The run up to Christmas was quiet on the racing front, then many of the harriers took part in a Christmas Day parkrun before Boxing Day races at Greencastle and Belfast’s Titanic Quarter helped burn off any surplus calories from the previous day’s festivities.
Titanic Festival of Running (26 December)
On a wet and windy Boxing Day morning there were 2 races promoted by ChampionChip Ireland, a 5k and a 10k. Incorporating Airport Road and a loop via Heron Road the flat course made up for the difficult weather conditions and there were some outstanding performances by NBH athletes. In the 5k, harriers filled 6 of the top 10 places, with Gerard Heaney taking the win in 15:36 and a podium position also for Cathaoir Purvis in 3rd place in 15:49. In the 10k Paul Butcher ran a 2 minute PB in 36:49.
Full results and photos:
| Pos | Athlete | Time | 2k | 5k | 7k |
| 18 | Paul Butcher | 36:49 | 06:48 | 18:18 | 27:12 |
| 26 | Hugo Reilly-Stewart | 38:30 | 07:22 | 19:36 | 28:43 |
| 35 | Colin McDowell | 39:24 | 07:27 | 19:44 | 27:47 |
| 40 | Gerard Heaney | 39:31 | 07:27 | 19:49 | 29:07 |
| 187 | Fergus Jamison | 59:06 | 11:13 | 29:33 | 41:45 |
| 190 | Jason Reid | 59:28 | 10:27 | 29:05 | 43:38 |
| Pos | Athlete | Time | 2k | 3k |
| 1 | Gerard Heaney | 15:36 | 06:31 | 09:26 |
| 3 | Cathaoir Purvis | 15:49 | 06:32 | 09:29 |
| 5 | Connor McCann | 15:57 | 06:33 | 09:33 |
| 6 | Isaac McCollum | 16:00 | 06:34 | 09:35 |
| 7 | Brandon McMinn | 16:07 | 06:31 | 09:32 |
| 10 | Colin McDowell | 16:42 | 06:45 | 09:52 |
| 27 | John McGuigan | 17:51 | 07:31 | 10:56 |
Greencastle 5m Road Race (26th December)
The annual Greencastle 5m road race took place on Boxing Day. The route is famous for its 800m long hill in the 4th mile. Apart from that hill the first 2.5 miles is fast with good downhill sections. Once over the hill, athletes have about 1km of fast downhill running to the finish line.
No stranger to this event, Conán McCaughey had a strong run to take 2nd place in 25:06 with Peter Donnelly taking 6th in 26:23. Also among the 450 finishers, Ray Cameron recorded 38:35 and Brian Stewart won the M70 category with 39:03.
Full results and photos:
| Place | Name | Category | Time |
| 2 | Conán McCaughey | MO | 25:06 |
| 6 | Peter Donnelly | MO | 26:23 |
| 162 | Ray Cameron | M50 | 38:35 |
| 174 | Brian Stewart | M70 | 39:03 |
parkrun (25th December)
Harriers looking for a Christmas Day parkrun had to look beyond the Waterworks as it remains closed due to the Bird Flu outbreak.
Full results were:
| Ecos parkrun, Ballymena 25/12/2021, Event #411 | |||||
| Pos | parkrunner | parkruns | Age Grade | Time | Comment |
| 4 | Gavin MCCAFFREY | 158 | 72.34% | 18:01 | New PB! |
| 22 | Natasha HENDERSON | 87 | 73.29% | 20:13 | New PB! |
| 121 | Brian STEWART | 108 | 62.27% | 28:19 | PB 22:29 |
| Wallace parkrun, Lisburn 25/12/2021, Event #362 | |||||
| Pos | parkrunner | parkruns | Age Grade | Time | Comment |
| 197 | Jim CLINTON | 497 | 54.16% | 29:53 | PB 22:46 |
| Valley parkrun, Newtownabbey 25/12/2021, Event #316 | |||||
| Pos | parkrunner | parkruns | Age Grade | Time | Comment |
| 2 | Piaras MCSHANE | 194 | 70.00% | 18:30 | First Timer! |
| 24 | Joseph GALLAGHER | 22 | 73.35% | 22:27 | First Timer! |
| 26 | Paul WILLIAMS | 360 | 69.07% | 22:38 | PB 21:53 |
| 27 | Fionnuala O’HARE | 199 | 64.86% | 22:49 | New PB! |
| 61 | Matthew CARLETON | 66 | 51.67% | 24:58 | PB 22:49 |
| 66 | Tony REID | 490 | 61.83% | 25:30 | PB 22:20 |
| 93 | Lyle CARLETON | 194 | 57.19% | 27:48 | New PB! |
| 102 | Maurice PALMER | 100 | 57.66% | 28:04 | PB 26:19 |
| 104 | Sandy CARR | 284 | 54.42% | 28:16 | PB 24:57 |
| 105 | Sam CARR | 143 | 46.64% | 28:16 | PB 21:09 |
| 126 | Stella HARRISON | 349 | 64.43% | 30:33 | PB 29:48 |
| 131 | Fergus JAMISON | 85 | 49.84% | 31:06 | First Timer! |
| 145 | Jason REID | 132 | 39.49% | 33:23 | PB 26:53 |
| 147 | Margaret STEPHENS | 306 | 56.81% | 34:09 | PB 33:05 |
| 155 | Grainne STEPHENS | 90 | 42.63% | 34:43 | PB 33:01 |
| 156 | Eva MCLOUGHLIN | 5 | 54.00% | 34:45 | First Timer! |
| 157 | Michelle MCLOUGHLIN | 136 | 44.03% | 34:45 | PB 25:46 |
| 162 | Philomena DONALDSON | 256 | 56.32% | 35:27 | PB 29:14 |
| 163 | Evelyn PALMER | 30 | 54.70% | 35:28 | PB 30:35 |
| 164 | Bernadette DUFFY | 258 | 56.14% | 35:34 | PB 32:24 |
| 177 | Ita WEIR | 38 | 41.23% | 40:40 | PB 34:09 |
| 179 | Eadaoin DONALDSON | 210 | 35.92% | 41:29 | PB 27:07 |
| 182 | Gerry ANDERSON | 177 | 33.31% | 45:44 | PB 25:47 |
| Stormont parkrun 25/12/2021, Event #264 | |||||
| Pos | parkrunner | parkruns | Age Grade | Time | Comment |
| 25 | Laurence JOHNSTON | 106 | 84.73% | 19:26 | New PB! |
| 39 | John Gerard MURPHY | 482 | 73.09% | 20:41 | PB 19:29 |
| 98 | Niall ARMSTRONG | 165 | 56.17% | 22:58 | New PB! |
| 146 | Ray CAMERON | 187 | 58.46% | 24:26 | PB 23:16 |
| 371 | Paul LAVERY | 24 | 50.40% | 32:58 | First Timer! |
| 378 | Greg MCCLURE | 437 | 50.33% | 33:19 | PB 22:14 |
| 394 | Damien GILL | 273 | 47.60% | 34:00 | PB 20:52 |
| Clevedon Salthouse Fields parkrun 25/12/2021, Event #44 | |||||
| Pos | parkrunner | parkruns | Age Grade | Time | Comment |
| 133 | Philip MCILWRATH | 255 | 50.59% | 28:28 | PB 27:16 |
| 252 | Rosy RYAN | 255 | 30.48% | 53:09 | PB 50:38 |
