Athletics NI hosted the 2-day Winter Track series with the Middle Distance Meet on Wednesday 16th December and the Sprints & 10,000m Meet on Saturday 19th December at the Mary Peters Track with some fantastic results.
Both days saw athletes from across Northern Ireland compete under some mild December conditions.
Day 1
The meet started with two 800m races, with Annadale Striders’ Chris Pollock winning Race 1 in a time of 2:15.01, followed by Dromore AC duo, Nadia Radcliffe in 2:27.60 and Leah Moffitt in 2:35.97. Race 2 was won by Newry Ac’s Gary Crummy in 2:03.26, followed by Burren AC’s Tom McKeveney in 2:03.90 and City of Lisburn Ac’s Sean Terek in 2:04.80.
Annadale Strider’s Conor McMullan took Race 1 of the 1500m in a time of 4:47.26, followed by Ballydrain Harrier’s Evan Boyce in 5:23.62 and Lagan Valley AC’s Jason Kiernan in 5:29.82. Race 2 was won by Newry AC’s Jimmy Sloan in 4:14.11, with Dromore AC’s Nigel McKibbin and Armagh AC’s Brendan Heaney in joint 2nd place in 4:34.18.
The 3000m event attracted a large number of entries, and due to social distancing protocols was then split into 5 races. Race 1 was won by Armagh AC’s Patrick Nugent in 10:14.63, followed by Chris Hamilton (Ballymena & Antrim AC) in 2nd in 10:21.12, and Martin McKenna (Roadrunners AC) in 3rd in 10:28.03.
Newry AC’s Mark Malone won Race 2 in a time of 9:43.83, followed by Annadale Striders’ Mark Harvey in 9:45.15 and East Down AC’s Neil Curran in 9:49.70. Armagh AC’s Martin McKenna finished in 9:22.15, leading Race 3, followed by Lagan Valley AC’s James Ashley in 9:27.53 and North Belfast Harriers’ Jack Steenson in 9:51.72.
North Belfast Harriers’ John Black won Race 4 in a time of 8:43.03, followed by Gavin Corey (Unattached) in a time of 8:47.91 and Omagh Harrier’s Eoin Mullan in 8:48.46. Ricky Johnston (Unattached) won Race 5 in 8:55.06, followed by North Belfast Harriers’ Gerard Heaney in 8:57.16 and Annadale Striders’ Stephen Connolly in 8:58.94.
Day 2
Athletes from across Northern Ireland were joined by those from Ireland and England for another day of exciting track competition. The events started with a sensational 10,000m with Dublin Track Club’s Sean Tobin winning Race 1 in a new track record of 28:30.91, followed by Raheny Shamrocks’ Brian Fay in 28:41.70 and Star of the Sea’s Andrew Coscoran in 29:01.21. Eoin Mullan (Omagh Harriers) lead Race 2 from the start to finish in 31:58.42, following was Annadale Striders’ duo Chris Hutchinson and Stephen Wylie who finished in 33:05.70 and 33:28.41 respectively. Strive Racing Club and recently named Athletics Weekly’s Male Athlete of the Year, Tommy Hughes just missed the M60 10,000m World Record of 33:57.60, in a valiant effort of 34:02.52, aided by son, Eoin Hughes, who finished in a time of 34:03.13.
Video footage from the 10,000m races is available on our facebook:
In the 60m races, Newbridge’s Runo Ayavoro won race 1 in 7.16, with Orangegrove AC’s Matthew Sykes in 2nd place in 7.26 and Sean Harding (Shercock AC) in 3rd in 7.29. Race 2 was won by Shercock AC’s Thomas McAdam in 7.39, followed by City of Lisburn pair Ajith Joy in 7.71 and Megan Marrs in 7.76. Northern Ireland Masters’ athlete, Ian McClung won Race 3 in 8.32, followed by Armagh AC’s Sinead Quinn in 8.51 and City of Lisburn’s Cara Henning in 8.61.
After a short break to allow the athletes rest between races, events started again with the 150m. Shercock AC’s Sean Harding won race 1 in a time of 16.87, followed by Orangegrove AC’s Matthew Sykes in 17.34 and Christian Drennan in 17.61. Race 2 was won by Ballymena & Antrim AC’s Ross Stevenson in 17.69, followed by Ajith Joy (City of Lisburn AC) in 18.83 and St Anne’s AC’s Patrick Crossan in 19.78. Mid Ulster AC’s Justin Bloomer won Race 3 in 19.25, followed by City of Lisburn AC’s Roger Duncan in 21.20 and Karyn Dumigan in 21.40.
Conor O’Carroll from St Colman’s College, Newry won Race 1 of the 300m in 36.28, followed by Ballymena & Antrim AC’s Ross Stevenson in 37.64 and City of Lisburn Ac’s Alexander Seifert in 38.43. Race 2 saw Justin Bloomer’s 2nd win of the day in a time of 39.81, followed by Monaghan Phoenix Ross Miotti in 40.45 and Dromore Ac’s John Ward in 43.03. The final race of the day was won by City of Lisburn AC’s Karyn Dumigan in 46.26, followed by Newry Ac’s Joanne McCauley in 49.40 and North East Runner’s Geraldine Finegan in 50.61.
We would like to thank all of the athletes and coaches for following the social distancing protocols in order to make these events as safe as possible, and of course, a huge thank you to all of our officials without which these events would not happen.
Full results for both day’s events are available on our website: www.athleticsni.org/Results
Photos from Day 1 & 2 are now available:
