Weekend Roundup International Competition & Road Racing Highlights (September 6th,7th 2025)
10 September 2025
September is often a quieter month for athletics, with many athletes taking a well-earned break after the track season. However, this past weekend was packed with action both at home and abroad, showcasing exciting performances across road racing and combined events.
The Home Countries Combined Events International lit up the Mary Peters Track despite challenging weather, bringing together top athletes from England, Scotland, Ireland, and NI & Ulster. England claimed overall honours, with Stephen Simmons breaking a stadium record set in 2005 by scoring 7,520 points in the Decathlon. Northern Ireland’s Lexx McConnville impressed on home soil, setting a personal best of 5,857 points with several individual PBs, including a 1.93m High Jump. In the Heptathlon, Lucy Markwell also shone in the U18 competition, achieving a PB of 3,763 points. Scotland’s Douglas Knox (U18) and Leanna Elliot (U18), alongside England’s Kieran Bouwmeester-Reid (U20) and Lily Holt (Senior), claimed individual titles. The competition underlined the Mary Peters Track’s reputation as one of the UK’s premier combined events venues.
Meanwhile, road racing took centre stage across the UK and beyond. At the Great North Run weekend in Gateshead, Tony McCambridge (CNDR) led the NI contingent with a sixth-place finish in the Elite Men’s 5K, joined by clubmate Conall McClean and Kirsti Foster (Willowfield) in the Elite races. In Derry, over 2,000 runners took part in the Waterside Half Marathon, doubling as the NI & Ulster Championships, with victories for Claire McGuigan (Strabane) in 80:55 and Stephen McAuley (Letterkenny) in 68:46. Letterkenny secured the men’s team title, while City of Derry Spartans claimed the women’s title.
In Belfast, more than 1,000 runners competed in the Laganside 10K, with Sarah McNutt (NBH) winning the women’s race in 36:30 and Cathaoir Purvis (CNDR) taking the men’s title in 32:22.
On the international stage, Nick Griggs (CNDR) starred at the Fifth Avenue Mile in New York, clocking 3:48.4 — believed to be the fastest mile ever run by an Irishman, though not record-eligible due to the downhill road course. Griggs finished fourth in a world-class field, cementing his status as one of Ireland’s brightest middle-distance talents.
With records broken, personal bests achieved, and local races thriving, this weekend highlighted the depth and breadth of talent across the athletics community.