Ladies Captain Sharon Madine staged a triumphant comeback at the Ballygalget GAC 5k after a challenging six-month layoff due to injury. The significance of her return extended beyond personal victory; it was a heartening moment for EDAC. Sharon, a vital leader for the ladies’ team, faced the demanding course with unwavering determination, completing the 5k in an impressive third place among female participants with a time of 22 minutes and 34 seconds.
Her return marked a crucial boost for the team, as the Ladies Captain reclaimed her role at the forefront of their competitive spirit. Sharon’s successful comeback wasn’t just about overcoming personal adversity; it was a testament to the resilience and strength of the EDAC community, demonstrating the profound impact of having their inspirational ladies team captain back on the road and competing again.
Saturday 30th Dec saw the annual running of one of the most popular team races in N Ireland. Over 600 pairs of runners took on the multi terrain course, which changes each year to keep everyone guessing. With poor weather conditions early on the race could have been in jeopardy, but with a quick route change and improving conditions Newcastle AC got the runners to the start line. This race is a big favourite with EDAC and the club had 10 members in club colours or fancy dress. The rain held off and 1 344 runners set off though Castlewellan and into the Forest park and onto many muddy farmers fields, steep hills and tracks, finishing in front of the Castle on the campsite. This event has a great atmosphere and support round the course which is much needed at times. Well done Newcastle AC and the winners Jared
Martin and Thomas Renshaw. And well done to all East Down athletes.
The Turkey Trot is a long running Boxing Day calorie burn out, open to all hill runners over 18 yrs old . The course is basically a clockwise circuit of Slieve Meelmore, 7.5 Km in length with a height gain of 400 metres. The race starts near Meelmore lodge, following the tracks up to below Spellack cliffs then onto Slieve Bearnagh and Meelmore then onto Slieve Meelbeg. Then a fast descent of Happy Valley to the finish at Meelmore Lodge. EDAC had two runners in this tough race, Niall Gibney and John Taylor, both old hands at the mountain races, took this challenge on. With good conditions Niall was the first past the post in 22nd position in a time of 48 min 45 sec, John crossed the line in 72nd spot in 58 min 35 sec. Great running from both the guys.
At the end the year the juniors joined the seniors at the annual predicted time trial and Christmas party. Each junior had to predict what time they could complete a mile and the closest to their predicted time won a prize.
Thirty juniors turned up and discussed run tactics and predictions. The question, that all the seniors also ask, is whether to do a slow, steady run or to go as fast as you can . It isn’t the fastest who wins, just the person closest to their predicted time. On this occasion it was the first finisher Thomas Magee who got bragging rights for the fastest and the closest to his predicted time. Dillon Hynds was second closely followed by Matthew Taylor.
After the Christmas break races return in the new year starting with the Mathieson Cup on the 14th January. Then it will time for secondary school boys & girls to represent their schools at the Ulster Schools Districts Cross Country races starting on the 19th.Jaunary before EDAC hosts the next race in the McGrady series at Delamont on the 21st.
On the Thursday before Christmas East Down AC held their annual club Predicted Time Trial at the Downshire estate. This is a 5k run where each runner predicts what time they will complete the distance, this run is completed without the aid of a watch or GPS. The route is three long laps of the Downshire hospital. The conditions were cold and very breezy and with a great turn out and a final inspection that no time pieces were being worn or carried the athletes were set off. On a predicted time trial it’s not who runs the fastest, it’s who can pace their run closet to the time they wrote down before the start. A number of runners put their heads down and went for, but most were playing a more tactical game. Once all runners finished their run coach Paul Burns and his team started working out the results while the runners had a cup of tea and mince pie and tried to work out how they did.
Once the results were in the the top three were announced to the waiting crowd, In joint second place was Nuala Taylor in a time of 25 min 12 sec, predicted time of 25 min dead and Jame Cuffey in 18 min 58 sec predicted time of 19 min 10 sec so both athletes were 12 seconds out. The top spot went to Roisin Gaffey who ran a canny 5k with a predicted time of 28 min 28 sec and crossed the finish line in 28 min 18 sec a difference of ten seconds, a great and enjoyable club event.
EDAC Annual Awards
After the time trial the Annual East Down AC awards were presented. All club members have the opportunity to vote for the five categories. EDAC Male and Female Athlete of the year, most improved Male and Female Athlete of the year and Club Person of the Year. Many nominations were put in for all categories, especially Club Person of the year. The Awards went to.
Male Athlete of the year – Aaron McGrady
Female Athlete of the year – Catherine O Connor
Best improved Male Athlete – Daniel Giles
Best Improved Female Athletes – Aine Grant and Leanne Spick
EDAC Club Person of the Year – Paul Burns
Well done to all Athletes that were nominated.
London Marathon Club Ballot
To finish off the night the club held the Club ballot for its slot in the 2024 London Marathon. Each running club in the UK is allocated a slot or slots depending on the size of the club. EDAC has an criteria before an athlete can put their name into the hat for the ballot. This year three members met that criteria and were in with a shout. The lucky runner’s name was picked out of the hat by Wayne Giles. Barrie Atknison was the lucky winner, with Joanne Carson as reserve, good luck to Barrie for the race.
From all the members at East Down AC have a happy Christmas and a Great New Year.
Anna Gardiner who is the current Irish Cross Country Champion at both U18 and U20 levels produced a superb run to finish seventh in the U20 European Cross-Country championships in Brussels on Sunday running for Team Ireland. She placed first in the Irish team and helped the team place fifth in the overall team standings. From the start of the race she was well up the field and once she got into the top ten she stayed there. The conditions were similar to those at Gowran where she gained her All-Ireland title with the ground heavy and boggy from a week of rain. In fact after the race she said ’it was muddy and tough but not half as bad as Gowran so the team were well prepared for it’.
Her progression by the results she is continuously producing shows how gifted a runner she is. Anna now handles runs on bigger stages with apparent ease. This was her second outing at the European Cross Country Championships improving from 59th last year to seventh this year with still another two years in this age category.
Huge congratulations Anna from all at EDAC. We are all so proud of you.
Alex Robinson was the only EDAC junior representative at the Uneven All Ireland Championships in Navan at the weekend. Anna Gardiner wisely chose to rest her legs for the European Cross-Country Championships in Belgium next weekend even though she is the reigning Ulster Champion and would have been the one to beat in her age category. Alex had gained his place on the Ulster team two weeks previously by placing eleventh in the U15 age category in Donegal.
The venue was thankfully not far away around the grounds of Navan racecourse but the icy, foggy conditions on the roads travelling there raised their own issues. By the time he arrived at Navan the ground had thawed. The course for Alex was 3.5km long made up of two one-kilometre loops followed by one longer 1.5km loop. The ground was mainly dry but the long grass created a different challenge from the mud from previous weeks. The start was uphill before a sharp right-hand turn. The course then had a short downhill section before returning to the start location uphill. This loop was repeated twice before the longer 1.5km loop which took the runners further out. This also meant the return stretch to the finish was a longer uphill grind.
Bends on cross country courses add extra jeopardy when runners try to take the best, shortest line when changing direction so tumbles tend to happen there. Alex was lucky to avoid a tumble firstly at the start when he managed to jump over one faller. Another near miss on the first lap unsteadied his pace but he settled well moving up the pack. On the final lap, before disappearing from view, he was sitting in 13th place. The finish of the race saw the front runners spaced out with the winner finishing in 11.49. When Alex came back into view he was in 15th place out of 146 runners and maintained this place until the finish crossing the line in 12.27. In fact he was given the same time as the runner in 14th and only 8 seconds from gaining an all-Ireland top 12 medal. A fantastic result for Alex in the All Irelands and extra credit to him when he found out that he placed 4th for the Ulster team an improvement from 11th at the Ulster Championships. Congratulations also go to the other local runner, Fahlin Murphy McKibben from Newcastle AC who placed 31st in the same race.
