John Paul Williamson and Rachel Gibson took comfortable victories today at the Les Jones Memorial event, in a new 5k course.
The traditional Les Jones 10k race is held in memory of the late Athletics NI Chairman, team manager and athlete, who passed away in 1992, however this year, the race was reconfigured due to the COVID-19 restrictions. Instead of the usual 10k, runners had a new 5k challenge, taking in the scenic Lagan Towpath.
With temperature checks complete runners were gathered into their waves to start at 9:30am on the Mary Peters Track. Taking in a lap of the famous track, they then headed across the carpark and down to the towpath, where they took a lap of the path between Malone Golf Club and Shaw’s Bridge, before returning to the Mary Peters Track.
City of Derry Spartans’ John Paul Williamson looked comfortable throughout the race and made his break in the latter stages of the race to finish in 15:52, with North Belfast Harrier’s Peter McGarry in 2nd place in 15:52 and St Malachy’s AC’s Conall McClean in 3rd place in 15:57.
In the ladies race, North Down AC’s Rachel Gibson also ran a steady race to finish in 1st place in a time of 17:59, with East Down AC’s Anna Gardiner in 2nd place in 18:09 and City of Lisburn AC’s Judith Lonnen in 3rd place in 19:00.
The full results are available on the website here: www.athleticsni.org/Results
