{"id":6632,"date":"2018-04-05T23:53:23","date_gmt":"2018-04-05T23:53:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nirunning.voodooltd.co.uk\/?p=6632"},"modified":"2018-04-05T23:53:23","modified_gmt":"2018-04-05T23:53:23","slug":"weekend-preview-tq10k-omagh-hm-and-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nirunning.co.uk\/weekend-preview-tq10k-omagh-hm-and-more\/","title":{"rendered":"Weekend Preview:\u00a0 TQ10K, Omagh HM and more\u2026"},"content":{"rendered":"
Weekend Preview:\u00a0 TQ10K, Omagh HM and more\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n This week, the local sporting world has enjoyed the opening ceremony and early competition at the Commonwealth Games in Australia \u2013 already, some local runners have been in action, with Russell White (Dromore AC) and James Edgar (City of Lisburn AC) impressing in the Triathlon.<\/p>\n The athletics competition kicks off this Sunday (8th<\/sup> April 2018) and of course, like many, we are excited to see how our top local stars perform on the big stage.<\/p>\n However, back home, it\u2019s business as normal, with two major events taking place this weekend.\u00a0 The TQ10k and the Omagh Half Marathon will attract close to 5,000 athletes onto the local roads between them.<\/p>\n Locally, there is also the re-scheduled Slieve Gullion Mountain Race to look forward to, while further afield, a number of familiar faces will be in action in Athlone and Dublin.<\/p>\n Lets take a look at what is in store over the coming days…<\/p>\n Omagh Half Marathon:<\/strong><\/p>\n On Saturday 7th<\/sup> April 2018, approximately 3,500 athletes will take on the Omagh Half Marathon in County Tyrone.\u00a0 The increasingly popular event covers a pleasant undulating route, which holds personal best potential.<\/p>\n Stephen Scullion (Clonliffe Harriers) and Ann-Marie McGlynn (Letterkenny AC) will play a major part in proceedings if they make it to the start line as planned.<\/p>\n Stephen had initially been pencilled in to compete at the TQ10K this weekend, but also features on the Omagh start-list; we believe that he may start in Omagh.\u00a0 After claiming a top-100 finish at the recent 13.1 mile World Championships, where he recorded 1:05:19, the Northern Ireland and Ireland international will start as favourite in the strong men\u2019s field.\u00a0 Earlier this year, he ran 1:03:16 at the Houston Half Marathon in America.<\/p>\n A host of Spartan talent will be chasing Stephen, with Larne HM winner Mark Long and Ballyliffin Coastal Challenge winner Greg Roberts, both of City of Derry AC, set to compete.\u00a0 In Larne two weeks ago, Mark clocked an excellent personal best of 1:09:22 for the win.\u00a0 Last weekend, Greg showed his current form with a 54:26 finish over the tough Ballyliffin 10 mile course.<\/p>\n Fellow City of Derry AC man and current NI & Ulster Senior XC Champion, Declan Reed, can never be ruled out and will feature alongside another noteworthy competitor, Omagh man Stephen Duncan (Omagh Harriers).\u00a0 Emmet McGinty (City of Derry AC), Kyle Doherty (City of Derry AC), Mark Mullan (City of Derry AC), Steven McAlary (Springwell RC) and Pierce McCullagh (Sperrin Harriers) should all make the top ten.<\/p>\n In the ladies race, Ann-Marie McGlynn will prove hard to beat, especially after the confidence boosting 10k road personal best of 33:50 to win the Hyde Park Spring 10k outright two weeks ago.<\/p>\n In-form Kerrie McIlmoyle (Springwell RC) and Natasha Henderson (County Antrim Harriers) will both start, as will Louise Smith (North Belfast Harriers), Pauline Thom (Ballymena & Antrim AC), Lyndsey Tyro (Orangegrove AC) and Jackie McMonagle (City of Derry AC).<\/p>\n TQ10K Road Race 2018:<\/strong><\/p>\n NI & Ulster Intermediate XC Champion Craig McMeechan (North Down AC) and AAI National Marathon Champion Laura Graham (Mourne Runners) will head a 1,400 strong field at this weekend\u2019s TQ10K, in Belfast (Sunday 8th<\/sup> April 2018).<\/p>\n The Athletics Northern Ireland hosted event, which covers a flat and fast course around the iconic Titanic Quarter, will attract an abundance of local talent.<\/p>\n Up and coming star Craig McMeechan has come to the fore at senior level over the last twelve months, with several notable performances.\u00a0 His dominant run and win at the NI & Ulster Intermediate XC Championships at the turn of the year, was backed up with personal bests over 3k (8:43) and 5k (15:05) at the Armagh International and Queen\u2019s 5k respectively \u2013 the latter was enough to see Craig pick up a silver in the NI & Ulster 5k Championships.<\/p>\n Podium finisher at the TQ10k in 2017, Chris Madden (City of Lisburn AC), will lead the chasing pack and is sure to be podium contender once again.\u00a0 Twelve months ago, Chris recorded 31:49 over this course and he went on to reduce his 10k best with a 31:18 finish at the Seeley Cup at the back end of 2017.\u00a0 Two weeks ago, at the Queen\u2019s 5k, the City of Lisburn AC star crossed the line in 15:14 for 6th<\/sup> place.<\/p>\n Current NI & Ulster 10k Champion Scott Rankin (Foyle Valley AC) will also start and should challenge for a top three finish.\u00a0 Other men who will feature at the front include Neill Weir (Willowfield Harriers), Chris McGuinness (Foyle Valley AC), Barry Harron (Finn Valley AC), Stephen O\u2019Gorman (Dromore AC) and the fast improving Vincent McKenna (QUB AC).<\/p>\n In the ladies race, Laura Graham will be keen to make it third time lucky after having finished as runner up at this race in 2017 (34:30) and third place in 2016 (35:24).\u00a0 Two weeks ago, the Kilkeel based athlete, who represented Northern Ireland at the Armagh International, made her Ireland debut in Spain, running 1:16:27 at the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships.<\/p>\n Laura will come up against a host of top talent, with Gladys Ganiel O\u2019Neill (North Belfast Harriers), Rachel Gibson (North Down AC), Katie Moore (North Down AC) and current NI & Ulster 10,000m Champion Marina Murphy (Derry Track Club) all set to compete.<\/p>\n Commonwealth Games marathoner Gladys won the recent Craic 10k on St Patrick\u2019s Day, leading the ladies home in 36:34.\u00a0 Rachel has also shown good form recently, with a personal best of 17:13 at the Queen\u2019s 5k and a silver medal at the NI & Ulster Senior XC Championships.\u00a0 Katie ran a personal best of 17:57 at Queen\u2019s 5k, while Marina, won last weekend\u2019s Beragh 5 mile road race in 30:53.<\/p>\n Sarah Lindsay (North Down AC), Debbie Matchett (Ballydrain Harriers) and Ann Terek (City of Lisburn AC) will also be amongst the top finishers.<\/p>\n Slieve Gullion Mountain Race:<\/strong><\/p>\n The re-scheduled Slieve Gullion Mountain Race, an event hosted by Armagh AC, will take place on Saturday 7th<\/sup> April 2018.\u00a0 The traditional season opener (not this year!), covers 3.9 miles in distance, with 340 metres of ascent.<\/p>\n Numbers will no doubt be affected due to the clash with the WMRA trial race \u2013 however, a strong turnout is still expected.<\/p>\n Amongst the front runners could be NIMRA podium regulars Jonny Steede (Glens Runners), Seamus Lynch (Newcastle AC) and Zak Hanna (Newcastle AC).\u00a0 Armagh AC\u2019s own Paul McAnespie, who ran well at the Glenariffe Mountain Race, may also feature.<\/p>\n In the ladies race, in-form athlete Esther Dickson (Newry AC) should make use of home advantage, while fellow Northern Ireland international runners Shileen O\u2019Kane (Lagan Valley AC), Gillian Wasson (Ballymena Runners) and Mari Troeng (Newcastle AC) could start.<\/p>\n Events taking place outside Northern Ireland this weekend\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n Commonwealth Games (Australia):<\/strong><\/p>\n In Australia, the athletics competition at the Commonwealth Games kicks off on Sunday 8th<\/sup> April 2018.<\/p>\n Team Northern Ireland athletes Leon Reid (Birchfield Harriers), Amy Foster (City of Lisburn AC) and Dempsey McGuigan (Finn Valley AC) will all be in action on Day 1 of the programme.<\/p>\n A full schedule for the athletes representing Team NI in track and field is available HERE<\/a>.<\/p>\n Irish Life Health Juvenile Indoor Championships (Ireland):<\/strong><\/p>\n A host of local junior talent will make the now familiar journey to Athlone (Ireland) for the re-scheduled Day 1 of the Irish Life Health Juvenile Indoor Championships at the AIT Arena (Saturday 7th April 2018).<\/p>\n