East Antrim Harriers AC

Comber Cup XC hosted by  Ballydrain Harriers Well done to the team taking on the mud today 

Trail Blazers in this weekends running included the Sperrin’s Harriers Winter League kick off and 26 Extreme’s Tullymore event, well done to those who took on the trails Davagh 10km David Turtle Gareth Blair Tullymore 10km Chloe Reed    

Thank you to everyone for supporting our race today, the McConnell Shield XC in Ballyclare. Some fantastic racing in great conditions and glad to be able to host the race this year after having to cancel last year.   Well done to Derry Spartan ladies team on winning the XC Shield and well to Annadale Striders Male team winners of the McConnell Shield. All age cat prizes will either be posted out or we will catch up with them over the coming weeks at the races. RESULTS

Dublin Marathon 2023 Finishers Kirstie Annett 3.53 - PB Jonny Craig - 3.53 - Pacing duties Davy Lennon 3.55 - First timer Congratulations Team  

NI & Ulster Even Age Groups and Bobby Rea International XC - Saturday 21st Oct 2023 Bobby Rea Woman’s Race Chloe Reed - 35.13 M60 Race Gary Wilson - 25.25 Bobby Rea Men’s Race Steven Beggs - 33.30 Billy Reed - 34.15 James Gourley - 35.33 Peter Fraser - 37.56 James Finlay - 40.09 Well done everyone

  Congratulations to club member Chris Collins taking on the @atlasrunn Canal 20 yesterday and placing as 2nd Overall #marathonprep

Club members taking part in the Spadetown Cup in Lurgan park hosted by St Peter's AC Well done team Gary Wilson James Kitchen Jim Finlay Peter Fraser

Club members taking part in the classic GR8 Dundrum Run over the weekend, perfect run conditions, support and hospitality afters. Making the top 5 and his age category win, was Colin James in 48:36 Followed by: Chris Collins Steven Beggs Michael Nugent Peter Fraser James Finlay Tim Khanna Larry McAteer With Leza McNulty completing in the 3.5mile   Well done team

A glimpse of our Relay team at the recent NI Relays. A strong performance to finish 8th in the Masters race.  

Podium Alert! 5 Harriers made the journey up to the north coast today to take part in the 26 Extreme events. In warm but windy conditions all members performed well on the tuff undulating coastal route. Most notable was Nick Weston who was taking part in the Ultra Marathon which starts in Portstewart making its way along the coast to Carrick-a-Rede before turning and running back to Portballintrae.   Nick finished in 1st place with an incredible performance completing the 39 mile course in 5hrs 18min. 5 mins ahead of his closest rival in 2nd, with a total of 60 finishers.   The other four harriers were taking part in the half marathon with Gareth Blaire finishing in a fantastic 3rd place overal in a field of 398 finishers.   Gareth Blaire 3rd, 1hr 37min. Jim Finlay 43rd, 1hr 59min. Peter Frazer 47th, 2hrs. Tim Khanna 108th 2hrs 12min. Well done all

We are delighted to welcome Peter Reed to the club. This is Peter pictured yesterday in his first racing action in his new club vest. Clearly a chip off the old block as he took on the “Two Towers” Mountain race in the Mournes. Well done to him, and his Dad Billy Reed on yet another strong run in the mountains.  

Well done to all the Harriers representing the club at the Mallusk 5 mile road race on Friday evening. The race is notorious for the Sealstown Road Hill at the start of the race which will certainly find you out if you go off too quick. Thank you to Mallusk Harriers, Marshall’s and all involved in hosting another incredible event and for the hospitality afterwards. Placings: 7th Richard Craig 28.41 & 1st male Vet 35. 73rd Gary Wilson 35.27 & 2nd male Vet 60. 186th Andy Moore 44.04 194th Pamela Kane 44.53 & 3rd female Vet 40. 269th Nicole Tucker 53.05 & 2nd female Vet 65. 289th Peter Tucker 1.02.38.  

Conor Graham & Tim Khanna both ran the Ards Half Marathon on Friday night. On a tough course, Conor finished in 1.35.52 while Tim ran 1.53.00. Well done to both lads.  

Well done to Davy Turtle for his 3rd place finish in the Woodburn Forest Series. Davy ran consistently through the 3-race series, finishing in the Top 5 in every race. Shout out to Pete Fraser too for completing each race & representing the club so well as ever

Look how much fun mountain running is! Our mountain men have been in action several times in recent weeks, and this photo of John Neill was captured last Saturday at the Cairncastle Classic Fell Race where 3 Harriers were in action. First club member over the line was the ever-strong Billy Reed who finished in 15th position overall in a time of 1.30. Gareth Blair kept his consistent season going by coming 22nd in 1.34 while John Neill finished 47th in 1.45 as he continues to build his fitness again on his return to racing. Well done to all  

Congratulations to Kirstie Annett who smashed her Half Marathon PB at the weekend by running a time of 1.44 at Newry Half Marathon. Pamela Kane took on the 10k distance at the same event, recording a time of 51.46. Well done to both ladies!  

Yesterday saw some excellent performances at our local race, the Ballyclare Mayfair 10k. Well done to Ricky Craig for making it onto the podium after a strong run for 3rd while Colin James picked up an age category win & Conor Graham recorded a new PB. Full results below and a big thanks to our neighbours Co. Antrim Harriers for putting on such a good race. 10k Results 3rd Richard Craig 35.20 5th Colin James 36.30 7th Chris Collins 37.12 13th Conor Graham 38.39 24th Peter Fraser 41.21 53rd Tim Khanna 44.56 182nd Susan Gillespie 59.14 5k Results 17th Reuben Moore 19.00  

Well done to our Male Team of runners who won the East Antrim Inter Club Race near Larne on Tuesday evening, beating off strong competition from other clubs and getting our hands on the trophy. With a strong turnout throughout the club, it was great to be able to field teams competition in both the 5 mile male & 4 mile female race. Nick Weston & Ricky Craig ran strongly in the lead group to put the team in a strong position and they were strongly backed up by the other scoring runners of Colin James, Davy Turtle, Matt McDowell & Michael Nugent. Full results below… MALE RACE 5th Nick Weston 27.24 6th Richard Craig 27.50 9th Colin James 28.28 10th David Turtle 28.54 22nd Matt McDowell 30.34 24th Michael Nugent 30.42 25th Gareth Blair 30.43 38th Rick Hill 31.51 39th James Kitchin 31.57 44th Peter Fraser 32.42 53rd Jonny Craig 33.37 60th Mark Mcelhinney 34.11 68th Tim Burns 35.33 69th Jim Finlay 35.34 76th Tim Khanna 35.58 112th Peter Tucker 1.05.00 FEMALE 17th Kirstie Annett 2

  Our last Cross Country Club Handicap race was held on Tuesday night with the McKillen Shield up for grabs. This is over a gruelling 8 mile distance and a good number of members toed the line. The winner was James Kitchin with Tim Khanna and Gareth Blair finishing 2nd & 3rd respectively. Well done to all who ran & thanks to the timekeepers.

Tuesday night saw the start of the 2023 Woodburn Forest Trail Race Series. 4 Harriers took on the 1st race of the series, a 3 mile undulating loop around the reservoir damn and back. All 4 ran well with David Turtle finishing on the podium in 3rd place and the other three finishing in the top 20 of 91 competitors.   3rd David Turtle 18.06 15th Rueben Moore 19.48 17th Rick Hill 20.13 19th Peter Fraser 20.19 Well done all and the next race in the series will take place on Tuesday 23rd May and is 4.5 miles long.

Congratulations to Kirstie Annett for a strong run and a new personal best at last night’s Run The Runways 10k in Newtownards. Kirstie’s consistent training was rewarded as she crossed the line in 45:21, which bettered her 10k best by over a minute. Well done Kirstie

The Mountain Men have been in racing action as part of the Hill & Dale Series over the past couple of weeks. Last night saw strong runs from Billy Reed, John Neill & Gareth Blair at the Slieve Binnian Race. Great to see Gareth & John starting to come back strongly after recent injuries. 

What a day of running in Belfast with several of our members taking on the 26.2 mile distance while many others played supportive roles either pacing club-mates or cheering on the sidelines. Special mention to Ricky Craig for finishing 14th overall in a time of 2.41 and to Pamela Kane for flying the flag for our female runners in her first marathon for the club. RESULTS 14th Richard Craig 2.41.16 37th Colin James 2.49.20 239th Matt McDowell 3.12.08 331st Ross Mercer 3.19.03 332nd John Rooney 3.19.03 730th Mark McElhinney 3.39.08 741st Conor Graham 3.39.22 854th Jonny Craig 3.43.29 1905th Pamela Kane 4.17.15

In other Marathon news, the terrible twins took on the heat of the Vienna Marathon yesterday. While there had been some in-club debate regarding whether the race was simply a sideline to other weekend activities, there is little doubt that the lads had knuckled down to train hard over the preceding weeks. On this occasion, Club Chairman came out on top by finishing in a time on 3.48. Sadly the self-heralded ‘Coach’ wilted in the heat as the Marathon earlier in the week took its toll, but well done to Mark McElhinney for battling to the finish in 4.05. A day for the student over the Master! 

BREAKING NEWS - NEW CLUB RECORD Congratulations to Nick Weston who has just smashed the club Marathon record by almost 3 minutes with an incredible time of 2.34.49 in this morning’s London Marathon. In the long history of our running club, this is a very notable achievement and Nick was even rewarded with a slot on television as he crossed the line!  

The Barkley Marathons is a unique race with a very select entry list every year. Only a very small number of runners from these shores have competed in the race, with only a handful ever completing the 100 mile plus, extremely elevated, 5 loop course in often difficult conditions. This year our little club was represented at the Barkley by Billy Reed & this incredible experience was captured by his daughter & fellow club member Chloe. Have a watch of this special video here…

With Marathon season now in full swing, 6 of our athletes took on the distance in both Manchester & Boston over the weekend, with each runner excelling themselves with strong performances and several personal bests. First up was Manchester Marathon on Sunday which saw Ross Mercer as the first Harrier over the line in a new PB of 2.45. Next over the line was relative newcomer to the club Michael Nugent, closely followed by Matt McDowell in 2.55 for more PBs. Reuben Moore (pictured) broke the 3 hour barrier for the first time, completing the course in 2.59 while Pete Fraser notched up another marathon in 3.20. The following day and across an ocean, international jet-setter Mark McElhinney completed his 50th marathon by completing the undulating Boston course. Mark finished in 3.27, making all the winter training worthwhile. Well done to all our runners.  

Good turn out this evening for our Club Handicap Race at Sixmilewater Park. Competing for the Kirkpatrick Cup over a 6 mile distance, Reuben Moore took the win in his first ever cross country race. He was followed by Billy Reed in 2nd place in one of the closest races for some time and James Gourley in 3rd. Thanks to Stephen McCullough & Pamela Kane for time keeping.

We are well and truly into Spring Marathon season with some excellent performances from those who have been training hard over the winter. Yesterday, Colin James produced a 2 minute personal best with an outstanding time of 2.38 in the Paris Marathon. Colin ran identical splits in both half’s of the race to finish strong. This followed another personal best the day before by Conor Graham (pictured) in the Westport Marathon. Conor broke the magical 3 hour barrier for the first time by finishing 7th in a time of 2.59. Shout out also to marathon man Mark McElhinney who notched up yet another medal over the 26.2 mile distance the week before in Barcelona. Mark finished in a time of 3.41. Well done lads! All eyes to London…

The annual ‘Craic 10k’ race was held this morning in Belfast with Richard Craig producing a strong performance finishing just outside the podium place. Richard dipped under the 35 minute barrier to finish 4th in a field of well over 2000 runners, recording an impressive time of 34.55. Great to see another of our athletes in good early-season form.