at 00:31:08 | 3 |
| Belfast Victoria parkrun # 361 – 14/04/2018 | ||||
| Pos | parkrunner | Time | Note | Total runs |
| 17 | Mark SHIELDS | 0:19:49 | PB stays at 00:19:13 | 169 |
| 38 | Ciaran HUNTER | 0:21:08 | PB stays at 00:20:26 | 233 |
| Queen’s parkrun, Belfast # 312 – 14/04/2018 | ||||
| Pos | parkrunner | Time | Note | Total runs |
| 20 | Claire DONNELLY | 0:21:03 | PB stays at 00:19:44 | 51 |
| Falls parkrun, Belfast # 291 – 14/04/2018 | ||||
| Pos | parkrunner | Time | Note | Total runs |
| 12 | Roisin HUGHES | 0:20:38 | New PB! | 95 |
| 20 | Vincent BRADLEY | 0:23:10 | PB stays at 00:22:47 | 22 |
| 32 | Jim CLINTON | 0:25:49 | PB stays at 00:22:16 | 365 |
| Wallace parkrun, Lisburn # 249 – 14/04/2018 | ||||
| Pos | parkrunner | Time | Note | Total runs |
| 74 | John MCCONNELL | 0:25:59 | PB stays at 00:18:24 | 237 |
| Ormeau parkrun # 249 – 14/04/2018 | ||||
| Pos | parkrunner | Time | Note | Total runs |
| 27 | Una MCCONNELL | 0:20:59 | First Timer! | 11 |
| Penrose parkrun # 160 – 14/04/2018 | ||||
| Pos | parkrunner | Time | Note | Total runs |
| 6 | David CLARKE | 0:17:44 | First Timer! | 33 |
| 40 | Carol CLARKE | 0:23:10 | First Timer! | 46 |
| Jersey parkrun # 132 – 14/04/2018 | ||||
| Pos | parkrunner | Time | Note | Total runs |
| 308 | Marilyn FOSTER | 0:39:06 | PB stays at 00:35:31 | 28 |
| Colin Glen parkrun # 121 – 14/04/2018 | ||||
| Pos | parkrunner | Time | Note | Total runs |
| 5 | Helen F WEIR | 0:22:14 | PB stays at 00:21:57 | 106 |
| Porterstown parkrun # 130 – 14/04/2018 | ||||
| Pos | parkrunner | Time | Note | Total runs |
| 66 | Philip MCILWRATH | 0:26:01 | First Timer! | 138 |
| 178 | Rosy RYAN | 0:41:36 | First Timer! | 137 |
