Northern Ireland & Ulster Team for TQ10k Inter-Area Competition

Many congratulations to the following athletes who have been selected to represent Northern Ireland & Ulster in the Titanic Quarter 10k Inter-Area competition against the North of England.

Eight athletes have been selected to represent Northern Ireland and Ulster in the TQ10k Inter-Area competition against the North of England on March 31st.

This will be the first year for Northern Ireland & Ulster to be part of the Inter Area Road Race Series that includes North of England, South of England, Midlands, Armed Forces, Scotland and Wales. The TQ10k is the first in the series for 2019 and will be a two-way match between the North of England and NI & Ulster.

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 and so are selecting athletes, for the inter-area matches, with the potential to transition to the marathon or improve their current marathon performance. 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.”

To find out more about the TQ10k, please see here.