East Antrim Harriers AC

Our club have been delighted to win 2 bits of silverware this week! Not only did we already pick up the Team Prize at the Woodburn Forest Series, but we were also presented with this award from The Antrim & Newtownabbey Sports Forum. This award recognizes significant contribution to the development of the sport of running in the Borough. This was awarded to us on Tuesday night by council representatives and Sponsors, Greys of Ballyclare. Pictured are our Secretary Jeanette Burton & Treasurer Norman Caughey.

Congratulations to Nick Weston who finished 3rd Overall, Brandon McKeown who received the Male Open prize, Chris Collins for winning the M40 Category & Gareth Blair for his victory in the M45 Category. Really consistent performances from all four lads - well done! We are delighted that our Club took the Team Prize in the brilliantly organised Woodburn Forest Series. Well done to all our runners who turned out & contributed so well to the winning team’s effort and thanks to the organizers of the Series for their hard work & effort.

Yesterday Ross Mercer competed in the ‘Jimmy’s 10k’ event at Bishopscourt. Ross ran a controlled race to finish 36th in an impressive time of 36.16. Yet another strong performance from Ross, with more to come in the weeks ahead.

More strong performances from Nick Weston, Chris Collins & Gareth Blair in the Cairncastle Fell Race today organised by East Coast Athletic Club . All 3 finished well up a strong field, posting good times over the challenging & undulating 10 mile route. Nick finished 6th in 1.20.36 Chris finished 22nd in 1.26.26 Gareth finished 30th in 1.28.48 Well done lads. Thanks to Keiran Scullion for photos & East Coast for organizing a great race.

It was great to see such a great turnout of our club runners for the Smyth Cup 5 Mile Handicap Race last night. The route goes through Ballyclare Town Centre out to Doagh then back to Ballyclare via the main road. Despite setting off as one of the last runners, Colin James came through the field to finish 1st in a time of 29.07. Tim Khanna was pipped into 2nd place ahead only a few seconds clear of Davy Lennon who backed up his good performances over our lockdown Time Trials. Special mention to new recruit Matt McDowell for his first turnout in the Club Vest!

Another Harrier who’s been busy in racing action in the past week has been Rick Hill. He ran 37.11 in the Down Royal 10k last weekend and then competed in his first ever 3000m track race last night as part of Annadale Striders Meet at Mary Peters Track. Rick finished 6th in his race in a time of 10.08.

Another strong performance from the Harriers squad at this weeks 2nd race in the Woodburn Forest Series to put us in a strong place in the overall team standings. Congratulations to Nick Weston for his podium place & special mention to Chris Collins for lining out & gaining a Top 10 finish 3 days after his 50k Ultra! Results: 3rd Nick Weston 25.20 5th Brandon McKeown 26.31 6th Chris Collins 26.52 10th Gareth Blair 27.51 29th Peter Fraser 30.44

Last Saturday we had 2 runners competing in the Northern Ireland Ultra 50k Championship. Chris Collins held on strongly to complete the 50k in a time of 3.42 and finish in 8th position, while John Neill finished his first ever Ultra Marathon in 4.00 for 13th place. Well done to both men for enduring both the distance & the tough conditions. Rumour has it that the stairs were a challenge the next day!