As the daylight hours continue to shorten and Autumn colours begin to dominate, all the racing this week took place over the weekend. Highlights included the NI & Ulster 10K Championships at Bangor and the Monaghan Marathon Festival.
A cool bright morning greeted the 968 competitors for the annual Bangor 10k on Saturday. This year’s event, hosted by North Down AC, incorporated the 2018 Northern Ireland & Ulster 10k Championships. The individual race was won by last week’s Belfast City Half Marathon winner Gideon Kipsang (Derry track club) after a neck and neck sprint finish with marathon specialist Kevin Seaward (St Malacy’s AC). In the ladies’ race Jessica Craig (North Down AC) claimed the title with Gladys Ganiel (NBH) not far behind claiming 2nd place and winning the F40 category.
The NBH men claimed the NI & Ulster team title (top 4 to score) with their strength in depth demonstrated by 3 athletes in the top 10 and 5 in the top 20. In total the Harriers were represented by 29 athletes and there was further success in the junior and veteran’s categories including wins for Mark McKinstry (M35), Conan McCaughey (MJ), David Clarke (M55), Gladys Ganiel (F40), and Laurence Johnston (M60).
| Pos | Name | Time | Note |
| 4 | Mark McKinstry | 0:31:14 | 1st M35 |
| 7 | Conan McCaughey | 0:32:03 | 1st MJ |
| 9 | John Black | 0:32:45 | |
| 17 | Philip Goss | 0:33:55 | |
| 19 | Conor Curran | 0:34:27 | 2nd M40 |
| 21 | Joe Malone | 0:34:32 | |
| 32 | Kent Swann | 0:35:35 | |
| 44 | David Clarke | 0:36:12 | 1st M55 |
| 53 | James Wallace | 0:36:59 | 2nd M55 |
| 56 | Gladys Ganiel | 0:37:10 | 1st F40 |
| 71 | Laurence Johnston | 0:38:29 | 1st M60 |
| 203 | Jason Reid | 0:43:51 | |
| 220 | Una McConnell | 0:44:48 | |
| 249 | Carol Clarke | 0:45:45 | 3rd F50 |
| 301 | Gerry Anderson | 0:47:01 | |
| 309 | Andrew Taylor | 0:47:23 | |
| 354 | Diane Taylor | 0:48:50 | |
| 470 | Philip McIlwrath | 0:51:05 | |
| 507 | Thomas Norton | 0:52:12 | |
| 510 | Matthew Carleton | 0:52:14 | |
| 515 | Fiona Magill | 0:52:15 | |
| 546 | Joe Wilson | 0:53:15 | |
| 553 | Lynn McKenna | 0:53:28 | |
| 599 | Catherine Seawright | 0:54:31 | |
| 648 | Joanne McAllister | 0:55:59 | |
| 655 | Eileen Keenan | 0:56:06 | |
| 676 | Christina Knox | 0:56:46 | |
| 746 | Philomena Donaldson | 0:59:30 | |
| 800 | Jenny Butcher | 1:01:55 | 4 min PB ! |
| 916 | Eadaoin Donaldson | 1:10:07 |
| Mens Team NI Championships | ||
| Pos | Name | Points |
| 1 | North Belfast Harriers | 37 |
| 2 | Victoria Park & Connswater Ac | 73 |
| 3 | Acorns AC | 76 |
| 4 | North Down AC | 92 |
| 5 | Willowfield TH | 99 |
| Ladies Team NI Championships | ||
| Pos | Name | Points |
| 1 | North Down AC | 33 |
| 2 | Beechmount Harriers | 41 |
| 3 | Ballydrain Harriers | 55 |
| 4 | Victoria Park & Connswater Ac | 85 |
| 5 | Dromore AC | 87 |
| 6 | North Belfast Harriers | 147 |
| 7 | Orangegrove AC | 167 |
| 8 | Ward Park Runners | 167 |
| 9 | Scrabo Striders | 276 |
The fifth running of the Monaghan Phoenix Marathon Festival took place on Sunday morning in good conditions for endurance running. Louise Smith continued her amazing sequence of marathon performances to win the ladies’ race and claim joint second place overall with Delfim Pimentel, breaking the 3-hour barrier to boot. The club was represented in the half marathon by Terence McAtamney and Philip McIlwrath.
Full results for NBH were:
| Monaghan Marathon | |||
| Pos | Name | Time | Note |
| 3 | Louise Smith | 2:59:10 | First Female |
| Monaghan Half Marathon | ||
| Pos | Name | Time |
| 136 | Terence McAtamney | 1:52:16 |
| 144 | Philip McIlwrath | 1:55:06 |
The Cavehill 5 mile race, promoted by Leg-It events, started near St. Gerard’s on the Antrim Road and took competitors up and over the Cavehill. In good running conditions Philip Goss showed no sign of fatigue from the previous day’s race in Bangor to claim victory in 34:45. Also representing the club, Simon Reeve just missed a podium finish to claim 4th place in 37:18, while there were also strong runs from Paul Manton and Gordon Glenn.
| Cavehill 5 mile Trail Race | ||
| Pos | Name | Time |
| 1 | Philip Goss | 0:34:45 |
| 4 | Simon Reeve | 0:37:18 |
| 13 | Paul Manton | 0:44:38 |
| 48 | Gordon Glenn | 0:52:11 |
On Saturday, the club’s international mountain specialist Martsje Hell finished first lady in the Buzzards Roost Race in the Mourne Mountains. The event, the final race of this year’s NIMRA championship saw the competitors complete 7.4 miles with 3,000ft of climbing over Lamagan and Binnian. Martsje claimed the win after a good battle with Sarah Graham (Mourne Runners) and Shileen O’Kane (Lagan Valley) to win in 1.26.05.
Over 50 club members completed a parkrun on Saturday at locations from Belfast to Berlin. The results were:
| Waterworks parkrun, Belfast # 414 – 29/09/2018 | ||||
| Pos | parkrunner | Time | Note | Total runs |
| 4 | Paul CURLEY | 18:16 | PB stays at 00:17:40 | 128 |
| 7 | Simon REEVE | 19:01 | PB stays at 00:17:48 | 212 |
| 15 | Roisin HUGHES | 19:47 | PB stays at 00:19:26 | 105 |
| 17 | Paul BUTCHER | 20:42 | PB stays at 00:20:02 | 6 |
| 23 | Sam CARR | 21:15 | PB stays at 00:20:07 | 114 |
| 24 | Daniel O’CALLAGHAN | 21:18 | PB stays at 00:21:06 | 46 |
| 35 | Gary BLYTHE | 22:35 | PB stays at 00:21:14 | 129 |
| 36 | Colin SIMPSON | 22:37 | PB stays at 00:19:33 | 220 |
| 39 | Greg MCCLURE | 22:45 | PB stays at 00:18:41 | 338 |
| 45 | Orla CASH | 23:06 | PB stays at 00:22:32 | 57 |
| 57 | Tony REID | 24:08 | PB stays at 00:21:50 | 381 |
| 73 | Philip MAGEE | 25:14 | PB stays at 00:23:25 | 28 |
| 91 | Lyle CARLETON | 26:52 | PB stays at 00:21:22 | 97 |
| 92 | Eimear NUGENT | 26:52 | New PB! | 40 |
| 104 | Padraigin BINGHAM | 27:19 | PB stays at 00:26:38 | 84 |
| 111 | Fergus JAMISON | 28:03 | New PB! | 14 |
| 123 | Sandy CARR | 28:44 | PB stays at 00:22:55 | 209 |
| 130 | Nuala MAHON | 29:28 | PB stays at 00:27:02 | 132 |
| 136 | Matthew HIGGINS | 29:41 | PB stays at 00:24:26 | 124 |
| 146 | Trisha MURRAY | 30:05 | PB stays at 00:28:39 | 81 |
| 150 | Michael LAWLOR | 30:22 | PB stays at 00:25:44 | 123 |
| 151 | Jacqueline LAWLOR | 30:22 | PB stays at 00:28:48 | 155 |
| 154 | Karen MCCLEAN | 30:42 | New PB! | 9 |
| 155 | Claire BROWNING | 30:53 | PB stays at 00:30:32 | 46 |
| 166 | Bernadette DUFFY | 31:57 | PB stays at 00:29:29 | 183 |
| 170 | Maeve CUSHNAHAN | 32:05 | PB stays at 00:25:50 | 10 |
| 171 | Marie-Louise LOWRY | 32:09 | PB stays at 00:25:55 | 27 |
| 172 | Catherine MCKILLEN | 32:09 | PB stays at 00:26:45 | 32 |
| 181 | Mick MURRAY | 32:48 | PB stays at 00:28:38 | 71 |
| 200 | Margaret STEPHENS | 51:46 | PB stays at 00:28:23 | 209 |
| 201 | Marian HAYES | 51:46 | PB stays at 00:24:30 | 120 |
| Belfast Victoria parkrun # 385 – 29/09/2018 | ||||
| Pos | parkrunner | Time | Note | Total runs |
| 152 | Anthony FLEMING | 34:50 | PB stays at 00:21:54 | 50 |
| Queen’s parkrun, Belfast # 336 – 29/09/2018 | ||||
| Pos | parkrunner | Time | Note | Total runs |
| 27 | Ciaran HUNTER | 21:55 | PB stays at 00:20:24 | 253 |
| 38 | Vincent BRADLEY | 22:43 | PB stays at 00:21:37 | 41 |
| 53 | Damien GILL | 23:53 | PB stays at 00:20:03 | 232 |
| 84 | Kevin LAVERY | 26:43 | PB stays at 00:20:55 | 96 |
| Falls parkrun, Belfast # 313 – 29/09/2018 | ||||
| Pos | parkrunner | Time | Note | Total runs |
| 6 | John MCCONNELL | 21:35 | PB stays at 00:19:26 | 257 |
| 23 | Martin REA | 25:11 | First Timer! | 52 |
| 32 | Jim CLINTON | 27:12 | PB stays at 00:22:16 | 389 |
| Citypark parkrun, Craigavon # 308 – 29/09/2018 | ||||
| Pos | parkrunner | Time | Note | Total runs |
| 1 | Alan RITCHIE | 18:05 | PB stays at 00:17:04 | 39 |
| Ormeau parkrun # 269 – 29/09/2018 | ||||
| Pos | parkrunner | Time | Note | Total runs |
| 1 | Philip Patrick DONNELLY | 18:32 | New PB! | 143 |
| 14 | Martin COX | 20:22 | PB stays at 00:19:01 | 61 |
| 43 | Lauren COX | 22:14 | PB stays at 00:20:26 | 64 |
| Antrim parkrun # 235 – 29/09/2018 | ||||
| Pos | parkrunner | Time | Note | Total runs |
| 3 | Stephen WALKER | 18:05 | PB stays at 00:17:46 | 74 |
| 4 | Nat GLENN | 18:07 | New PB! | 85 |
| 18 | Paul WILLIAMS | 20:50 | PB stays at 00:20:38 | 274 |
| Valley parkrun, Newtownabbey # 211 – 29/09/2018 | ||||
| Pos | parkrunner | Time | Note | Total runs |
| 57 | Liam SMYTH | 27:36 | First Timer! | 22 |
| Falcarragh parkrun # 142 – 29/09/2018 | ||||
| Pos | parkrunner | Time | Note | Total runs |
| 2 | Joe DRAIN | 20:46 | PB stays at 00:20:01 | 86 |
| 20 | John LAVERY | 25:27 | PB stays at 00:23:04 | 169 |
| Hasenheide parkrun # 39 – 29/09/2018 | ||||
| Pos | parkrunner | Time | Note | Total runs |
| 21 | John Gerard MURPHY | 20:46 | First Timer! | 375 |
| Orangefield parkrun # 8 – 29/09/2018 | ||||
| Pos | parkrunner | Time | Note | Total runs |
| 3 | Ray CAMERON | 20:21 | First Timer! | 122 |
