Nearly 800 reach for the sky in Newcastle

Nearly 800 reach for the sky in Newcastle

22 July 2015

THE fourth annual SEA 2 SKY took place on Friday evening and was by far the biggest field of runners this event has seen.

The race, which was organised by Born2Run Events, attracted 730 runners and 35 walkers to Newcastle, not to mention their supporters.

Many of those who took part booked into local hotels, hostels and B&Bs and made a night of it.

The walkers started an hour ahead of the runners at 6.30pm. Conditions were favourable and the rain that threatened all day held off making way for a beautiful evening. 

The promenade was buzzing with runners warming up under the instruction of Adam Mitten from Go Figure Newcastle.

Newcastle AC’s David O’Flaherty led the pack from the start, running in very familiar territory. The course is a multi-terrain mix of road, forest trail and a touch of open mountain for good measure.

Following the torrential rain on Thursday night this was always going to be a challenging run and at times runners made their way in single file along the route. This certainly didn’t seem to bother anyone and spirits were high as they weaved their way back down through the ferns. 

O’Flaherty was the comfortable winner in 35.07 with a 40-second lead over Willowfield athlete Neill Weir. Marty Melville (also of Newcastle AC) finished in third place, half a minute later.

The women’s race was won by Laura Graham in 41.30. In second place was Marie Troeng (42.22) and in third place was Gillian Burns from Dromore AC (43.21).

The race was sponsored by Active Financial. Patricia McAuley from Active Financial said: “We are thrilled to sponsor SEA2SKY as we feel it’s the ‘perfect fit’ for our company.”

A total of 61 clubs were represented at the event, as well as hundreds of unaffiliated runners. Murlough AC was undoubtedly the best represented club with 28 of their members taking part. 

All finishers were rewarded with a commemorative bottle opening medal, as well as a post race snack-pack supplied by Barbican Super Valu.  Winners received vouchers for Pure Running in Belfast and Born2Run T-shirts.

The top three ladies were also presented with beautiful posies from Charlotte’s Web Florists. 

Registration was held in The Newcastle Centre and Post race refreshments were held in O’Hare’s Lounge Bars where everyone was treated to a free hotdog.

Born2Run would like to thank the Newcastle Coastguard who helped out with the marshalling, as did the PSNI.  They would also like to thank AJC Electrical and Finnebrogue for their support on the night.

The carnival atmosphere and support along the promenade was fantastic and the organisers look forward to doing it all again next year when it promises to be even bigger and better.

Born2Run’s next event, Dambusters, takes place on August 22 in The Silent Valley.

The half marathon is part of the Pure Running Half Marathon Series and there is also a 10K and a 10K walk. To enter go to www.born2runevents.com