East Antrim Harriers AC

5 East Antrim Harriers took on the annual Christmas Cracker organised by Newcastle AC.  The race is unique in that you run it in pairs with the course changing every year and is never the same distance.  Todays course was a tuff 9.2 mile over roads, fields & trails, taking in and finishing in Castlewellan Country Park.  We’ll leave it at undulating 🤔 1st home was Michael Nugent & Matt McDowell, followed by Jim Finlay & Kirstie Annett, then by Pamela Kane who was partnered by Francis Murry from Brown Shoes Triathlon Club.  CLICK FOR RESULTS Thanks to Larry McAteer for the photos and Newcastle Ac for organising the race and hospitality afterwards.  

 It was a busy weekend of running and a full list of times from the Seeley Cup will follow soon. But while many of our runners were competing in a cold, crisp Belfast, Chris Collins made his way to Valencia to record another Marathon and notch a new personal best. Chris ran strongly throughout with even splits to cross the line in 2.53. A great reward for a very strong year of running. Well done Chris!

Well done to all those who took part today in The Malcolm Cup XC up at QUB playing fields, Belfast.  Thank you to Annadale striders for hosting a great event in perfect running conditions.  We had competitors in each of the 3 adult races today.  First off was Billy Reed with another great run in the 3 mile Vets race finishing 23rd in 18:39 followed home by Jim Finlay in 40th place in 20:41.  3rd home for the harriers was Peter Tucker who finished 79th in 36:25.  Next up was the ladies 3 mile XC with Pamela Kane’s first XC outing for the club finishing in 123rd place in 26:17.  Next home was Nicole Tucker with another strong run finishing in 158th place in a very competitive field.  Finally we only had one member in The Malcolm Cup 4 Mike XC open race which was Steven Beggs, having a good run to finish 52nd in 25:10.  Well done all 👏🏻👏🏻  

Great to have such a good turn out this morning for the first of our club handicap Races, The Parkgate Cup, 4.5 mile road race.  In perfect running conditions the race was won by Nicole ( Nikki) Tucker.  She was followed in by David Lennon in 2nd place and Norman Caughy in 3rd.  Thank you Stephen McCullough and Hannah-Jane Esler for helping out with the time keeping.  

 Our club was represented at today’s NI & Ulster Novice Cross Country Championships in Donegal by this squad of runners. All performed well over the 6k course including one comeback & one cross country debut! Great to field a team for this event. Chris Collins was our first runner over the line, finishing 41st overall with Billy Reed coming in less than 30 seconds later. Rick Hill continued his cross country season finishing in 68th closely followed by Gareth Blair in our last scoring position with his first race in almost a year after a frustrating time with injury. James Gourley acquitted himself well in his first ever cross country race today finishing in 86th position out of the 113 runners. RESULTS 41st Chris Collins 23.22 51st Billy Reed 23.47 68th Rick Hill 24.51 76th Gareth Blair 25.19 86th James Gourley 26.21

 The Officers, committee and membership were deeply saddened to hear off the passing after a long illness of former member Jim Tyrrell.  Jim was a Ballyclare man and a member of the Harriers in the 60s & 70s.  He was the brother of our President and esteemed member Jeanette Burton.  We would like to send our sincere condolences to Jeanette, family circle and friends of Jim.  🖤🤍🖤 Once a Harrier always a Harrier.

Well done to the 5 lads who took on the Dublin Marathon on Sunday with a few well deserved PBs after months of dedicated training. First clubman over the line was Matt McDowell (not pictured), who went under the magical 3-hour barrier again to record a new PB of 2.58. Reuben Moore was next in a new PB of 3.06 showing that he had benefitted from being part of Olympian Paul Pollock’s training group. Conor Graham followed close behind in 3.10 with Tim Burns & Andy Moore (both pictured) running together to cross the line in 4.07. Well done to all our runners!  

Yesterday this team represented our club in the Bobby Rea International Cross Country Race, all performing well in a highly competitive field. Steven Beggs & Billy Reed backed up their recent International Masters selection by being out first runners over the line, closely followed by Rick Hill & James Kitchin in their opening cross country outings of the year. Well done lads. RESULTS 80th Steven Beggs 31.54 86th Billy Reed 32.09 (3rd M55) 98th Rick Hill 33.07 109th James Kitchin 33.37  

Great turn out and some great times from the club yesterday at The Great Dundrum Run, with 4 top 20 finishers in a field of over 900 entries.  Some stong running from everyone in challenging conditions with a strong head wind for the entire 3k on the beach but I don’t think a single member even mentioned that after the race 🤔😉 Well done to Ross Mercer who was our  first member home in 7th place and an age cat win 👏🏻 Another one to note was Nicole (Nikki) Tucker who narrowly missed out but finished 2nd in her age cat 👏🏻 Well done also to Peter Tucker who finished in 84th place in a time of 41 mins in the 3.5k race 👏🏻 7th Ross Mercer 50.40 11th John Neil 51.55 17th Chris Collins 53.11 19th Steven Beggs 53.32 43rd David Turtle 57.58 71st Jonny Craig 1.00.05 85th Peter Frazer 1.00.32 92nd Mark McElhinney 1.01.45 122nd Jim Finlay 1.03.16 207th Kirstie Annett 1.07.39 628th Nicole Tucker 1.22.57 Thanks to Murlough AC for hosting the event and also to Larne AC for travel to the race on

Congratulations to Larry McAteer who completed the Chicago Marathon yesterday. Larry ran well to finish in a time of 3.52 and notch up yet another under his belt. Well done Larry!  

Congratulations to Billy Reed for provisionally earning another international vest after finishing 3rd in his age category at yesterday’s NI Masters Cross Country qualifying race. Stevie Beggs also ran well to finish 10th in his category, crossing the line of the 5 mile course in a time of 29.49

 Today 3 of our runners completed the London Marathon with excellent performances & the official club history needing to be consulted! First club member over the line was Nick Weston who produced an outstanding run of 2.38.03 for a massive personal best. Nick impressively ran almost identical splits for both half’s of the race & we believe now stands as the 3rd fastest marathon runner in our clubs long history. Next over the line was Ross Mercer who ran yet another sub-3 marathon, this time posting 2.55. Tim Khanna also completed the race, finding things a little more tough going on the day but persevering well to finish the course in 5.02. Well done to all our runners!

  A strong effort from our Masters Men’s team who finished well up the field in today’s Northern Ireland Club Relay Championships. The squad of Richard Craig, John Neill, Rick Hill & Matt McDowell placed 8th out of 35 teams. Richard Craig ran our fastest leg of the day, with a time of 10.32 for his 2 mile leg. Well done to all.

This weekend saw club members tackle a variety of distances across Ireland, with good performances all round. Well done to Chris Collins who finished a brilliant 4th in the tough Causeway Coast Ultra Marathon. Chris completed the 39.3 mile course in 6 hours & 30 minutes. Another ultra under the belt for Chris. Mark McElhinney continued his busy year of Marathons with a 7th place finish in Monaghan. Mark finished the Forest trail, lapped course in 3.51. Then closer to home, James Kitchin produced a good time of 39.35 in the Bangor 10k to finish 83rd in the NI Championships and place well up in his age category. Well done to all!  

Last Sunday morning, Billy Reed set off on the Tor des Geants, a 330km endurance race with 24,000 metres of climb, through the Italian Alps. The next 4 days he described massive climbs and descents, amazing sunrises, dark nights and a lot of sleep deprivation. On Thursday evening, he crossed the finish line with a smile on his face, in a total time of 103 hours and 27 minutes. He placed 60th in a field of 600 finishers. Well done yet again Billy!

Some strong performances from our athletes in Belfast yesterday, with most building towards an Autumn marathon in the weeks to come. Matt McDowell was first clubman home with personal bests also from Reuben Moore & Conor Graham. Great to see Hannah Esler turn out for the club & run so well to. Matt McDowell 1.20.17 PB Reuben Moore 1.25.13 PB Ross Mercer 1.25.15 Conor Graham 1.25.56 PB Hannah Esler 1.41.56

  It was great so many hoops in action yesterday in Larne, with a mix of personal bests, strong performances and club debuts. Notable mentions for Nick Weston, who continued his London Marathon build up with an outstanding 16th overall in the Mass Race to smash his PB in a time of 1.14, as well as Matt McDowell who backed up last weeks run with another PB and Conor Graham who had an excellent first outing in club colours. Results below… Nick Weston 1.14.22 Matt McDowell 1.20.43 Conor Graham 1.24.54 Pete Fraser 1.28.42 Larry McAteer 1.43.28 Ross Mercer (PACER) 1.44.28 Pamela Kane 2.02.45

  It’s been a busy weekend already with lots of Harriers in racing action. Congratulations to John Neill who travelled to Sligo yesterday for the Warriors race. John finished in 10th position and picked up the Vets prize in this 9 mile race over a mix of mountain and road. Then on Friday night, Ross Mercer finished in a podium position at the Portrush 5 Mile Race. Ross was 3rd in a time of 27.33 while Chris Collins also ran well to finish 17th in 29.35.

  We had a number of athletes competing in the Storming the Castle 10k this afternoon in Carrick with many strong performances for some running on home soil. Ricky Craig was our first runner over the line finishing in 7th place in a competitive field. Davy Turtle, Matt McDowell & James Kitchin all ran strongly to finish in the Top 20 and place in their respective age categories, with Matt winning his & running a PB. Newcomer James Gourley recorded a new personal best in his debut outing in the club vest, while Davy Lennon continued his progress to finish in 43.09. It was great to see Andy Liddle back in racing action while Pamela Kane recorded another strong performance in her new club vest & Norman Caughey continued to defy his M70 category by finishing within the hour. RESULTS 7th Richard Craig 34.00 13th David Turtle 36.24 15th Matt McDowell 36.44 1st M40 20th James Kitchin 37.08 M50 52nd James Gourley 40.29 PB 81st David Lennon 43.09 87th Andy Liddle 43.37 236th Pamela

  Well done to John Neill for a strong showing & a Top 10 finish at the epic Lurig Mountain Race. John started the race conservatively moving onto the mountain climb in around 15th place before working his way through the field to finish in 9th position overall. A strong run on a hot day!

Congratulations to John Neill who finished 2nd in this weeks Broughshane 10k. John ran in the front pack and held on well to cross the line in 36.38. Also well to Nicole Tucker who continued her busy summer of racing with a Personal Best time while Peter Tucker ran in the 5k race.

3 of our runners took the short journey to the Coast Road in Larne on Saturday for a 10k Race organised by Larne Athletic Club. In breezy conditions and a competitive field, Ross Mercer continued his fine form by winning his age category and finishing 19th overall in 34.41. It was also good to see James Kitchin continue his return to form as he ran 37.39 for 49th position, while Pete Fraser notched up yet another race this season, finishing in 42.28. Well done lads!

Lots of Harriers in racing action this week with medals and PBs being notched up.  Firstly well done to the Moore brothers for their solid performances at the Lisburn this week.  Reuben continued his development by running an excellent PB in 38.48. Andy also showed his progression by running 1.45 in the Half Marathon. Then last night, Kirstie Annett produced an excellent run in Ards Half Marathon with a comeback PB in 1.52. Finally, today in the NI Masters Track Championships, Ross Mercer managed to pick up a Bronze Medal in the M40 category 3000m race. Ross produced a strong finish to pick up his first NI Masters medal.

Several of our runners took on the Comber 10k last night and came away with a great night & good times.  Ross Mercer was our first runner over the line & finished 13th overall in a field of over 600 runners. Ross achieved a great time of 34.39 to continue his fine form. The ever-consistent Pete Fraser narrowly missed another sub-40 showing, finishing in 77th place in 40.07.  David Lennon continued his progression by running 44.08 for 153rd position, while further down the field Nicole & Peter Tucker notched yet another race under their belts in 62.14 & 74.23.

Training was changed up on Tuesday night for the Smith Cup Handicap Race. There was a good squad of runners who took on the 5 Mile Circuit starting in Ballyclare, out to Doagh and finishing back on the Mill Road. It was Colin James who had a strong run, coming through the field to cross the line first closely followed by Norman Caughey & John Neill. Another great handicap race to close the series. Well done to all our runners & thanks to the timekeepers.

Well done to Nick Weston for placing 2nd in the final race of the Woodburn Forest Series last night, resulting in a 2nd place overall in the Overall Series. Strong, consistent performances on the back of an excellent marathon.

This is our Men’s Team from this year’s Belfast City Marathon receiving their award for finishing 2nd place overall in the Relay Event at the recent Prize-giving Dinner. Well done to Chris Collins, Richard Craig, Ross Mercer, Rick Hill (pictured L-R) & Colin James (not pictured).

Thanks to our friends in County Antrim Harriers for organising an excellent set of races this morning in Ballyclare as part of the Mayfair Festival. Several of our runners took part with prizes collected and narrow misses to the podium in both races. In the 10k event, Colin James finished 4th overall and claimed the Over 45 category with a brilliant time of 35.39. James Kitchin also picked up a Category win as first Over 50 with an 8th place finish in 37.40. Andy Moore recorded a PB to finish in 45.05 for 46th position overall. In the 5k event, Ross Mercer continued his strong season by finishing 4th in a new PB of 16.23. Well done to all our runners!

It was a busy & varied weekend for our club members with various racing outside NI, big announcements & even a social training run on the North Coast. Richard Craig travelled to Manchester to race in the Manchester 10k and was rewarded with an excellent time of 34.02 in a stacked elite field.   Davy Turtle was in Marbella for a Half Ironman event and performed well to finish in 5 hours and 23 minutes. Elsewhere, Reuben Moore was delighted to be accepted for Paul Pollock’s Dream Run Dublin Project & had his first group outing at Victoria Parkrun. We look forward to watching his progress.

  Well done to John Neill who tonight won the club’s McKillen Shield. This is an in-club cross country handicap race over an 8-mile distance run in Ballyclare’s Sixmilewater Park. John came through from the back of the field to cross the line first and take home the historic shield. Well done to all!

  Another podium for Nick Weston tonight and well done to Pete Fraser & Steven Beggs for their runs also.

It was Race 1 of Woodburn Forest Series tonight with Nick Weston and Davy Turtle both running strongly to finish in the top 5. This is a series our runners have performed well at in recent years and that continued tonight over the 3 mile distance. Nick backed up his impressive marathon performance by making it onto the podium in 3rd place while Davy also continued his return to racing form by placing 5th in. Well done lads!

Proper Kudos to Mark McElhinney as he completed his 4th big city marathon in less than 3 weeks. This time Mark travelled to Barcelona and notched up a time of 3.37 to continue his consistent performances. This is added to his recent marathons in Boston, Vienna & Belfast - impressive city-hopping as well as running! Time for a rest now big lad!

What a day and what a set of performances from our runners in both the Marathon & Relay Events, with a mix of sub 3’s, personal bests and even a podium position! Nick Weston was our first runner over the line, finishing 23rd overall in a time of 2.44.04. John Neill recorded yet another personal best of 2.54.02 while Reuben Moore did likewise in 3.18.01. Pete Fraser was next over the line with another good marathon not long after Manchester, this time running 3.21.44, while newcomer Tim Burns impressed in his first outing in the club vest with a time of 3.27.56. Andy Moore was delighted to cross the line in 4.02.33, helped along the way by Mark McElhinney who finished his 3rd marathon in less than a fortnight after completing Boston & Vienna Marathons! Then our relay team finished in the Top 3 Overall in a swift 2.31, narrowly missing out on 2nd by a handful of seconds. Congratulations to Rick Hill, Colin James, Richard Craig, Chris Collins & Ross Mercer who ensured our club

Another diverse set of races for the runners of East Antrim Harriers this weekend as Chris Collins completed the Highland Fling in Scotland, Nick Weston finished on the podium in The Wall Duathlon and Ross Mercer ran a track personal best over 5000m on the track. In the 53-mile Ultra Trail Race, Chris ran strongly to finish inside the Top 30 of the prestigious Highland Fling in a time of 9 hours and 35 minutes. Yet another impressive ultra performance from Chris which is good reward for another strong training block. Then in the Mourne Mountains, Nick Weston ran and biked in the front group from the off in The Wall Duathlon Race. In an excellent return to racing, Nick battled for the lead in the early stages before finishing in 2nd position. Finally, at the highly competitive ‘Afternoon of 5000s’ organised by North Belfast Harriers, Ross Mercer continued his fine season of racing over shorter distance to record yet another impressive time. This time Ross finished 6th in his race in a s

It’s great to see our club colours represented on different continents as two of our club members have been racing overseas in recent days. Mark McElhinney was our sole representative at today’s 126th Boston marathon and he finished in a time of 3.41 to complete yet another marathon. Well done Mark! David Turtle also continued his return to form with an excellent run in the Middle Eastern heat to finish 4th in the Dubai 10k in plus 30 degree heat despite being at 6.30am in the morning! This brought Davy a first place position in his category.

It’s been a busy week of racing culminating in some podium appearances. Firstly, well done to Chris Collins & David Turtle who finished 1st & 3rd respectively at the Glenarm Half Marathon. Chris took the win in a time of 1.23.06 while David showed a great return to form by taking 3rd in 1.25.31. Elsewhere in the 10k, Phil Smyth finished in 49.46 while Davy Lennon crossed the line in 53.30. Nicole & Peter Tucker also ran in the Vet65 Category finishing in 1.04 & 1.24 respectively. Earlier in the week, Billy Reed completed yet another epic race, this time in the form of the Northern Traverse - a 189 mile route crossing England from coast to coast. Billy showed his incredible endurance to run for 58 hours to finish in 12th position. Also this week, Ross Mercer competed in the Queens 5k Road Race, continuing his good form this year to record another impressive time of 16.44. Well done to all!