Richard Coey 1st EAMS Marathon…The Weekly News from Ballydrain

On Monday 13th January the first running event of the week coincided with the first big storm of the year, but Storm Brendan was no match for the participants of EAMS World Half Marathon Day 2020. Strong winds, driving rain and crashing waves weren’t enough to deter nearly 60 runners from taking part in the half and full marathon around the Lough shore from Jordanstown to Carrickfergus. Richard Coey (Ballydrain Harriers) took 1st place overall in the marathon distance, completing the course in 3:17:12 with Fiona Prue (WPR) finishing in 2nd place in a time of 3:42:57. In the half marathon race Brendan McIlhennon was first over the line in 1:26:40, with Stacey Orr taking first place for the ladies in 1:41:09.

The 6th round of the Run Forest Run series was held in Gosford Forest Park on a cold and frosty Saturday. The course took runners through a scenic mixture of road and forest track, a few hills, dense woodland and past Gosford Castle. Ballydrain was represented by 4 competitors with Jill Burgess first home for the club in a time of 54:41 followed by Anne McClurg (55:57), Denise Davison (55:58) and Violet Davidson (1:11:13). Well done to Born2Run for another great event. Next up Antrim Castle Gardens.

The North Down Festival of Cross Country was held in Castle Park in Bangor on Saturday 18th January. There were individual races as well as a team relay event. The course was a tough, muddy route around the park with 4K for the ladies and 6.5k for the men. Karen Wilson of Jog Lisburn was first lady home in 16:49 with Denise Logue (Ballydrain Harriers) 2nd in 17:53. The men’s individual race was won by Paul Carroll of Annadale Striders in a time of 25:03 with William Brown (Ballydrain Harriers) finishing 6th in the Senior men’s race.

Denise Logue at Festival of XC

Ballydrain had representation in both the men’s and the ladies relay teams which saw each athlete complete two 1300m laps. The men’s team (Matthew Carville, Colin Bell, Jonny Lilly and Nigel Martin) finished 7th in the Men’s Senior race. The Ballydrain ladies’ team (Denise Logue, Claire Ingram and Amanda Perry) took third place overall and a superb 1st place in the Ladies Masters race. Congratulations to all who took part and to our Ladies Cross Country team on a fantastic result.

Mens and Ladies Teams at Festival of XC

Ballydrain Harriers welcomes runners of all fitness levels, age and ability. We meet at North Down Cricket Club in Comber on Tuesdays at 7:15pm. Come join us.

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