East Antrim Harriers AC

A great day of running today for our cross country squad with strong performances in Bangor. John Neill finished on the podium of the Masters Race with a strong run for 3rd place, while Gareth Blair was in the Top 5 until a mis-step at the finishing chute cost him a couple of places. Next up was our team of Brandon McKeown, Gareth Blair, Rick Hill & John Neill who finished in 6th position in the Relay Event. Special mention for Brandon’s strong run in the opening leg to put us in the top 3 early doors. Thanks to North Down Athletic Club for a well organised event

The Harriers got their Cross Country Season off to a strong start on Sunday with 3 finishers at the Bobby Rea Race organised by Athletics NI. Brandon McKeown was first club man over the line with a strong run for 40th place overall in a time of 28.13. He was followed home by John Neill who ran 29.39 for 67th place with Gareth Blair coming 88th in 30.39. Well done to all 3 lads and we look forward to seeing how they go as a team in the North Down Cross Country Relays this Saturday.

On Sunday morning we held our Annual Club Handicap Race from Parkgate to Ballyclare. It turned out to be one of the closest races in years with Nicole Tucker leading the race until the last 20 metres, only to be pipped at the line by Andy Liddle who won by 4 seconds. Well done to all our runners and thanks to the timekeepers. 1st Andy Liddle 2nd Nicole Tucker 3rd Billy Reed

Yesterday some of our club members took part in the Bob & Berts 10k in Groomsport. I’m what was a multi-terrain course, Tim Khanna was the first of our runners over the line finishing in the top 20 in a time of 46.02. Davy Lennon continued his solid improvement by coming in close behind in 47.17. Ever-consistent Kirstie Annett continued her comeback in 52.14, while Nicole & Peter Tucker came home just over the hour mark. Karen Graham took on the 5k distance, running a time of 28.55. Well done to all!

It was Marathon today in both Belfast & London and we were delighted to hear of so many good times from our club members. Many miles of hard training paid off with several personal bests! In London, Nick Weston crossed the line in a fantastic time of 2.43, Ross Mercer also ran another personal best of 2.50, Peter Fraser finished in 3.21 and Matt McDowell in 3:22.   Closer to home, Colin James was our fastest athlete on the day running a brilliant 2.40, John Neill joined the sub-3 hour marathon club by running a time of 2.58, while Larry McAteer & Mark McElhinney finished close to each other in 3.35 & 3.36 respectively. Jonny Craig also notched up another marathon finish as he helped pace a younger runner in just over 4 hours. Well done to all our Marathon Runners for these fantastic results!

Another busy racing weekend with Harriers in action in two separate events over the past 24 hours. First up was Davy Lennon & Karen Hutchinson in the Ards 5 Mile Road Race. Both runners have joined the club in the last year, seeing significant progress in their running through consistent training. Davy backed this up by finishing in a time of 38.19 while Karen crossed the line in 47.48. This morning saw Ross Mercer continue his recent good form with an excellent time of 35.50 in the Washingbay Green 10k to finish in 6th position. Well done to all!