East Antrim Harriers AC

After the ultra & mountain exploits of Billy & Gareth, it was the turn of some of runners to take on some shorter distances in various parts of the UK this weekend. Firstly Brandon McKeown participated in the NI Club League over 1500m and finished in an excellent time of 4.22 for 9th place. Well done also to Chris Collins who ran a PB time of 36.38 over the 10k in a race in Bedford, also for 9th position. And we better mention Ross Mercer who smashed the 17 minute Parkrun barrier to run 16.44 at Belfast Victoria Parkrun. But we all know that’s not a race & positions don’t matter…! Well done lads. Great to see some fast times.

On what was the hottest day on record in Northern Ireland, most people were putting their feet up and relaxing. But not Gareth Blair who took on the heat & terrain of the Mournes to finish well up the field in the Spelga Skyline race. Gareth underlined his impressive endurance capabilities that we’ve seen since he joined the club by finishing 26th overall and 3rd in his age category, completing the 21km hilly course in just over 4 hours. Well done Gareth!

Brandon McKeown backed up a great year of training last night with an excellent time of 16.28 in the Co Down 5k. This doubled up as the NI Championships & Brandon finished in 54th place. We’ve seen great progress from Brandon & this is a clear sign of hard training paying dividends.

We kind of have run out of superlatives for Billy Reed but last weekend he became the first ever person to complete a Double Rankin Round in the Mournes. For reference that’s almost 110 miles and 42,000 feet of climbing! What a performance. Here’s a video documenting this incredible achievement. Well done Billy - and we loved the fact you finished it in your club vest!

Before we get on to an incredible personal achievement from one of our club members this weekend, we also had several runners race in the Coast Road 10k yesterday organised by Larne Athletic Club . Great to see PBs, returns to racing & first outings in club colours. Ross Mercer was our first runner over the line in a new PB of 35.04. Colin James returned to racing action in the club vest less than a minute later & new recruit Matt McDowell also ran a PB. Results: 39th: Ross Mercer 35.04 47th: Colin James 35.40 86th: Matt McDowell 37.18 166th: Michael McDonald 40.24 202nd: Mark McElhinney 41.53 253rd: Phil McNeill 43.44 265th: Peter Fraser 44.14 335th: Davy Lennon 47.04 PB 454th: Andy Moore 51.55