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 |

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 |

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.

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 |

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 |