Titanic 10k, Queens 5k and UUJ 5k.

Could members or others, who were at the above races, send Eddie a report.

Posted by Matt Shields

National Indoor Club Championships

at Nenagh

Three North Belfast Juniors traveled to Nenagh county Tipperary last week for the national indoor club championships.

They competed in the 2000 meter walk and finished in their age groups as follows;

Owen McCabe 2nd,

Emma Doherty 3^rd

and Meave McCambridge 6th.

All three have now been approached by the Irish national coach about the possibility of attending training days for the national squad.

North Belfast coach Jimmy Nolan acknowledges the contribution of their school teacher Ray Gorman in his regular coaching for this event.

Posted by Matt Shields

 
London Marathon

Sunday was also London Marathon day with six North Belfast athletes taking part.

Dave Morwood finished in 2hr 36min,

Martin Rea ran 2hr 59min,

Greg McClure ran 2hr 58min,

Michael McGready ran 3hr 25min,

Robert Irvine ran 3hr 26min

and Nuala Muldoon ran 4hr 24mins.

Best run was by 50 year old McClure running a personal best and finishing 37th in his age group.

Martin Rea was again running the event as an official pace setter for the 3hr group finishing as requested just under target.

All attention now switches to Belfast on the 5th May.
 
Posted by Matt Shields

Millisle 10k

Saturday 12th was the Millisle 10k.

Louise McClean won the Ladies race and Declan Ligget was 5th overall and 1st Junior in the mens race.

Times were excellent but the course accuracy is suspect but still good runs by both athletes.

Posted by Matt Shields

BMAF XC Championships : Banbury

North Belfast Masters returned to England this week to defend their two veterian cross country team titles won last year. This years race was run over a muddy 8K course in Banbury outside Oxford.

The over 35 team of Paul Blaney in 5th, Peter Smith, Eddie Burns and Brendan Dumigan finished second team.

Similarly in the over 50 race the team of Matt Shields 6th, Derek Donaghy, Desi Martin and Jim Newberry also finished second.

Posted by Matt Shields : Results

HOME-COUNTRIES INTERNATIONAL

Four athletes from North Belfast Harriers were chosen to take part in the Home-Countries International at Holyrood Park in Edinburgh at the week-end.

The course was the same as that used for the World Cross-Country Championships the following day.

It was flat apart from the one very tough hill known as the “Haggis” which had a very steep gradient and lasted about 100 meters.

A gusty wind marred the almost perfect conditions.

In the ladies race, Breege Connolly had a solid run to finish in 12^th place followed by Louise McClean who finished 14^th.

The Junior and Senior mens races were run together and Conor Flannigan (17^th) and Andrew Doherty (21^st),

two Juniors had good runs finishing in front of many senior athletes.

Posted by Louise McClean

Omagh Half Marathon

Despite leaving a cold, wet and windy Belfast behind them 9 North Belfast athletes were treated to almost perfect running conditions in this years Omagh Half Marathon.  After winning the team prize in last weeks Larne Half Marathon the men once again fielded another strong team with ex-Olympian Tommy Hughes leading the way for the club.  Hughes went out fast just behind the lead group of 6 runners with Micheal Fitzpatrick, Gareth Grew and Martin Rea fighting to make the three man team behind him.

By 10 miles the lead group had broke up with home favourite Stephen Duncan battling it out with Clonliffe duo Brian McMahon and Sergiu Turea for the top placing.  Turea would eventually lead the Clonliffe duo to win the race with Duncan placing third.  With Clonliffe winning the team prize Hughes lead North Belfast to second team (1^st Northern Ireland Championship) in a time of 74.05 with Fitzpatrick and Rea completing the team a minute behind him.  Gareth Grew was next Harrier home ahead of Reggie Hewitt winning his second over 50 prize in two weeks.  Greg McClure and Pat Doole completed the strong North Belfast men’s contingent.

In the ladies race Lisa Tracey completed her last race before the Belfast Marathon by finishing in 4^th place behind Winner Gladys Glaniel.  Kari Whitla was happy with her race improving on last year’s time by finishing  11^th.

Posted by Martin Rea

Whitehead 5 mile Road Race

Usually the Easter Holidays mark the beginning of more favourable running weather, but on Easter Monday athletes had to battle with bitterly cold and windy conditions to complete the 3-lap course at Whitehead.

As the competitors left the shelter of King’s Road and turned onto the Islandmagee Road a veritable wind tunnel lay in wait. 

Once out of the wind, the short climb up the Slaughterford Road added another challenge in the race route.

 Runners had to use good tactics to ensure that they could make the most of the downhill section at the end of each lap.

Five North athletes were competing in the race:

 Thomas Hughes finished 2^nd M40 (27:49) followed by Alan Graham 3^rd MO (28:28) and Andrew Mehafferty 7^th MO (32:11).

In the female open category Claire Connor had a comfortable win (31.49) over Lagan Valley’s Catriona McCorkell. This was Claire’s first victory in North Belfast colours. Kari Whitla finished 4^th in the category (34:58).

Posted by: Kari Whitla

Larne Half Marathon

Jimmys 10k

Last weekend was the start of the road racing season with Jimmy's 10k in Downpatrick and The Saint Patricks 5k in Derry.

North Belfast Harriers had athletes competing in both events with some excellent performances.

In Derry the individual winners in the men and woman's events were North's Conor Flanagan and Cathy McCourt.

In Downpatrick Michael Fitzpatrick and Gareth Grew were first and second over 35 matched by Davy Brady and Tommy Hughes as first and second over 45. Matt Shields and Greg McClure were first and third over 50 and Reggie Hewitt won the over 55.

The open team off Fitzpatrick Brady and Grew finished second. Jim Benson, Alan Graham, Davy Wright and Pat Doole all also had good runs in their age groups. Performance off the day again came from the woman's team were Breege Connolly won with Louise McClean second and Claire Conner fourth who along with Kari Whitla easily won the team prize. 
 
This has also been the start off the Fell running season and in the two events to date at Slieve Gullion and Glenariff North's Neil Carty, Raymond Ferguson and Davy Tweed finished second eighth and sixteenth to take second team at Sleeve Gullion. Ferguson and Tweed improved this week to finish fifth and eighth at Glenariff.
 
 
posted by Matt Shields

Ron Hill at Downpatrick

Irish Senior XC Championship

The Irish senior cross country championships is to be held in Barnets Park Malone road next Saturday. It has been forty years since these championships were last held in Northern Ireland. Racing starts at 1pm with the Junior woman's event but the main interest for the local harriers is in the Senior Women's event at 2.15 were North Belfast are the defending champions. The team that recently won the Northern Ireland championship off Breege Connolly, Louise McClean, Sharon Trimble and Cara Girvan will all be available again along with triathelete Clare Connor. Unfortunately North's in form Mary Mead is not available as she prepares for a spring marathon. In the Senior Men's event North will be represented by a team off Paul Blaney, Neil Carty, Conor flanagan and Alan Graham.
Last Thursday was the Armagh 5k International road races and Conor Flannigan, Andrew Doherty, Andrew Connolly, Declan Ligget and Andrew Mehaffey represented North. Flannigan and Doherty were third and fourth northern Ireland athletes home both with personel best times. This was a particularly good run for Doherty as he was second in his age group in the Ulster schools the day before.

Senior Championship at Antrim

The venue for the Northern Ireland Championships this year was Massereene Antrim and after a dry week the course was firm and suited the fast running athletes. First race of the day was the woman's event run over 6k. From the gun a group of three including Kerry Hardy, Aileen Morrison and Susan McCormack broke clear with North Belfast's Breege Connolly and Louise McClean in pursuit. The lead exchanged hands a few times but Kerry Hardy always seemed in control and half way around the last lap she made her break to win comfortably with Susan McCormack coming in second. Meanwhile Breege Connolly made a final effort catching and passing Aileen Morrison only to be passed again just before the line. North's finishers in Connolly 4th McClean 5th Trimble 9th Girvan 11th were clear team winners all backed by McCourt 17th Bill 26th and Whitla 29th. This is a historic event as its the first Northern Ireland title ever won by a North Belfast Ladies Team. The womans team trophy was the Bobby Rea Cup presented for the first time by the NIAF in memory of Bobby and his contribution to the sport.
 
Second and final race of the day was the 12k Men's event and with clear pre race favourites Willowfield weakened by the absence off Allan McCullough and Dean Fisher. The event was up for grabs for at least five teams including North Belfast. Omagh's Stephen Duncan set the early pace ahead off a big pack but it wasn't to the third lap that last years winner Brian Campbell and Kevin Seaward opened a slight gap from a chasing bunch off Duncan, North's Morewood and Grant. Over the remaining three laps the only significant change was that Duncan dropped out with an injury and North's Conor Flanagan came on to the chasing bunch. Over the last lap Campbell eased away from Seaward to retain his title while Grant showed his youth to out sprint Morewood North's double masters champion. The significant battle was in the middle orders between Willowfield, Finn Valley, Letterkenny, Sparta and North. The advantage changed several times and it wasn't until the final count post finish that it was established that Willowfield retained their title with 116 points, North were second with 125 points and Sparta third with 135 points. The North Belfast team were Morwood, Flanagan, Carty, Fitzpatrick, Blaney and O'Rourke with Graham, Shields, Rea, Benson and O,Hara in support.
 
Over the cross country season North Belfast Teams have now finished third in The Junior Championships Second in the Northern and Southern Irish Masters second in the Men's Senior and Won the Womans Senior. A very creditable season which illustrates the clubs capabilities in wide range off events.
 
 
Matt Shields Pics: Senior XC

The Irish Masters and Intermediate championships

The Irish Masters and Intermediate championships were run in Piercetown just outside Wexford last Sunday. A group of North Belfast Athletes made the 200mile trip to compete.
First up Louise McClean competed in the woman's masters run over two laps. At the end off lap one eventual winner Pauline Curley was just clear with Louise back in fourth place however as the race progressed over the final lap Louise's strength over the final quarter brought her into third and over 35 silver.

The male masters race was next and saw the main contingent of North's Belfast athletes competing for individual team and county honours. Performance off the day was from the in form Dave Morwood who moved clear over the final lap to win convincingly. Behind Dave, Neil Carty in 14th, Paul Blaney in 29th and Matt Shields in 37th (3rd over 50) brought the team home in second place behind rival Ulster club Finn Valley.

In the six man county team race, for by those already mentioned, only Matt Wray off Ballymena along with North's Damien Gill could be persuaded to make the trip which resulted in Antrim being fourth county. Had the other Antrim teams thrown their weight behind Antrim county medals would have been assured so maybe next year. In the final race, the Intermediate men, Alan O'Hara competing in his first national championships ran strongly and finished mid field.

Matt Shields

Sun, 27 Jan 2008

This weekend was the Irish Indoor Championships at the Odyssey Arena which attracted a host of international athletes competing against local talent.

In the men’s events wins by James McIlroy of Abbey AC in the 800m and Gareth Turnball of St Malachys AC in the 3000m were the highlights. 

In the Woman’s events Ciara Mageean of City of Lisburn won the 1500m with Kerry Harty of Newcastle AC third. Harty hit bronze again in the 3000m were she also finished third. In the field events Mary Devlin finished third in both the long and triple jumps while Eva Massey and C McAleese finished second and third in the shot. 

The meeting also hosted Ulster Championship age group events were North Belfast junior athletes took part. Maeve Corry won her heat and came fifth in the U/15 800meters. Emma Doherty won gold in the U/17 1000meter walk with Maeve McCambridge 3^rd. Owen McCabe also took gold in the boys under17 1000meter walk in his first event after taking a rest from running due to a long term injury. Maeve McCambridge got a personal best in the U/17 800 meters.  Rachel Harvey was U/15 60meter champion and 2^nd in the 200meter for her school BRA.  Lauren O’Donnell-Anderson came 3^rd in the U/14 800 meters. Other North Belfast Juniors competing were Sinead Boyle in the U/14 800 metres, Rebecca Pettigrew who ran the 60 metres sprint, Clodagh Corry and Anna O’Brien both in their first indoor 800meter race. All the North juniors performed well and relished at the opportunity to compete at the same venue as so many stars off the sport. 

Due to the Odyssey event no other local races were scheduled this weekend so Breege Connolly travelled to Dublin to compete in the Raheney 5 mile race which is one off the biggest races in the Irish calendar. Breege finished a very creditable third to Irish international opposition in a personal best off 28.37 minutes. 

Matt Shields

Junior and Vets XC Champs

Results Posted by Matt Shields

The cross country season is now starting to wind up with the running of the various national championships. This week it was the Northern Ireland Masters and Junior championship run in the grounds off Gransha hospital Derry. North Belfast being the defending champion in both men's events. The course was in excellent condition despite recent weather and the first race off the day was the men's masters. This turned out to be a enthralling contest between Finn Valley, Letterkenny and North Belfast with a similar individual contest between reigning champion Dave Morwood and Padraig McKinney. The lead in both contest swapped through out the race and when Morwood made a break for home in the last lap with the team three points clear of Letterkenny it looked like both titles to North. Morwood stretched his lead right to the line to score a decisive win retaining his title however Letterkenny fought back in the minor places to win the team title by one place. The other scorers for North were Paul Blaney 10th, Neil Carty 11th (2nd O/40) and Matt Shields 12th (1st O/50). Micheal Fizpatrick, Brendan Dumigan, Eddy Burns and Pat Doole all made up a B team finishing 5th with Dave Clarke winning the O/55 title.
   Next outing for the Masters is the Irish championships in Wexford on the 19th February and it says a lot for Ulster masters athletics if we say that the main contenders are again Letterkenny, Finn Valley and North Belfast. In addition this contest will have a county contest that will see the Donegal teams united against an Antrim team mainly off North Belfast with we hope a few Annadale athletes.
 
    Second race of the day was the woman's combined Masters and Juniors race. Louise McClean in the Masters category was the only North Athlete running and from the start Louise and Irish Triathlon champion Aileen Morrison of Sparta moved away from the field. They ran side by side until the last half lap when Morrison got a decisive gap and held on to the line to win the Junior title with McClean coming in second to win the Masters title for the second successive year. North's senior woman will now be looking forward to running in the European Club Championship in Portugal's Algarve in two weeks time. The honour was earned by the girls by winning the Irish senior championship last year in Sligo. The team will consist off Breege Connolly, Mary Mead, Claire Connor, Sharion Trimble, Louise McClean, Cathy McCourt and Jenni Bill with Angela Burns as team manager. The race is run in conjunction with the annual Almond Blossom race in Albufeira.
 
  Final race of the day was the Junior race and Omagh who marginally lost to North last year were the clear favourites in the team and individual races. Stephen Duncan of Omagh quickly lived up to his billing moving into a early lead and dominating the race to the finish line. Behind him Owen Carlton off Abbey finished second and Gareth Falls off Ballymena third. The team race was similarly dominated by Omagh from Sparta second and North third. The junior is an event which by winning you become ineligible so as last years winners it was very pleasing to see the new team  has already grown to medal standards and should be in a position to challenge for gold again next year. The team was Andrew Dogherty, Alan O'Hara, Alan Graham, Andrew Mehaffey and Davy Tweed. Particular mention should be made of 17 year old Andrew Dougherty's run in 5th place a possible winner in the future.

Lisburn XC at Moira

Saturday last was the Moira park cross country run by Lisburn athletic club.
 
In the juvenile races Clodagh Corry got the club off to a good start by winning the under 12 girls with Conal McCambridge finishing 6th in the boys event. Next up Lauren O'Donnell Anderson was 3rd in the under 14 girls and in the final juvenile race Maeve Corry was 7th, Maeve McCambridge 9th and Emma Doherty 12th in the under 16 event.
 
In the woman's open race Breege Connoly won for North from Irish triathlon champion Aileen Morrison (city off Derry) with Claire Connor 4th and Jenni Bill 11th in her first cross country event.
 
The final race was the men's open were Allan O'Hara was the first North Belfast athlete home in 8th with Brendan Dumigan 11th and 2nd veteran, Andrew Mehaffey 23rd and Dr Tony Forde 38th place.

Results

Stormont Jan 2007

XC Runners Stuck in Mud.

Snow and Mud could not keep the NBH runners from running at Stormont.

Yet again NBH proved to be up were it counts.

We have all seen mud but this was more like chocolate soup.

Results Pics pics2

Christmas Draw 2007

The Christmas Draw 2007 tickets have now been issued to members.

Your support as always is greatly appreciated.

Could you please return your stubs and monies to Jimmy Nolan asap. Please note if you have not received any tickets or you require additional tickets, please contact Jimmy.

Stormont International 17 November 2007

Race results here | posted by Paul Murphy

Congratulations to North Belfast Athletes who had a superb day representing Northern Ireland and The Republic.

David Morwood came 1^st O35 and 4^th overall in his race as well as getting a silver medal for the O35 team.  Paul Blaney got gold as part of the Republic’s O35 team.  Louise Maclean was first Northern Ireland female home and 12^th overall in her race.   Gregory Walsh ran well as did Davy Brady who continues to improve.

Jim Kennedy O70 had a tremendous run after a season where he has grown from strength to strength.  Matt Shields O50 and Dessie Martin O55 also represented Northern Ireland

Photos from Paul.

Paul Murphy has a number of pictures from various races.

Spar Laganside

http://picasaweb.google.com/murphpg/SparLaganside

Armagh 10

http://picasaweb.google.com/murphpg/Armagh10

Ballyclare 10 and Ards 5 Mile

http://picasaweb.google.com/murphpg/Ballyclare10Ards5

Whitehead 5

http://picasaweb.google.com/murphpg/Whitehead5

Joe Seeley 2006

http://picasaweb.google.com/murphpg/Seeley

Bangor 10k

http://picasaweb.google.com/murphpg/BangorClassic2007

Martin 'Superman' Rea

smashes personal best at World Championships

By Niall O’Neill

Few of us would even contemplate taking part in a marathon.  You just have to stand on the Ormeau Road on a May day bank holiday and watch the runners over the last few miles of the Belfast marathon, to understand that the ecstasy of completing such an event is often preceded by a great deal of pain.  With this in mind, it is staggering to think that there are ‘ultrarunners’ willing to take part in races that go far beyond marathon distance.  For a few years now local schoolteacher Martin Rea has been at the forefront of ultrarunning in Ireland.  Notable successes to date have been in winning the 2006 Everest 100 mile stage race, winning this year’s prestigious Connemara Ultramarathon and finishing 4^th in the 2007 UK 100km Championships.  However on Saturday 8^th September, Martin reached the elite level of the sport by competing in the World 100km Championships in Winschoten in the Netherlands. Martin, along with Fermanagh man Thomas Maguire and Michael Collins from Limerick, was part of the strongest Irish team to ever compete in any major ultrarunning championships.  The race itself may have been on a gruelling ten lap course, nonetheless the Irish team put in an outstanding performance.  Martin led the team home in 29^th place overall in a huge personal best time of 7:21:42, followed by Maguire in 37^th (7:31:05) and Collins in 39^th (7:37:57).  Such an impressive effort by all three runners paid dividends, with Ireland finishing the race ranked eighth in the world and fifth in Europe.

Speaking after the race, Martin couldn’t help but be delighted with the team’s efforts. “Finishing eighth is a fantastic achievement,” said Rea, “we beat some giants of the ultrarunning world.  Teams like Spain, Poland and Great Britain have been at the top of this sport for years and receive some excellent financial and personal support from their national athletics associations, so for an Ireland team to finish ahead of them is a great result.”

And Martin was also more than happy with his own performance. “To take forty-seven minutes of my personal best in itself is good, but to do it at the World Championship makes it that bit more special.”

Another Irish athlete putting in a phenomenal performance at the event was Donegal athlete Helena Crossan.  In her debut over the distance, Helena registered an Irish record of 7:52:45 to clinch tenth place in the ladies’ race and a bronze medal in the veteran category.

The profile of ultrarunning is set to grow further, with the announcement that there is to be a 100km race at the 2009 Commonwealth games, and perhaps an Olympic debut for the event in London 2012.  So with Martin finishing in the top four potential commonwealth competitors in this event, does he foresee an emotional rendition of Danny Boy in the near future?

“Well, my aim is to compete in the major championships, and finishing in the top thirty in the World Championships has given me a lot of confidence.  I’ll keep training with the Commonwealths in mind but I suppose it will all come down to what the Northern Ireland team selectors decide.”

Jim Benson Takes 3^rd in Derry Half

Jim (Ben) Benson had a superb run in the Waterside Half Marathon, taking 3^rd place in a time of 74:24.

Jim set out with Gareth Grew at a conservative pace and ran the first half of the race well within himself.

By mile 9 he was feeling good and it was here he put in a 5:25 to pull away from Gareth.

He was closing quickly on 2^nd placed Delfim Pimentel but ran out of road.

Gareth came in 5^th in 75:18.

North took 2^nd team with Damien Gill making third counter in 82:55.

The race was won by Joe Mc Allister in 68:04.

Other runners to feature for North were Patrick Hamill 88:32;

John Mc Cartan 1:33:01;

Cari Whitla 1:40:36;

Andrew Shimmin 1:49:49

and Irnya Kennedy 1:54:04.

Bangor 10k

A big prize fund brought out a strong field for the Bangor 10K Classic. Run over an “interesting” and undulating course, most of the local big names in distance running were there, as well as one or two from farther a field.  Best for North was Conor Flannigan in 5^th place and with a new PB of 31:50, an almost 30 sec improvement on his recent Laganside time. Dave Morwood was second for North with Gregory Walsh making the up the third man on the team. North picked up third team.

Dave Morwood was 1^st M35 and Matt Shields 1^st M50. Breege Connolly was first lady home for North in 5^th place

North Triumphal at the Spar Laganside 10k

North Belfast Breege Connolly (First Lady) wins at the Spar Laganside 10k

Breege battled all the way, throughout all stages.

Mary Margaret Meade lead the race for a while, her first race back from a long term injury.

Only at the 9k marker did Breege push on, stride out and get away from the ladies that followed.

Well done Breege.

More race details to follow.

Race results here | Pictures here | posted by Eddie Burns

Special thanks from all at North to Matt Shields :

Matt many thanks for your hard work in a well organised race.

Spar Laganside 10k Challenge

Prize List

Total Value over £2,500

Open Male and Female

 Prizes first ten finishers

• 1^st £250
• 2^nd £150
• 3^rd £100

Under 18 Male and Female

• Prizes first and second

Masters age groups Male and Female

• Prizes first and second each age group 35-60
• 5 year intervals

Team Prizes Male and Female 4 to score

• Prizes first and second teams

Spar Laganside 10k Challenge

Posted by Tony Dalton - 4 June 2007

North Belfast Harriers have officially launched their entry forms for the new Spar Laganside Challenge on 2nd September 2007. Full details of the race including an extensive prize list, will be published on this site and in local press in the next few weeks.

Click here to download official entry form

IRISH CHAMPIONS! at first attempt ...
North's Women Go From Strength To Strength

16 March 2007 | Posted by Tony Dalton

NORTH BELFAST HARRIERS have finished the cross country season in the best possible fashion. The club's senior female team captured the prestigious crown of IRISH CHAMPIONS in Sligo at the weekend. Another first in the club's 100 year history.

An exceptionally strong team of six athletes travelled to the event headed up by Irish Marathon Champion Jill Shannon. This was Jill's first competitive team outing since joining the club in January. A notable return to competition was Irish International Mary Margaret Meade who has been out of the racing scene for a few years because of a serious injury. Mary Margaret prepared for the race with an excellent win at the Abertville 5 mile road race recently. Jill and Mary Margaret were the first two local athletes home finishing in 8th and 10th respectively. Two athletes in the first ten - this was an excellent achievement it itself given the quality of the field.

The club has strength in depth in its female ranks and this was the winning factor at Sligo. Breege Connolly who has been a prolific and consistent winner this season had a fantastic result in 14th place followed by club mate, Sharon Trimble in 15th. Sharon has been out for sometime with injury and has started showing a return to form in the last few races. These four athletes won the event for North but a team of six completed the domination, Cathy McCourt and Angela Burns both underlining the quality of our female athletes by also finishing in the top 20.

Historic Silver Medal For NBH

3 February 2007 | Medal Winning Team | Posted by Tony Dalton

NBH have taken part in the Northern Ireland Senior XC Championships for nearly 100 years. This year at the event it was a special day for the club who entered a team in the Senior Female category for the first time in its history.

First home for the club was defending champion Jill Shannon. Jill has recently joined NBH from Lagan Valley and is currently serving a suspension and therefore couldn't count for the team. The current Irish Marathon and Half Marathon Champion led the race much of the way only to be overtaken by Lisburn's Kelly Reid in the final kilometre. It was a brave decision by Jill to run the race after a week of cross training due to straining a back ligament last weekend. The gamble almost paid off but the North Star had to settle for an indifferent performance and a silver medal on the day.

The official eligible team was led home by Breege Connolly in 4th, an improvement on her 8th place of last year. The remainder of the team was made up of Cara Girvan 8th, Angela Burns 13th and first time cross country participant Lisa Tracey 23rd. The final tally of points ensured the team would take at least a silver from the event. The suspensions of newest members Jill Shannon 2nd, and Cathy McCourt who had an excellent run in 10th meant that the club had to settle for an official 2nd place.

Second race of the day was the men’s event and with notable absentees among the main clubs it was well described by one official who said the least weakest team would win. North’s first athlete home was Dave Morwood in 5th place over two minutes faster than his time last year. Next came fell runner Neil Carty in 16th place doing his part to support the club. Paul Blaney was 23rd chased by a fast finishing Neil O’Rourke in 25th, Peter Smith 26th and Martin Rea 32nd. When the points were totalled North just lost out by 3 points on a bronze medal. However, this was still a very creditable performance considering the younger talent in the club didn't take part.

Armagh International Road Race

1 February 2007 | Report by Damien Gill

The Armagh International Road Race was held on Thursday night. Race organisation, as per usual was excellent, with the added attraction this year coming from the television cameras of Sky Sports. North had an U19 team in the main 5K event of the evening, comprising of Andrew Doherty, Seán Mc Cafferty and Declan Ligget. Conor Flannigan ran his first road race as a fully-fledged senior.

Connor finished 28th in a time of 15:14 and was second local runner on the night. The front of the race was dominated by a high quality international field and was won by Christian Hesch of the USA in a record time of 14:07. Conor suffered from a stitch on the last lap, so we may see his time being reduced even further before long.

Andrew Doherty, 39th, led the junior team home in a time of 15:34. He narrowly missed out to a South African who took first junior. Seán Mc Cafferty, 52nd in 16:22 and Declan Ligget, 77th, in 17:14 completed the team. Although beating the South African team by four points, the North lads were denied the team prize due to a team pre-entry rule.

The Sky Sport’s coverage, with commentary by Dave Mc Kibben and Dermot Donnelly, will be shown on Sky Sports 3 on the 13th February.

Super Saturday For NBH!

Conor is Top Man at Bangor

21 January 2007 | Results | Posted by Tony Dalton

At 19, North Belfast Harrier, Connor Flanigan is one of the youngest ever winners of the prestigious Northern Ireland Junior Championship. The last North winner of this event was Alan McCullough seven years ago.

It was a quadruple celebration with Dave Moorwood winning the Northern Ireland veterans championship. Things just got better for the club with NBH taking both main team events.

Full report below...

Junior and Masters XC Championships

The Veteran and Junior cross country championship were run amid changing conditions in Ward Park Bangor today.

First up and the biggest entry of the day was the masters run over three laps featuring an entry off over a hundred runners. From the first lap a group consisting of Dave Morwood, Paul Carroll and Allan McCullough broke clear of a second group including Cairan Kavanagh, Francis Marsh, Peter Smith and Mark Wright. The very blustery conditions discouraged solo efforts but going into the second lap Morwood made the decisive effort dropping first Carroll and then McCullough, meanwhile the second group continuously swapped efforts without any clear advantage and in fact were caught by Neil Carty.

Over the last lap the first three remained as is with Dave Morwood of North Belfast coming in first to win the 0-35. Allan McCullough second won the 0-40 and Paul Carrol third place and second 0-35. Behind this the second group eventually started to string out towards the finish with the North Belfast pairing of Peter Smith 0-40 and Neil Carty 0-40 coming in clear of Ciaran Kavanagh, Francis Marsh 0-40 and then Mark Wright 0-35. Next behind this Matt Shields from North Belfast came in to win the 0-50 and Dominic McCreevy won the 0-45 in 22nd place. North Belfast won the four men team event

Next out was the ladies race which included masters, intermediates and juniors run over one and a half laps. Louise McClean quickly established her superiority and never looked troubled winning the race and 0-35 masters. Second was Terresa McGlone winning the Intermediate followed by Ann Paul third winning the 0-40. The Junior class was won by Michelle Sturm in fourth overall.

The final race off the day was the men's junior race over four laps on what had become a heavy course although the wind had by now settled allowing more open racing. Straight away from the first half lap Connor Flanagan and Stephen Duncan opened a gap over the rest off the field and this set the stage for the best battle of the day.

The two leaders chased by Noel Collins ran together swapping the lead continuously to the last four hundred meters when Flanagan made a determined effort to get clear which he held to about twenty yards to go from Duncan. Race over, not so, with only a couple of strides to spare Flanagan came through to give North Belfast their second win of the day with Duncan second and Collins third.

Behind these three was an intense battle for the team prize between North Belfast and Omagh with constant changes in fortune as places changed however by the last lap North Belfast through Paul Blaney, Neil O’Rourke, Sean McCaffery, Michael Fitzpatrick and Declan Ligget came through to support Flanagan to win the team double.

Andrew Returns to Form in Cardiff

After a slightly below par performance at Stormont Andrew Doherty ran in an excellent 6th in the Under 17 category in the 4th of the UK Cross Challenge meetings. The race held on Sunday in Cardiff was Andrew's 3rd race in the series. As of today his overall placing in the series was not available but Andrew will now go on to run the 5th race in the series at Nottingham on the 25th February.

Special Feature

Local man and Ultramarathon club member Martin Rea tells his story of winning the Himalayan 100 mile race.

Click here to read Martin's Story

Stormont International XC

6 January 2007

Photoslideshow | Individual Results | Team Results | Posted by Tony Dalton

Download Media Player Slideshow of Stormont 2007 (approx 11mb)

The annual Stormont International Cross-country races took place last Saturday in near perfect weather conditions and enthusiastic crowds. These races are a step above the normal national events with participants coming from Ireland and all parts off the mainland boosting the numbers to 100 plus in most races. North Belfast had representation across a range of age groups.

In the under13 girls Sarah Gargan, Sinead Boyle and Rebecca Petigrew finished 57, 63 and 68 respectively and in the under15 girls Rachel Harvey, Emma Dougherty and Meave McCambridge finished 67, 72 and 74 good running against stiff opposition.

The under17 boys Celtic international race which is part of a series of four was run by Andrew Docherty finishing 18th to add to his 4th in Cardiff keeping his chances alive in the overall series.

Stephen Mc Commiskey also competed in the U17 race over a 5.6k course. Stephen was representing Northern Ireland in the Celtic countries’ international. This was Stephen’s international debut and he gave a good account of himself finishing well up with his Northern team-mates.

The under20 race also featured an international race with selected athletes running for club and country. Sean McCaffery finished 21st overall 2nd Northern Ireland with Declan Ligget 32nd and Chris McKeown 41st. Improving performances in this class.

In the Masters race North Belfast won the team with Dave Morwood 2nd, Peter Smith 8th, Paul Blaney 14th and Matt Shields 16th. They were followed by team mates Brendan Dumigan, Eddy Burns, Jim Newberry, Paul Murphy and Dave Clarke. Matt Shields also won the over50 age group.

Senior Woman were next and again this race was a international event with local athlete Jill Shannon finishing a credible 14th - 1st N.Ireland, Breege Connolly was 33rd - 2nd N.Ireland, Cara Girvan was 39th - 4th N.Ireland and Anne Marie Kane was 90th overall, excellent running by the girls.

Lastly in the under23 international Connor Flanigan finished 6th overall 2nd N.Ireland athlete home a performance which speaks for itself.

The overall event was deemed a big success by all concerned, helped in no small way by the weather, hopefully this will tempt others to become involved and all are welcome at our training sessions 6.00pm Mary Peters Track Tuesday and Thursday or 6.30 club house Old Park Terrace Tuesday and Thursday. In the meantime North Athletes will turn their attention to the up coming rounds of National Championships at home, Ireland and England where we will be represented.

Race report: Matt Shields

Happy New Year From NBH!

Click here to see some images from 2006 - Please allow blocked content.

Cracker Christmas for North

30 December 2006 | Posted by Tony Dalton

The annual Christmas Cracker race took place in Castlewellan on Saturday. The challenging seasonal event attracted a large turnout of over 70 teams who competed for the various categories. The overall winners were Fell specialists David and Alan McKibbon from the promoting club Newcastle A.C. This was their 3rd win on the trot and they have set a standard of 64 mins on the new 10.5 mile course.

North Belfast Harriers had 3 pairs competing in the event, Danny Magill and Paul Jenkins in the open men's event, with Breege Connolly and Kevin Shields going head to head with Cara Girvan and Tony Dalton in the mixed open pairs event.

Breege and Cara were toe to toe for the first 5 miles before Breege, minus her partner, opened up a 50 metre lead. It took Cara until the last mile to gradually close this gap but Breege did well to hang on and eventually took the sprint to the line and victory in the mixed open event. Cara and Tony made it a close 1-2 for the club in a time of 72 mins.

Phoenix Park Triumph for Breege

17 December 2006 | Posted by Tony Dalton

Five members of North Belfast Harriers, Sharon Trimble, Breege Connolly, Martin Rea, Gregory Campbell and Glenn McKendry participated in the annual AWARE 10k road race held in Phoenix Park, Dublin in aid of Depression Ireland. Conditions on the morning were excellent with all runners hoping for good times over the tough undulating course.

First home for North in 5th place with a time of 34.30 was Martin Rea. This was an excellent result considering the quality of the field with circa 1500 participants. Hot on his heels and finishing in 7th place overall in a time of 34.59 was Glenn McKendry. Gregory Campbell finished in 40.05.

True to form , North women displayed a fine performance with Breege Connolly taking the women's honours in a time of 37.27 followed closely home by Sharon Trimble, 2nd female in 38.03.

Great Win for North Ladies at the Seeley

11 December 2006 | Posted by Tony Dalton

The 25th running off the Joe Seeley 10k was held last Saturday in a blustery Ormeau Park and witnessed some great performances by North Belfast athletes.
The senior team was led home by Stephen Scullion (31.50 PB) in eighth place with Dave Norwood (32.01) and Conner Flannagan (32.40 PB) close behind. All three must be in consideration for international selection at Stormont in January.

The six man team which finished third in a close competition was completed by Paul Blaney (33.13), veteran Peter Smith (33.25) and ultra distance man Martin Rea (34.03 PB)

In the ladies event North Belfast easily won the team event with placing off 2nd 3rd and 4th by Breege Connolly (37.29) Cara Girvan (37.34) and Sharon Trimble (37.55)

Placed in the age group categories were Stephen Scullion 1st junior, Connor Flannagan 2nd Junior, Dave Norwood 2nd 0/35, Peter Smith 3rd 0/40, Matt Shields 1st 0/50, Nelson Cahoon 2nd 0/50, Reggy Hewitt 1st 0/55, Dave Clarke 3rd 0/55 and Drew Crawford 3rd 0/65.

Behind the scoring athletes were Peter Savage (34.14), Michael Fitzpatrick (34.26 PB), Neil O’Rourke (34.43 PB), Brendan Dumigan (34.52), Kevin Shields(35.42), Gareth Drew (35.48), Alan O’Hara (36.28), Neal Johnston (37.28), Declan Liggett (37.32), Raymond Ferguson (37.32), Paul Murphy (38.53), Angela Burns (39.27), Paddy Hamill (39.42), Brian Stewart (40.19), Gregory Campbell (40.25), Chris McKeown (40.49), Robert Irvine (41.29), Tony Forde (42.47), Kari Whitla (44.45), Andrew Shimin (46.23), Breege Kerr (47.44) and Alison McConnell (48.50).

In total North Belfast had 36 athletes competing and contested all categories a very good showing on the day. Training resumes Tuesday and Thursday 6pm at Mary Peters track (ask for Matt Shields) or Tuesday and Thursday 6.30 and Sunday 10.15 from club house (ask for Paul Murphy).

Club Dinner and Presentation

25 Nov | Photos | Posted by Tony Dalton

The Club celebrated their annual presentation in the Ramada Hotel last night. It was a very successful evening for all those involved in the awards ceremony. Dave McKibbon was compare for the evening with special guests, Tommy and Phyllis Walsh, Eddie Patterson, Jill Shannon and Joe McAllister presenting the awards. The top honours on the night went to, Stephen Scullion and Breege Connolly who won best male and female respectively. Special Awards went to Neil Carty, Martin Rea and Matt Shields.

Bangor 10k

30 Sept|Results

Congratulations to Stephen, Dave and Peter for winning the team prize and to Breege for finishing 2nd female just behind Jill Shannon. Dave and Stephen finished 4th & 5th respectively and Top Duathlete Peter finished 13th in 34:16. A great result in a very competive field with some of the best runners NI has to offer. The club had 15 athletes out in total including new members Michael Fitzpatrick and Kevin Lambe.

Haile Shows The Way in Berlin

Haile Gebrselassie won the 33rd real,- BERLIN-MARATHON in the German capital Sunday morning. But what looked until the closing kilometres like a successful assault on his great rival Paul Tergat’s world record of 2.04.55, set in this same race in 2003, evaporated, and the tiny Ethiopian finished one minute and one second behind the Kenyan’s time, with 2.05.56. The race was run in bright sunshine throughout, with temperatures rising from 20C at the 9am start, to more than 27 at the finish. 31,472 runners from 105 nations competed in the race in front of one million spectators.

30.235 runners finished the 33rd real,- BERLIN-MARATHON. For the third time in the history of the race more than 30,000 finishers were recorded. In 2005 the figure was at 30,382, and three years ago it was 30,709. The 2006 figure is divided in 24,098 men and 6,137 women. From a total of 39,636 registered runners from 105 nations 31,427 were running on Sunday. So 96,20 percent of all participants reached the finish. There were quite lot who dropped out but this has to do with the high temperatures – it was the warmest race day ever in Berlin.

North Belfast Harriers were also effected badly by the high temperatures with all participants well down on their best times. Nevertheless it was a fantastic event, well supported and extremely well organised. Aches, pains and many sorrows where well and truly drowned out in the post marathon celebrations. Much anticipated pictures to follow.

Details and full report to follow....

British Masters' XC Champions 2006

18 Sept|Photos

Winning the British Masters XC Relay Championships in Sunderland last Saturday, is without doubt one of the greatest achievements in North Belfast Harriers 100 year history. A team of 4 athletes, Matt Shields, Jim Newberry, Dessie Martin and Nelson Cahoon expected at least a top six finish. A fantastic and gutsy performance on the day exceeding all expectations and has put the club firmly on the map throughout the UK Masters scene.

Jim Newberry and Dessie Martin gave the team a great start putting them in contention from the gun. It was a mass start race that included the 35 - 40's competitors making the pace frantic and highly competitive. Matt Shields put the team in pole position by the 3rd leg, leaving Nelson Cahoon to bring home the gold medal.

Any podium finish would have been a notable achievement but to win gold was commendable.

In the 35 - 40 category an even more unexpected result came from the 6 man team of Tony Dalton, Paul Blaney, John Ferrin, David Brady, Brendan Dumigan and Eddie Burns. A British XC Championship silver medal was secured with yet another gutsy run from the team. Paul Blaney ran a highly competitive first 3k leg through the tough and undulating course. Paul crossed the line in 4th place but more importantly only 15 secs behind the leader. Many teams put their best runners out first so this gave the north team an added incentive to go for a medal. Tony Dalton was the next out putting the team into a medal position. Former Irish Champion John Ferrin ran a gallant leg to gain another place and the silver medal spot. David Brady battled all the way to maintain 2nd place and then hand over to Brendan Dumigan. Brendan held the silver medal position with a tough run before handing over to teammate Eddie Burns. By this stage harriers were all over the course lending their support to ensure Eddie finished the job. Eddie finished in style with 7 seconds to spare over the next team. Only beaten by the hosts Sunderland. It doesn't get much closer or much better than that.

A great celebration ensued that afternoon and then into the wee small hours. Except for Tony Dalton of course, who is running the Berlin Marathon next Sunday, he had only 1 glass of champagne and was in bed by 11. Good boy!

Results to follow.

NIVAA 5 Mile Road Race

7 Sept|Result |Photos

****The positions and times are unadjusted and do not take into account the additional distance (approx ½ mile) covered by those athletes who were mis directed along Park Road rather than back into Ormeau Park itself.

Irish National Half Marathon Championships

6 Sept|Results

The Irish National Half Marathon Championships were held in extremely blustery conditions on Saturday past in Letterkenny. Jill Shannon and Joe McAlistair were the clear winners providing double gold for Northern Ireland. North Belfast Athletes Dave Morwood, Jim Benson, Paul Blaney and Pat Doole were out in force and between them scooped Team Gold, Individual Gold, Individual Bronze and a PB!

First to cross the finish line was Dave Morwood in 01:10:47, a time which rewarded him with an individual Gold medal in the Masters category. Next was Jim Benson in 01:15:12, which secured him a Bronze. Paul Blaney was next in 01:15:31 and making up the winning team was Pat Doole who finished in 01:21:02, a PB for him. Congratulations boys you are a credit to the club.