Springwell Running Club - Press Release – June 2nd 2019

It’s been another extremely busy week for Springwell RC racing on the roads, trails, mountains and the track a haul of medals, trophies and podium places.

Junior Section

Springwell RC’s junior section was in action on Saturday, in the Irish Schools Track & Field Championships at Tullamore in County Offaly, and on Sunday in Stranorlar at the Children’s Ulster Track & Field Championships.

The success of five of our junior ranks at the Ulster Track & Field Championships earned them the right to participate at the Irish Championships which they did with considerable success. The highlight for the club was Niamh Carr being crowned the Irish Senior Girls 1500m Champion. After a tactical race Niamh proved too strong for the opposition and took control with 200 metres to go and, having fought off any challenge on the final bend showed her superior speed to break clear in the finishing straight and win convincingly.

Matthew Beveridge, Jack Culbertson, Hermione Skuce, Niamh Carr and Niamh McGarry

The U16 Boys Mile was a much more closely contested event where Matthew Beveridge won the Silver Medal after a battle with Abdul Lacidet (Kishoge CC Lucan). Matthew finished in an excellent time of 4.37.81, just .69 seconds behind the winner.

In the Intermediate Boys 800m Jack Culbertson produced a personal best time of 1.58 to finish 3rd, while in the Junior Girls Mile Niamh McGarry, who still has another two years in this age category, finished 5th. In the Senior Girls 800m Hermione Skuce ran a brave race to finish 7th.

The Children’s Ulster Track & Field Championships on Sunday saw eight of the youngest of our junior ranks travel to Stranorlar in Donegal for their competition.

Springwell RC Juniors at the Children’s Ulster T & F Championships

Ethan Buchanan, Jessica Mellet, Rebecca McGrath, Sophie McCormick, Ross Coleman and Zoe Mellet were all making their debut appearances at the Ulster Championships while Adria and Eobha McAllister had experienced the event in 2018.

Taking part in her first ever Ulster Championships Zoe Mellet won a silver medal in the U10 500m while Adria and Eobha McAllister repeated their success from last year with Bronze medals in the U11 and U13 600m respectively.

Donadea Ultra Festival

The Donadea Ultra Festival took place in Donadea Forest Park in County Kildare on the 1st & 2nd June and offered competitors the options of a 100 mile, 100 kilometre or 50 kilometre event to consider. Stepping up to the challenge of the 100 mile event was Springwell RC’s Chris Denton who was really in unchartered territory. Chris is a very experienced marathon runner who regularly records sub 3 hour times but this challenge was as much, if not more about mental strength as physical ability. The race consisted of 33 and a bit laps laps of a three mile route through the roads, paths and trails of the forest park, meaning that competitors had to have the mental toughness to start the next lap and not be tempted by the opportunity to step out of the race and back to their creature comforts.

Starting at 9.30am on Saturday Chris produced an excellent display of endurance running to cover the 100 mile distance in a time of 16h 56m 40s to claim a much deserved win at the event.

Chris Denton at the Donadea Ultra Festival

Walled City Marathon

After a night of heavy rain and a morning of squally showers the Walled City Marathon started at 8.30am on Sunday in morning in remarkable dry conditions. The steady breeze didn’t cause too many problems for the competitors although more than a few were to suffer as the temperatures rose throughout the morning.

Eric Koech (Project Africa) led from the start at the Everglades Hotel to the Finish in the Guildhall Square, winning in a time of 2.34.19, over six minutes ahead of second place Chris McGuinness (Foyle Valley AC) who crossed the line in 2.40.20. Shane O’Donnell (Rosses AC) completed the podium in 2.42.54.

In the ladies race Natalie Hall (Armagh AC) took this year’s title in a time of 3.03.35 with Grace Kennedy (Dromore Harriers) second in 3.04.32 and Aisling Murray (Carmen Runners) third with a time of 3.05.20.

As always Springwell RC were well represented at the event with five of our members acting as pacers this year to help other competitors achieve their targets.

Springwell RC Results - 56th Jason Scott 3.14.40 (Pacer), 99th Jeff Young 3.26.11, 107th Stephen McLaughlin 3.28.00, 125th Darren Madden 3.29.36 (Pacer), 172nd Alan Nevin 3.38.43, 208th Michael Johnson 3.43.24, 284th Timmy Bacon 3.53.45, 336th Gary Moore 3.59.12 (Pacer), 338th John Butcher 3.59.12 (Pacer), 355th Catherine Pinkerton 4.01.11, 375th Will Colvin 4.03.58, 391st Paul Quinn 4.06.19, 393rd Pauline Mullan 4.06.13, 399th Fran Mc Fadden 4.07.13, 400th Conor McStravick 4.07.14, 467th Niall Kennedy 4.17.45, 524th Noel Harkin 4.24.08, 525th Stephen Cassidy 4.24.48, 554th Helena Dornan 4.28.57 (Pacer), 585th Chris Dunne 4.35.48, 718th Paul Humphreys 5.06.22, 800th Andrew Kincaid 5.54.05

Race Run DMC

On Sunday 2nd June North Belfast Harriers, in association with the National Trust hosted a day of trail and mountain races on the Divis and Black Mountain paths overlooking Belfast. Competitors had a choice of a 5 Mile Ridge Run, a 7.5 Mile Ridge & Summit Run or a 9 Mile Ridge, Summit & Heath Run.

Ridge Run - 19th David Campbell 48.44

Ridge & Summit - 34th Andrew Wilmot 1.26.43

Ridge, Summit & Heath - 6th Barry Mullan 1.12.09, 21st Michael Mulvenna 1.32.28, 22nd Carolyn Crawford 1.34.33, 27th Sarah Dickinson 1.36.16, 28th Adele Tomb 1.36.56, 37th Paul Dornan 1.44.06, 41st Conor Duffy 1.47.49