North Belfast Harriers at the Novice Cross Country Championships

By Greg McClure Race Report November 13, 2018

The cross country season continued in full swing as the club sent two strong teams to Scotstown in County Monaghan for the NI & Ulster Novice Championships on Sunday. Elsewhere, club athletes competed over the trails of Tollymore Forest and at Davagh Forest near Cookstown.

Sperrin Harriers Winter League Trail Series 2018 / 2019 : Davagh Forest 10k (Sat 10th November)

This event marked the beginning of the tenth Sperrin Harriers Winter Series, a popular series of forest and trail races over various distances at picturesque locations in the Cookstown area. Simon Reeve was the sole representative for the club in this one, claiming a top ten place of the 160 competitors on the challenging course.

Pos	Name	Cat	Time
10	Simon Reeve	M40	39:49

26 Extreme Tollymore Trail Races (Sat 10th November)

The fifth running of this event offered competitors the choice of ultra marathon, marathon, half marathon or 10k. Helen Weir chose the half marathon, finishing a fine second to Irish international marathoner Breege Connolly and in the process setting a new PB for the tough course by over 2 minutes. Emma Emsley was the other club representative in the event with a good race over the 10k distance.

Pos	Name	Time	Race
18	Helen Weir	1:39:34	Half marathon
69	Emma Emsley	1:02:29	10k

Helen Weir on the ladies podium at Tollymore Half Marathon

NI & Ulster Novice Cross Country Championships (Sun 11th November)

12 ladies and 14 men made the trip to Scotstown to represent the club in the annual Novice Cross Country Championships. Apart from a short shower at the start of the ladies race the weather was fine though underfoot conditions were fairly heavy after all the recent rainfall. The ladies raced over 4km and placed well in a highly competitive field:

Pos	Name	Time
33	Una McConnell	20:24
51	Emma Taylor	21:40
53	Katrina McAuley	21:43
61	Diane Taylor	22:23
62	Lorraine Hibburt	22:40
67	Fiona Magill	23:28
71	Catherine Seawright	24:27
72	Lynn McKenna	24:33
73	Francesca McAreavey	24:39
76	Philomena Donaldson	26:44
77	Joanne McAllister	27:20
78	Eadaoin Donaldson	30:57

Thanks to Liam Smyth for these action photos of the NBH ladies.

The men competed over 6km and enjoyed the best of the weather conditions. In another highly competitive race Mark McAvoy continued his recent improvement surge to lead the team home and take 14th place overall. With 3 finishers in the top 20 the harriers packed well and were rewarded with 4th place overall in the team competition.

Pos	Name	Time
14	Mark McAvoy	24:45
16	James Trainor	24:48
17	Joe Malone	24:48
41	Colin Willetts	26:06
46	Simon Reeve	26:24
66	Patrick McAuley	27:34
77	Paul Butcher	28:30
80	Frankie Smyth	28:57
88	Ray Cameron	29:21
102	Gary Blythe	32:40
103	Andrew Taylor	32:57
105	Lance Breen	33:18
107	Lyle Carleton	34:17
108	Philip McIlwrath	34:52

Enjoying the sunshine in Scotstown — NBH men enjoying the sunshine in Scotstown (photo by Jenny Butcher)

Run The Line Wicklow (Sun 11th November)

This event raises funds for the Dublin Wicklow Mountain Rescue Team and offers two races: a long distance 26km route and a shorter 13km route, both in the scenic Dublin mountains. Sandy Carr made the trip and competed over the tough 26km distance, completing the course in a super time of 3:00:27.

Sandy Carr in the Dublin Mountains — Sandy Carr negotiates a downhill section in the Dublin Mountains

Las Vegas Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon (Sun 11th November)

Part of the world wide Rock ‘n’ Roll series, this race attracted 4 intrepid club members who flew out to join the other 20,000 competitors. The course included the famous Las Vegas strip with all it’s hotels and casinos.

Pos	Name	Time
5530	Eileen Keenan	2:18:39
5530	Kathleen O’Neill	2:18:39
7560	Dirdre Murphy	2:29:07
8835	Marian Hayes	2:36:38

NBH ladies staying safe in Vegas (photo from Facebook)

parkrun (Sat 10th November)

Over 60 club members completed a parkrun on Saturday with Heritage Harbor in Ottawa and Johnstown in County Wexford the venues for this week’s parkrun tourism. Full results were:

Waterworks parkrun, Belfast # 420 – 10/11/2018
Pos	parkrunner	Time	Note	Total runs
4	David KENNEDY	18:56	First Timer!	1
5	Simon REEVE	19:09	PB stays at 00:17:48	215
10	Drew KNOX	20:41	PB stays at 00:18:42	260
26	David CURRAN	22:01	PB stays at 00:18:42	95
27	Luke KELLY	22:10	PB stays at 00:18:46	121
36	Niall ARMSTRONG	22:46	PB stays at 00:18:26	149
39	Sam CARR	22:50	PB stays at 00:20:07	120
40	Fionnuala O’HARE	22:55	PB stays at 00:21:38	131
47	Gerry ANDERSON	23:30	PB stays at 00:22:13	110
51	Greg MCCLURE	23:57	PB stays at 00:18:41	344
56	Tony REID	24:23	PB stays at 00:21:50	387
58	Paul WILLIAMS	24:33	PB stays at 00:20:23	278
59	John Gerard MURPHY	24:34	PB stays at 00:18:49	381
62	Philip MCILWRATH	24:47	New PB!	163
66	Anthony FLEMING	25:04	PB stays at 00:21:12	52
67	Christopher LENNON	25:04	PB stays at 00:21:28	25
77	Jack CARBERRY	25:36	PB stays at 00:21:14	244
78	Joe DRAIN	25:37	PB stays at 00:19:54	89
82	Maurice PALMER	25:53	PB stays at 00:23:11	56
85	Laura CONNOLLY	26:15	New PB!	5
89	Thomas Peter NORTON	26:26	PB stays at 00:26:03	29
98	Thomas TAYLOR	27:11	PB stays at 00:21:45	7
100	Lyle CARLETON	27:19	PB stays at 00:21:22	103
101	Gary BLYTHE	27:19	PB stays at 00:21:14	131
102	Catherine SEAWRIGHT	27:22	PB stays at 00:26:43	24
125	Stella HARRISON	28:32	PB stays at 00:26:30	268
130	Nuala MAHON	28:43	PB stays at 00:27:02	137
131	Joanne MCALLISTER	28:44	PB stays at 00:25:41	21
142	Jim CLINTON	29:36	PB stays at 00:21:37	395
154	Gillian RODEN	30:33	PB stays at 00:30:07	56
157	Trisha MURRAY	31:02	PB stays at 00:28:39	84
165	Jacqueline LAWLOR	31:51	PB stays at 00:28:48	157
175	Bernadette DUFFY	32:51	PB stays at 00:29:29	188
176	Philomena DONALDSON	32:52	PB stays at 00:27:50	193
180	Matthew HIGGINS	33:21	PB stays at 00:24:26	127
182	Kevin MCCANN	33:24	PB stays at 00:21:54	87
188	Sile HANNON	34:03	PB stays at 00:33:32	11
190	Maire JAMISON	34:23	PB stays at 00:33:25	10
191	Ita WEIR	34:24	New PB!	5
193	Mannix MCALISTER	34:54	PB stays at 00:19:48	79
208	Angela ROGAN	38:20	PB stays at 00:35:37	13

Belfast Victoria parkrun # 391 – 10/11/2018
Pos	parkrunner	Time	Note	Total runs
1	Conor CURRAN	16:09	PB stays at 00:16:05	38
4	Kent SWANN	16:33	PB stays at 00:16:32	85
44	Ciaran HUNTER	20:57	PB stays at 00:20:25	258
73	Ray CAMERON	23:01	PB stays at 00:19:37	126
174	Colin SIMPSON	27:19	PB stays at 00:19:23	225
176	Jennifer CLEMENTS	27:26	First Timer!	39
190	Karen MCCLEAN	28:38	First Timer!	12
198	Claire BROWNING	29:34	First Timer!	47

Queen’s parkrun, Belfast # 342 – 10/11/2018
Pos	parkrunner	Time	Note	Total runs
3	James WALLACE	18:57	PB stays at 00:18:34	33
21	Damien GILL	22:57	PB stays at 00:20:03	238
99	John LAVERY	31:37	PB stays at 00:20:04	174

Citypark parkrun, Craigavon # 314 – 10/11/2018
Pos	parkrunner	Time	Note	Total runs
22	John MCCONNELL	21:43	New PB!	261

Ormeau parkrun # 275 – 10/11/2018
Pos	parkrunner	Time	Note	Total runs
10	Martin COX	19:46	PB stays at 00:19:01	65

Antrim parkrun # 241 – 10/11/2018
Pos	parkrunner	Time	Note	Total runs
29	Brian STEWART	21:34	PB stays at 00:20:59	64

Larne parkrun # 250 – 10/11/2018
Pos	parkrunner	Time	Note	Total runs
1	David CLARKE	18:39	PB stays at 00:18:11	37
19	Carol CLARKE	23:14	PB stays at 00:21:54	54

Carrickfergus parkrun # 235 – 10/11/2018
Pos	parkrunner	Time	Note	Total runs
17	Jennifer BILL	23:04	New PB!	26

Valley parkrun, Newtownabbey # 217 – 10/11/2018
Pos	parkrunner	Time	Note	Total runs
6	Ian ONEILL	20:31	PB stays at 00:19:12	8

Johnstown parkrun, Wexford # 189 – 10/11/2018
Pos	parkrunner	Time	Note	Total runs
3	Matt SHIELDS	18:50	First Timer!	305

Heritage Harbor parkrun, Ottawa # 71 – 10/11/2018
Pos	parkrunner	Time	Note	Total runs
6	Rosy RYAN	46:51	New PB!	162