Northern Ireland & Ulster Team for Stirling 10k Inter-Area competition Announcement

Eight athletes have been selected to represent Northern Ireland and Ulster in the Stirling 10k Inter-Area competition on 8^th September.

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 and the Cardiff Victory 5k this year. Both the men’s and women’s teams finished 2^nd at the Victory 5k and intend to be on the podium again at this next race in the series.

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 will select 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

Director of Coaching and Athlete Development, Jackie Newton, said: “We are delighted that the Deep River Rock Belfast City Marathon have offered their support to endurance athletes that have the potential to represent Northern Ireland at the Commonwealth Games and beyond. We aim to provide regular competition at the appropriate level that will challenge and inspire athletes to be the best they can be. Northern Ireland has produced many great marathon runners over the years and we recognise that we have a higher probability of achieving our targets in this event than in the endurance track events. I would like to congratulate the athletes that have been selected for this competition, wish them my best and I look forward to seeing more of our endurance athletes representing NI & Ulster in this series.”