Weekend Review NI & Ulster Road Relay Championships

It was a brilliant day for breaking course records, as North Belfast Harriers broke not one, but two records- first in the Male Masters event and then in the Male Senior event, where the team from St Malachys AC also came inside the course record time.

The leading North Belfast Harriers team of Mark McKinstry, Gareth Lyons, Kent Swann and Connor Curran, finished in 40:55s taking the new course record and 1^st place in the Male Masters event. They were followed by the team from Victoria Park & Connswater AC who finished in 41:52 to take 2^nd place while the team from Acorns AC claimed 3^rd place in 42:13.

Mark McKinstry returned to the course once again as part of the winning Senior Men’s team, where he was joined by John Black, Conan McCaughey and Andrew Milligan. The team also claimed a new course record time of 38:45 to take home the NI & Ulster Senior Championship title. In 2^nd place was the young team from St Malachys AC, who were also inside the course record time, finishing in 39:16. The team from Willowfield Harriers claimed 3^rd place, finishing in 40:30.

In the Ladies Masters race it was North Belfast Harriers who claimed victory again, as their team of Roisin Hughes, Penny Lindsay and Sarah-Jane McFadden finished 1^st in 37:00. In 2^nd place was the Lagan Valley Masters A team who finished in 37:58 and in 3^rd was the North Down AC Ladies A team who finished in 38:32.

The East Down AC Ladies team of Sinead Sweeney, Caroline McNabb and Catherine O’Connor took home the Senior Ladies NI & Ulster Championships title, by completing the course in 34:29, ahead of 2^nd place, North Down AC ladies who finished in 34:48. In 3^rd place was the City of Lisburn AC ladies team who finished in 36:35.

The day also included a series of Junior events from Primary Schools right through to U17s. Loughview AC’s Finlay Mayne won the U13 Boys event in a time of 5:36s, with Colm McKee (Willowfield Harriers) closely behind in 2^nd place in 5:39s and Luke McCausland (City of Lisburn AC) in 3^rd place in 5:47s.

In the U13 Girls, victory went to Eobha McAllister (Springwell Running Club) who finished in 5:53s, with Ava Mehaffey (City of Lisburn AC) in a close 2^nd place with a time of 5:55s and Jodi Foster (East Down AC) in 3^rd, just one second behind in 5:56s.

In the U15 Boys Jack McCausland (City of Lisburn AC) came out triumphant in 1^st place in a time of 5:07s with Kyle Thompson (Loughview AC) in 2rd place in 5:07s and Diarmuid Hanna (Ballymena & Antrim AC) in 3^rd place in 5:14s.

Kirsti Foster (East Down AC) took the top spot in the U15 Girls race in 5:19s while Catherine Martin (Loughview AC) claimed 2^nd place in 5:34s and Lucy Foster (East Down AC) followed not far behind her sister, to take 3^rd place in 5:40s.

St Malachy’s AC’s Callum Morgan took 1^st place in the U17 Boys event in 10:23, with Ryan Smith (Springwell Running Club) in 2^nd place in 10:27 and Lorcan McGurk (City of Lisburn AC) claiming 3^rd place in 10:28.

In the U17 Girls North Down AC’s Tara McDonough came 1^st in 12:33s, while Eimear McBrien (Lagan Valley AC) came 2^nd in 12:40 and Ruby McNiff (Dromore AC) took 3^rd place in 12:59.

Full results available here