On Saturday 10th October 2015, the first round of this season’s Athletics NI Cross Country League got underway at the Billy Neill Centre, Dundonald, hosted by Ballydrain Harriers. A total of nine events throughout the winter season will make up the league fixtures, with club teams scoring points at each of the nine races for team and individual placings.
Conditions on the day were perfect for running and the Ballydrain team had laid out a proper old-fashioned cross country course with a tough climb to be negotiated on each lap. In horse racing parlance the underfoot conditions would be described as no worse than ‘good to soft’ and runners are sure to encounter more testing conditions as the League progresses.
The racing programme got underway with the Primary and Junior races and East Down AC were well represented in all categories. In the opening Primary School race East Down’s Anna Gardiner was 4th placed Girl and Mackenzie Murray placed 5th in the Boys race which also saw James Gilliland make his competitive debut for the club. In the U13 and U15 Junior races Edie Carroll ran her usual strong race to finish 2nd, with Hannah Gilliland 4th and Johnny Erskine finished in 17th place overall. The final Junior race was the U17 contest and East Down fielded a strong squad with Daniel Atkinson finishing in 5th place followed by James Smyth, Owen Edwards, Matthew McGrattan and Martin Burke. The East Down girls also placed well with Aoife Cochrane, Laura Green and Ella Carroll all running competitively.
Next up was the inaugural ‘John McKeag Cup’ contest which incorporated the Female Open, Female U20s, Female Masters and Male Vet 60+ race, along with the Female team competition. The race was 6 km in distance, consisting of 3 laps of the course and top placed finisher for East Down was Catherine O’Connor in 5th place followed by Niamh Kellett, Laura Gardiner, Alison Gilliland, Alison Carroll, Carol Forster and Janine Murray. Tom Dowey was the Club’s sole representative in the Male Vets 60+ race, finishing in 11th place.
The final race of the day was the ‘Comber Cup’ over 8 km and incorporating the Male Open, U20s and Male Masters races along with the Male team competition. A strong field of 198 runners demonstrated the resurgence of cross country running and Michael Cultra was first finisher for East Down in 47th place followed by Paul Burns, Ciaran Denvir, Paddy Erskine, Dee Murray, Liam Keenan, Mark McDowell, Andrew Telford, Mark O’Connor, Liam Smyth, Gary Cull, Stephen Heasley and Stephen Cassidy.
The next Cross Country League fixture takes place at University of Ulster, Jordanstown on 24th October and includes the Northern Ireland & Ulster Juvenile Cross Country Championships and the Bobby Rea Memorial races for Senior runners. East Down AC should send a strong squad and hope to build on a solid start to the new cross country season.
Armagh 10 Mile Road Race
On Sunday 11th October the prestigious Armagh 10 Mile Road race took place with East Down AC’s Brendan Teer using the race as a final tune-up in his preparation for the Dublin Marathon, which takes place later this month. Brendan ran a perfectly judged race to finish in 2nd place, close behind winner Paddy Hamilton of Slieve Gullion Runners, and on a tough and undulating course he will be very pleased with his time of 53:25. Brendan’s time should put him on course for a sub 2 hour 30 minutes finish in Dublin and everyone in East Down AC wishes him well as he continues in his role as standard bearer for the Club.