SLIEVE CROOB

One that almost got away is the Slieve Croob Challenge which took place on 13 August. I just noticed that Davy Foster recorded 45.11 and 7^th place for the 10K climb (twice up to the top and back) while Joanne wasn’t too far behind in 48.26 which gave her 3^rd placed Female and overall 14^th place.

NORTH DOWN OPEN MEETING on TUESDAY           

Having brought some of his talented family to Bangor Sportsplex for the North Down Open Meeting on Tuesday 21^st August, Davy thought he might as well test his nerve on the track and found he quite enjoyed the new terrain. His time of 10.32.8 for the 3 K race was bang in the middle of the 25 runners in his heat but would have been worth 2nd place in the first heat that took place over the same distance.

 LAUREN, LUCY and KIRSTI  STAR

On the same evening Lauren Madine 2.34.3 not only won her heat of the 800 metres but also recorded the fastest time overall in the Girls Under13 category with Lucy Foster clocking 2.39.7 second fastest U13 on the night across the two heats.  Lucy’s big sister Kirsti  recorded the quickest U15 Girls time 2.36.0 which meant it was a very successful night all round.

STRANGFORD FESTIVAL 5 and 10K

This is one of the most popular  of the local races during the Summer months and the hard working Festival Committee are to be praised for their efforts in putting on such an enjoyable event.  Almost 300 runners took part this year, between the 5 and 10K races and the 5K was won by Peter Gracey from his brother James and East Down’s Mackenzie Murray only missed out on a podium place when he was edged into 4^th place by Maol Larkin, on the run in though his time of 21.51 was outstanding over the challenging course. It is a mix of road and trail with a good, few hills or as runners describe it perhaps more precisely “with a few, good hills!” But Mackenzie was not too disappointed as he picked up the 1^st Male Junior prize for his efforts. Emily Burns, who is taking every opportunity to keep fit while the club is on its Summer break, again proved what good shape she is in by claiming the 1^st Female Junior prize in 25.11.  Gillian Grant and Patricia Carson were two  East Down newcomers who took part in the 5K and who will undoubtedly be itching for the next race to further improve their times.

AARON NAILS THE TOP SPOT

The 10K was won in fine style by East Down’s London based Aaron McGrady who is home for a few weeks and he was not really troubled in clocking 34.44 to finish over 2 minutes clear of second placed Nicky Napier unattached, 37.06 and third placed Sean McAllister St Peter’s AC 37.32.   The Women’s race was won in equally impressive style by Jog Lisburn’s Karen Wilton in 38.04, taking overall 4^th place and one of only 11 finishers to break the 40 minute barrier, perhaps an indication of just how tough the route was?

There was plenty of EDAC representation as shown in the table below.

Pos		First Name	Surname	M/F	Cat	Chip Time
1	289	Aaron	McGrady	M	MO	0:34:44	10k
22	210	Dermot	Cahill	M	M35	0:42:38	10k
24	317	Colin	Shields	M	M40	0:43:03	10k
25	288	Joe	Napier	M	M40	0:43:20	10k
46	272	Gareth	Kelly	M	M35	0:47:26	10k
50	256	Gareth	Reilly	M	M40	0:48:41	10k
53	335	Donal	Smith	M	M45	0:48:54	10k
56	298	John	Manley	M	M50	0:49:18	10k
77	329	Catherine	Gilchrist	F	F40	0:52:34	10k
82	297	Janine	Murray	F	FO	0:52:45	10k
86	338	Eamon	Kelly	M	M45	0:53:09	10k
96	745	Adam	Morgan	M	MO	0:54:27	10k
118	302	Éimear	Degan	F	FO	0:59:29	10k
123	301	Cathy	Flinn	F	F35	1:00:28	10k

ADAM DOUBLES UP

Worth mentioning is the performance of Adam Morgan who set off to run the 5K and clearly found it much too short so he carried on and completed his first ever 10K.  Not only that but his time of 54.27 should be reduced considerably as he left the start line at least 3 minutes after the 10K field.  So Well Done Adam.

 SENIORS TREBLE UP

I have also been asked to mention that several of the East Down contingent, including  Dermot Cahill and Gareth Kelly, had already run over 13 miles before they did the 10K, as part of their build up  to the Dublin marathon, though it still begs the question “What took you so long?” And a big welcome to Joe Napier and Eamon Kelly who were first timers in the East Down “colours”

RATHLIN RUN on SATURDAY

On Saturday,  Gavin McConvey, apparently working through some sort of bucket list, duly completed the 10 Mile Rathlin Run, having caught the early morning crossing from Ballycastle. He used this as his excuse for only spectating on Friday night in Strangford, so this is just to let you know that all these things are checked out Gavin!! His comment that he found it a real challenge coincided with my own memory of running the 10 miles there in 2002, that it was a tough, undulating though very scenic course, and his time of 1.41.42 was more than respectable in these circumstances.  My other abiding memory of Rathlin is that there was only one tree on it, though perhaps there are more now? Or perhaps there is one less?

 MULTI-EVENTS COMPETITION at MPT on SUNDAY

Again it was the Junior members who took part in this event on Sunday where everyone got the chance to participate in 5 events and were scored on their performances in each as in the pentathlon. The events were 70 metres Hurdles, Shot Putt, High Jump, Long Jump and 800 metres.

LAUREN & KIRSTI TOP OF THE PILE

Lauren Madine was in great form throughout and won the Girls U13 with a really versatile performance, picking up 2037 points in the process.

Anna Gardiner and Lucy Foster also competed and scored  1470 and 1129 points  for 6^th and 12^th places respectively. Kirsti Foster also gave her all in the Girls Under 15 competition where she scored 1295 points and posted the fastest 800 metres time on the night. In fact her time was not only best in her age group and the Under 13 category also but was bettered by only one runner in the Under 17 category.

This must be a great boost for all the coaches who are involved with the Juniors and represents a tremendous breadth of talent in the Club.

SUNDAY in CARRICK

Eimear Degan travelled all the way to Carrickfergus on Sunday afternoon for the Storming of the Castle 10K and recorded a PB of 54.14 – over 5 mins quicker than her time in Strangford on Friday night.

 AND IN ARMAGH AND KILDARE

Stephen Heasley travelled to Armagh on Sunday to take part in a 4 x 10K route with an extra loop to complete another marathon, an event in which Linda Cunningham also participated while….

…..A little further afield Phillip Vint ran very well to take 2^nd place in the Staplestown Marathon in a time of 3.16  while Helen was more than pleased with her 2.08 in the Half marathon.

That’s all for now folks.

 

Joe Quinn & Alison Carroll

27 August 2018