Northern Ireland & Ulster Team for Leeds Abbey Dash 10k Inter-Area Team Announcement

Many congratulations to the following athletes who have been selected to represent Northern Ireland & Ulster in the Leeds Abbey Dash 10k Inter-Area competition to be held in Leeds.

Eight athletes have been selected to represent Northern Ireland and Ulster in the Leeds Abbey Dash 10k Inter-Area competition on 27^th October.

This is the first year for Northern Ireland & Ulster are part of the Inter Area Road Race Series that includes North of England, South of England, Midlands, Armed forces, Scotland and Wales. Northern Ireland & Ulster have already competed at the Titanic Quarter 10k, the Cardiff Victory 5k and the Stirling 10k this year. Both the men’s and women’s teams finished 2^nd at the Victory 5k, the men finished third in Stirling where the women were first. The teams will aim to keep up their success in this next race of the series.

Director of Coaching and Athlete Development, Jackie Newton said “The Leeds Abbey Dash is run on a fast course and attracts the best 10k runners in the UK and produces personal best times for many. Last year, Fionnuala Ross finished first female in her best time of 33:30 and is looking forward to defending her title and leading the Northern Ireland & Ulster team that contains Nakita Burke, Jessica Craig and Sarah Lavery. The men’s team have all had this race targeted for some time now and have been building towards it. We hope to see season’s or personal bests all round and I wish the team the very best. I know they will make the most of this opportunity.”

These extra opportunities have been made possible thanks to the Deep River Rock Belfast City Marathon who are providing funding for athletes with marathon potential. Athletics NI are selecting athletes, for the inter-area road races, that have demonstrated potential to transition from shorter distances to the marathon or who have the potential to significantly improve their current marathon performance. Normally athletes in the top tier of our programme (Podium Potential) will not be selected. Places will be kept for athletes, with the required standards, on the Commonwealth Potential tier and below.

The selection policy for the inter-area competitions can be found here: https://athleticsni.org/Athletes/Competition-Opportunities