Rosin Rocks at Masters

ROISIN Rocks headed over to Leeds at the weekend, not just to represent her club, but Northern Ireland in the British and Irish Masters Cross Country Championships, writes Una Campbell.

The event, which was hosted by England this year, took place in Roundhay Park in Leeds on Saturday.

With Amber and Yellow weather warnings for rainfall in parts of Wales and England on Friday, Leeds was one part that did succumb to the wrath of Storm Claudia as she passed over dumping a colossal amount of water in her path.  Due to the slow movement of the storm, up to a month worth of rain fell in a few hours having a detrimental effect.

After flight delays and cancellations delaying start times, the course then had to be altered for safety reasons one of the steep downhill sections was too hazardous to attempt.

Although the rain was not a s ferocious as that of Friday, it did not cease for the duration of the day.

Roisin was representing Team NI – F40 having qualified last month.

The race took place at 12:45. The course was a mud fest, a distance of 6KM, consisting of 3 laps, with steep inclines and declines, they were extremely problematic underfoot, making it difficult to stay upright. One particular hill which was in in second half of each lap, was particularly awful, with a lot losing their footing as the grip was virtually non-existent.

Thankfully Roisin was not one of those to take a tumble, as she flew around the course in a startling time of 26:39, she was second home for her team and an amazing 3rd Northern Ireland Lady overall. There is not a more deserving lady of this magnificent achievement.  Roisin is one of the most dedicated runners in the Club, a quiet consistency that can only be admired.

Congratulations go to our Newry AC running buddies, who were also representing Team NI having a great race – Esther Dixon and Paul Le Blanc.

Moy Park Belfast City 5K

It was a 9:10am start for Niall Crowley, Lorcan Magee and Patricia Simpson on Sunday as they took part in the Moy Park Belfast City 5K.

The weather was fresh, cold and dry, perfect winter running conditions. Whilst the course was ‘pancake flat’ there were some sharp twists and turns, as it snaked its way around Belfast, heading down Chichester Street there was a sharp right turn onto Victoria Street, right onto May Street and along Donegall Square, heading onto Howard Street. After leaving Chichester Street for the second time, they turned left onto Victoria Street, left onto Academy Street and around Talbot Street. After leaving Hill Street then turned right with another sharp right onto Donegall Street, sharp left onto Royal Avenue, down North Street with another sharp turn onto Rosemary Street, two lefts onto High Street and acute right along Church Lane and another one onto Ann Street, where it was basically a straight run to the finish line.

All three had a magnificent race. Niall Crowly earned himself a new and very impressive PB of 18:46 taking a minute off his time. Lorcan Magee stormed home in 26:38 and Patricia Simpson, pushing Harley and Hailey in their pram finished in 27:18, with the pram and herself decked out in festive dress, taking 2nd place in the Fancy Dress too.

City Parkrun, Craigavon: Niall Rankin and James McEvoy were in Craigavon for the City Parkrun.  They finished in 22:59 and 30:05 respectively.

Castlewellan Parkrun: Liam Sloan ran at Castlewellan Parkrun in a time of 25:41.

Holy Cross College Parkrun: Hayley McAteer took on the Holy Cross College Parkrun, completing it in 20:12

Newry Greenway Parkrun: Ryan Corrin and Laurence Farrington were at the Newry Greenway Rostrevor Parkrun: Ciaran McBride took part in the Rostrevor Parkurn in Kilbroney Park, finishing in 25:16.

CPT 24 Hour Relay

Congratulations to Attracta Magennis, Karen McElroy and Janine Burns who all participated in the CPT 24 Hour Relay on Friday/Saturday.  This was a 24-hour treadmill relay to raise funds for ‘Type 1 Diabetes, Children and Teenagers (TIDCAT), which was organised and hosted by Crilly Personal Training.

Willies Winter Training

The excellent sessions that are ‘Willies Winter Training’ returned on Sunday 09th November in Kilbroney Park.

Meeting at 9:30am in the lower carpark of Kilbroney Forest Park, each session lasts for approximately 75 minutes, consisting of warm-up, drills, hill work and finishing with a cooldown. This is excellent strength and conditioning training for runners, and all are welcome. The next session will be next Sunday (November 23) at 9.30am.

Club Training continues each week St Colman’s Running Track on Tuesday evening at 7pm. Thursday evening club meeting point is outside The Quays in Newry at 7pm and it is a run for all levels; all are welcome.