East Down men and women make the trip to Ballyclare

8 November 2023

THERE was a good showing by East Down AC at the McConnell Shield cross country meeting hosted by East Antrim Harriers at Sixmilewater Park in Ballyclare.

Despite fears that the recent heavy rains might have flooded the course, the organisers had it set and ready for action.

The competitors were greeted by blue skies and bright sunshine and the showers that were forecast failed to materialise. The ground was soft, but not overly muddy, so all in all it was perfect setting for some good, hard racing.

The ladies went off first with a field of 80-odd females combined with 26 Masters men (60+). They had a three-mile challenge on a lapped course with each lap approximately a mile. The terrain was fairly gentle — long flat stretches for the most part with some twisty climbing on a tree rooted trail which can be nasty.

Catherine O’Connor went off with the leaders and ran strongly throughout. She may have been slightly disappointed to come fourth despite her efforts, but there was some consolation in the fact that she was the quickest F35 on the day with a speedy time of 18.46.

It is also noteworthy that the time gap from the winner, Robyn McKee (Annadale Striders), over the top four places was less than 30 seconds so she was very much in the mix. It also transpired that her high placing was key in taking the East Down AC ladies to third position in the team rankings.

Junior runner Abigail Elliott, inspired by her performance in the NI & Ulster Relays, was keen to try her pace in the senior race. She was pleased to be the second East Down female to cross the line and her time of 21.37 placed her 17th overall and should be a welcome boost to her confidence.

Leanne Spick was 26th in 23.06 and looked comfortable throughout. She reported that she enjoyed this far more than her recent outing at Comber.

Despite taking a tumble Aoife Cochrane finished smiling in 35th place in 24.08. She must have set a trend as Ella Carroll also caught her spikes on the fake grass covering a path and ended up sprawled in the mud. With nothing hurt only pride she forged to the finish in 46th place with 25.09.

Wayne Giles in the same race was jostling with the male 60+ and he came home happy with 27.55. This left Alison Carroll as rearguard to complete her run in 72nd place, just inside the 30-minute barrier.

McConnell Shield

As soon as the course was clear, the men lined up ready for their turn. They were competing for the McConnell Shield and faced five miles in total.

East Down’s Neil McCartan put it all on the line from the whistle. He committed to chasing the eventual winner, Conal McCambridge, of North Belfast Harriers, but after the first lap Conal managed to create a gap, leaving Neil to fight it out with the other chasers.

In the end Neil missed out on a podium place, but not for the want of trying. He pushed hard to the finish, coming fourth overall in a time of 27.20.

Adam Withers was the next home for the club. He is persistently seeking to better himself on grass and this was a good run for him. He was 37th in 32.22.

Paul Burns wasn’t too far behind, clocking 32.33 to come a creditable 42nd. Dee Murray, ever the club stalwart, was 61st in 34.27 and Mark O’Connor ran a very evenly paced 38.04 (85th) to complete the line-up.

Thanks are due to the host club for putting on a well run day of racing and to the marshals who gave plenty of encouraging cheers as the competitors made their way around the course. Next outing will be back to Billy Neill Playing Fields for the Comber Cup on November 19.

Sunday morning saw the seventh running of the Ballynahinch Run to Remember 5k, organised by Ballynahinch Royal British Legion branch and Atlas Running. This event always attracts many local runners and fun runners.

This year Atlas Running had put in a new route starting at Morrisons garage and finishing outside Ballynahinch High School, the main part of the course still covered the back lanes of the local area with a number of steep inclines to add to the mix.

East Down AC had one lone runner on the start line and from the gun Martin Willcox stuck to the back of the front pack. After all the week’s rain the conditions were dry, cool and sunny which made for a fast race. Martin stuck to the task and after a battle with David Smyth, from Newcastle AC, he finished fourth in a time of 18 min 28 sec. The race was won for the second year in a row by Tom Crudgington, from Newcastle AC, in 17 min 23 sec.

Tweets by @TheDownRecorder