CROSSGAR 10K on SATURDAY
The latest renewal of this popular 10K race proved to be a high quality event with the top 12 finishers all under 40 minutes. The winner was North Belfast’s Gareth Lyons 34.11, from the evergreen Tommy Hughes Termoneeny Running Club 34.53 in 2ndplace with Dromore’s Wesley McDowell third in 35.09.
First of East Down’s 9 participants was Dee Murray 38.44 in 11th place followed by Paul Lloyd in 41.03 and Eamon Kelly who is starting to make his mark at this level in 47.11. Next was Paddy McDonald 48.55, comfortably inside the top 50 mark, with Donal Smith, George Kerr and Gavin McConvey all having time to spare inside the hour, with John Smith, good to see him back in Club colours again, and Noreen Kerr, enjoying themselves in the pleasant summer heat, just over the 60 minutes but with still plenty behind them in the field of 128 finishers.
Donal’s comment “Very warm, very tough route, with a sharp climb near the end that was as soul destroying as it was tough. It was like one of the hills those Tour De France chaps have been scaling all week!!” Those “hills” are called mountains Donal, specifically the Alps, and from my memory, are just a wee bit steeper than the Crossgar route along Drakesbridge Road!
Phillip turns into home straight on Saturday with price on his head
LONGWOOD MARATHON (EAST of IRELAND SERIES) VICTORY
The old saying “Cometh the hour, Cometh the man“ certainly rang true on Saturday when Phillip Vint, running in his 67th marathon realised that the next person in front was the race leader who like several other competitors was visibly wilting in the stifling heat, and sensing that he was running much more strongly than his opponent, Phillip carefully harnessed his resources and blasted past him with just 2 miles left to go and dug in for his first ever marathon win!! Paul Murphy was second across the finish line, 64 seconds behind with Gregory Paul O’ Beirne a further 4 minutes back in 3rd.
Read the full hews here
Main image – EDAC at the Crossgar 10K – Back L-R Paddy McDonald, John Smith, Paul Lloyd, Donal Smith, Gavin McConvey
By Neil McCartan
