Impressive Alan enjoys Derry air

Impressive Alan enjoys Derry air

6 June 2018

THE Walled City Marathon took place at the weekend with a great field of runners attending from Murlough AC. 

Without a doubt, the club are proud again of their superstar Alan Johnston in fine marathon form. Alan finished seventh with an outstanding time of 2:50. Alan is not long after a fantastic race at the London Marathon and is surely proving that a PB is not far away!.

He ran well in what has been described as a tough course, especially with the warm weather added into the mix. Aoife McVeigh, recent best female newcomer to the club, finished the marathon in under the four hour mark.

She has put in huge training efforts over the past few months and this has surely paid off. She completed the marathon in 3:57 which was well within her goal. A great achievement for Aoife. 

Eddie Murnin also completed the marathon with a steady pace, slightly over the four hours, completing his 14th marathon in 14 months, a slower pace for Eddie who is saving his legs for Energia 24 in a couple of weeks. 

Jackie Moore and Paula McKibbin also completed the marathon, a great run for these seasoned marathon runners. 

Belfast Hill Trail 

Judith Robinson took part in the Belfast Hill Trail, hosted by North Belfast Harriers at the weekend.

This event provided a choice of three races. Judith took the longest option of nine miles over Divis and Black 

Mountain. This was a great day for Judith as she finished fifth lady out of 11 who took the challenging route. A huge well done to Judith.

Kerry

Over 100 runners turned up for the Irish Championship race in Carrauntoohil in Co Kerry, Ireland’s highest mountain standing at 1,038m. It was a cloudy, but a humid heat which meant getting liquid on board was vital to completing it successfully.

The total distance was 7.87 mile. Colm Devlin finished it in 2:18, an amazing achievement for Colm who is no stranger to the mountains.

Women’s mini-marathon

Diane McKissick, Carol McMenamin, Charrise Poland and Sarah McKay, along with Diane’s friend Jenny, met up in Dublin for Vhi Mini Marathon (10k) on Sunday. 

Over 40,000 thousand attended, almost all female. A smattering of brave men dressed in fishnets, wigs and mini skits disguised as women. It was a very hot day, but the atmosphere was electric. 

Firemen were out in force hosing the ladies down as they ran past. Certainly no complaints about that. A lot of ladies chose to walk the route. Whole roads were closed off for the event and it was a relatively flat course. 

Times were Carol McMenamin (54.38), Charisse Poland (57.27), Sarah McKay (1.05), Diane McKissick (1.08), Jenny Melville (1.10). 

The runners were cheered on by live bands and nuns. There was a lovely gift bag at end and a nice medal.

Hill & Dale 

Another Thursday meant another Hill & Dale. Last week was Millstone. Weather was extremely warm for the runners. First MAC home was Sean Armstrong in 51:22, another great run for Sean.

Second MAC was Michael Neeson who finished 95th overall and was delighted to be in the top 100.

He now defines himself as an athlete. Next to finish was Eddie Murnin, followed by Declan McCormick.

Next through was Laura Lynch, who took a bad fall coming through the fire break, but she recovering well with just a few cuts and bruises.

It was great to see Liam Smyth who was next who was closely followed by Lorna Fitzpatrick. Making a welcome return to the Hill & Dale was Patricia Hogg.

5K Colour Run

Geoffrey Calvert and his daughter Lucy and ran and walked the 5k colour run in Wallace Park in Lisburn at the weekend.

It was a great event that was well attended in the beautiful weather. They really enjoyed it and were covered in colourful powder which took ages to wash out. A great family day out!

Couch to 5K

The six week Couch to 5k programme is proving very successful. Lots of keen local runners attending each week. The sessions continue this week on Saturday at the Twelve Arches car park at 9.30am and Tuesday June at the same venue at 7pm.