Personal Bests galore at Newry City Half Marathon

AS we said last week there would be more about the Newy City Half Marathon and 10K, Una Campbell looks back on the great event.

There was more than a ‘buzz in the air’ on Sunday 25th May as the Newry City Half Marathon 10K got underway.

Not only was there a hum from the excited voices of runners and spectators on the ground, but it was in the skies too, as for the first time ever the event was broadcast live on the Newry City Runners YouTube channel, with the drone aloft giving a bird’s eye view, taking the expanse of both routes. Newry looked magnificent in the spring sunshine.

The ominous clouds gave way to some magnificent sunshine, turning what was forecast to be not so pleasant, into perfect running conditions. There was a strong headwind turning back into the city on the homeward journey, picking up at the 10K turnaround point, and toward the end of the race, one heavy shower, but even that did nothing to dampen the spirit of a truly magnificent day and event.

D-Day had arrived, all the early morning starts, after work runs and training was in the bag, and it was time to put it to the test.

The Half was the first of the races to take off, as over 750 runners lined up for the 1Oam start.

Heading down Albert Basin they took a right turn over the bridge to then take another right down River Street, along Kilmorey Street and onto the Warrenpoint Road to the roundabout where they headed up Greenbank Industrial Estate for 1 lap before hitting the dual carriageway and heading out towards Warrenpoint. Passing Narrow Water Castle on the left and Narrow Water Keep on the right, the turning point was in sight just before the roundabout. It was then straight back down the carriageway, up Kilmorey Street, Water Street, across the bridge turning left back up Albert Basin to the finish line.

Newry City Runners had 19 members take on the 13.1 route, with three getting new PBs, all racing with excellent times.

First home for the club was Conor Morgan, he had to weave his way through the mixture of 10K and Half finishers to cross the finish line in 1:19:42, he was closely followed by Ryan Corrin (who was first in his age category) in 1:20:18 and Gary Henning being third home for the club in 1:22:43.

Tomas Magill flew across the finish zone in 1:24:19 with his running buddy Lorcan Farrell on his heels, he earned a new PB of 1:24:22, shaving a massive 3:23 minutes off his time. Cathal Mulholland was next, proving that speed was in the genes, he sped across the finish line in 1:27:44 getting a new PB.

Cillian Ward was next, getting under the 1:30 marker, he finished in 1:29:13. Wayne Heaney finished in style, going into reverse mode, with a backward run toward the finish line, he finished in 1:33:53 earning a new PB. Noel Moan, who was off the road for a few weeks prior to the race, still to under the 1:40 mark in 1:39:59. James O’Hagan finished in 1:45:53, with Michael O’Neill just behind him, crossing the finishing mat with a new PB of 1:46:35.

Helen McElroy was another runner celebrating a new PB, as she finished in 1:49:16, Mark Goodman followed her seconds later in 1:49:22 and Mark Copeland followed in 1:49:33.

It was a great day for the Lorcan’s in the club as Lorcan Magee was home in 1:53:09 earning a new PB, Peter Maguire, who helped to pace the sub-2-hour runners, did so with expertise as he finished in 1:58:07 and Ciara McCaffrey 1:59:07. Tony Mooney was back on the racing scene, and he finished in 1:59:31 and Julianna Markey 2:05:03.

A special mention to Shea Maney who has recently joined NCR. He ran a ‘blinder’ of a race on Sunday. Shea is a very dedicated runner, and it showed in the results as he crossed the line with a new PB of 1:23:07.

Congratulations to all the top-class pacers who did a first-class job, Barry McCarroll 1:30, Drew Fowler 1:40, Joanne McCluskey 1:50, Maureen O’Hare 2:00, Lorna Murphy 2:10 and Graeme McGowan 2:20.

At 10:30am with their warm-up and stretches done, close to 600 runners lined up for the countdown to the 10K race.

They followed the same path as the Half Marathon route, but instead of turning into Greenbank, they headed straight down the carriageway, turning halfway and back. It was at the turning point that the headwind could be felt, normally there is always a wind on the carriageway, not matter the direction, but by this stage the wind had whipped up a bit. Nevertheless, it was still a fast race, with the course record being broken by in by both the male and female winners.

Paul Regan was first home for the club, getting that magic Sub-40, he finished with a time of 39:08, Una Campbell was next in 47:20 (2nd in age category)

Shane O’Callaghan had a great race, finishing in 49:21 as had Ciaran McBride seconds later in 49:36. Niall Crowley was back after his Manchester triumph in 53:14, Damian McCann finished strong in 55:43 and Jacqueline Early had a great run with a time of 56:37 earning herself a new PB.

Patricia Simpson was next, pushing the two girls in their buggy for the entire race, she finished in 58:31. Louise McKenzie, who was running her first 10K distance, never mind race, in six years, did so with a PB time of 58:52. Lorraine Cargin was home in a great time of 1:02:21, Donna Wills Hughes was just on her heels in 1:03:19 and we welcomed back Paul McGuigan to the racing scene as he finished in 1:18:10.

As with the half marathon, we had an excellent team of pacers, who carried out their job with aplomb: Ruairi Donnelly 40 mins, Eimear McCracken 50 mins and Kevin McSherry 60 mins.

We had another race at 10:45 when the Kids Fun Run 2K took place. It proved to be a great success with 162 primary school children taking part, many of whom are shaping up to be the running stars of the future.

Congratulations to the winners of both the Half Marathon and 10K Races:

Half Marathon Race:

Male: 1st Gary Morrow – North Down Runners – 1:13:49, 2nd Brendan Heaney – Armagh AC - 1:13:56,

3rd Martin Vanecko – 1:14:22

Female: 1st Hayley McAteer – Lagan Valley AC – 1:26:21, 2nd Melissa Eccles – North Down Runners – 1:27:56, 3rd Eileen Stevenson – St. Peters AC – 1:29:20.

10K Race:

Male: 1st Gary Crummy – Newry AC – 30:58, 2nd Mitchell Thompson – Dark Horse Track Club – 32:15, 3rd Louis McCarthy – Rathfarnham WSAF – 33:20

Female: 1st Kerry O’Flaherty – Newcastle AC – 36:38, 2nd Ciara Regan – Crusaders AC – 40:08 3rd Collette McCourt – Roadrunners AC – 40:16.

We at Newry City Half Marathon/10K and Newry City Runners would like to thank our two main sponsors: Newry BID and Newry Credit Union.

Abbey Autoline, The Canal Court and the management of The Quays in Newry. Health & Fitness Newry, Cloud9 Meal Plans, Ark Fusion, Erdinger Alkoholfrei, Ciao Ice Cream and Murphys Centre on the Warrenpoint Road. Sound Function DJs and all our photographers; Brendan Monaghan, John Keenan, Keep Fit Ireland and Ally McKenzie, Mobile Media and Marshall Patterson who were responsible for our first live broadcast and to commentators Deborah Loughran and Declan McConaghy for doing such a professional job.

Thank you to all our superb pacers who were responsible for many a PB on the day, to the marshals, water stop helpers for keeping all hydrated, and to EMT Paramedics.

Finally, thank you to all the runners who signed up to and took part in both our races, for choosing our event and to all the supporters and spectators, each of you making it one to remember.