The week started in one decade and finished in another, with NBH athletes competing in endurance events, trail races and enjoying the extra parkruns over the holiday period.
EAMS Back to Back and 6-hr Challenge (Mon 30 Dec, Tue 31 Dec, Wed 01 Jan)
The East Antrim Marathon Series (EAMS) traditional end of year back to back events took place on Monday and Tuesday, offering marathon, half-marathon and 10k distances. For the first time this year a third day was added which offered a 6-hr event in addition to the usual distances.
Day 1: Carrickfergus Castle to Gideon’s Green
Starting at Carrickfergus Castle, the marathon and half marathon route took runners via Carrickfergus marina, the old Belfast Road and the Loughshore path as far as Gideon’s Green, before turning to head back to Carrickfergus, where the half marathon runners finished while the marathon runners set out to complete the loop again.
Day 2: Greenisland Loop
On day 2 the runners started at Greenisland golf club, ran as far as Monkstown on the Upper Road before descending to the Shore Road via Monkstown wood, continued along Shore Road and finished each loop with the long drag up the Greenisland Station Road. Two loops had to be completed for the half and four made up the marathon.
Day 3: Loughshore Park to Gideon’s Green
Back to one of the EAMS standard courses for the New Year’s Day 6-hr challenge with runners starting at Loughshore Park and running 4.2mile laps to Gideon’s Green and back.
Congratulations to Robert Martin who was the overall winner of the b2b half-marathons, with Greg McClure 4th overall in the b2b marathons. Full results for club athletes were:
| Day | Pos | Athlete | Event | Time |
| 1 | 2 | Robert Martin | Half | 1:28:05 |
| 10 | Greg McClure | Marathon | 3:52:16 | |
| 2 | 3 | Robert Martin | Half | 1:33:21 |
| 8 | Greg McClure | Marathon | 3:56:26 | |
| 18 | Thomas McKinstry | Marathon | 4:37:07 | |
| 25 | Gordon Glenn | Marathon | 4:56:45 | |
| 3 | Stella Harrison | Half | 2:19:54 | |
| Thomas McKinstry | Marathon | 4:43:00 |
Race Over The Glens (Wed 01 Jan 2020)
Glenariff Forest Park was the venue for the annual trail race hosted by Ballymena Runners designed to sweep away any lingering cobwebs from the celebrations of the previous evening. Conditions were good for the 417 runners who undertook the challenge with plenty of ascents and descents to make it a good test of both strength and speed endurance. Six NBH athletes took part with the highlight performances from Penny Lindsay taking 2nd place in the female open and Janice Plumb winning the female V50 category. Full results were:
| Pos | Name | Cat / Pos | Time |
| 27 | Peter Reed | MO – 10th | 0:40:58.3 |
| 28 | Jonathan Topping | MO – 11th | 0:41:09.7 |
| 44 | Penny Lindsay | FO – 2nd | 0:42:24.0 |
| 66 | Janice Plumb | F50 – 1st | 0:44:10.9 |
| 129 | Colin Simpson | M50 – 10th | 0:48:18.2 |
| 215 | John McConnell | M45 – 39th | 0:54:37.6 |
Born2Run Tollymore 5k/10k (Sat 04 Jan 2020)
Martin McLarnon took on the Born2run Tollymore 5k trail race on Saturday morning in the spectacular setting of Tollymore Forest Park. With 206 runners in the 5k and 442 in the 10k, Martin posted a time of 36:51.
Armagh “Beat the January Blues” Marathon (Sun 05 Jan 2020)
Conditions were perfect for the runners on Sunday morning in Armagh, a little bit cold at the start but no rain and just a slight bit of wind on part of the course. The course itself is a new route, consisting of a 2.88 loop with a few small hills in it. Louise Smith won the ladies race in a superb time of 3hrs04mins while Thomas McKinstry completed his third marathon in 6 days in a time of 4hrs32mins.
parkrun (Wed 01 Jan 2020)
January 1st is the one day of the year when it is possible to participate in 2 different parkruns (and thereby accumulate 2 onto your total!), and many of the NBH runners on New Year’s Day were taking advantage with 104 runs completed at 10 different venues. A new attendance record was established at Waterworks, with a total of 557 runners, 40 more than the Christmas Day total ! Full results were:
| Waterworks parkrun, Belfast 01/01/2020 #483 | |||||
| Pos | parkrunner | parkruns | Age Grade | Time | Comment |
| 9 | Mark MCAVOY | 22 | 69.86% | 18:28 | PB 00:17:07 |
| 10 | Brendan MCCAMBRIDGE | 67 | 72.52% | 18:37 | New PB! |
| 27 | Luke KELLY | 148 | 68.22% | 20:24 | PB 00:17:06 |
| 46 | John Gerard MURPHY | 445 | 68.04% | 21:51 | PB 00:18:49 |
| 49 | Stephen WALKER | 86 | 61.89% | 22:13 | PB 00:17:29 |
| 54 | Conor O’RAWE | 151 | 57.43% | 22:33 | PB 00:17:32 |
| 60 | Greg MCCLURE | 401 | 72.38% | 22:45 | PB 00:18:41 |
| 62 | Paul WILLIAMS | 329 | 68.08% | 22:46 | PB 00:20:23 |
| 63 | Eoin MCCONNELL | 16 | 65.25% | 22:47 | PB 00:19:46 |
| 70 | Saul THOMPSON | 4 | 64.83% | 22:56 | New PB! |
| 74 | Paul CARLIN | 18 | 63.49% | 23:03 | PB 00:22:51 |
| 84 | Fionnuala O’HARE | 172 | 63.61% | 23:16 | PB 00:21:38 |
| 85 | Ivan MCALLISTER | 83 | 61.80% | 23:18 | PB 00:21:38 |
| 94 | Gabriel MCAVOY | 19 | 59.31% | 23:33 | PB 00:19:33 |
| 95 | Ita MCCAMBRIDGE | 157 | 78.93% | 23:34 | PB 00:20:55 |
| 101 | Laurence ROGERS | 43 | 60.63% | 23:45 | PB 00:21:23 |
| 107 | Catriona MCCAMBRIDGE | 61 | 61.85% | 23:59 | PB 00:23:37 |
| 116 | Ciaran HUNTER | 316 | 62.82% | 24:15 | PB 00:21:29 |
| 118 | Terence MCATAMNEY | 35 | 54.02% | 24:17 | PB 00:21:45 |
| 131 | Matthew CARLETON | 47 | 52.64% | 24:36 | PB 00:23:38 |
| 133 | David HURST | 35 | 53.86% | 24:38 | New PB! |
| 144 | Tony REID | 452 | 61.84% | 25:04 | PB 00:21:50 |
| 151 | Michelle MCLOUGHLIN | 120 | 60.01% | 25:13 | PB 00:24:00 |
| 160 | Gary BLYTHE | 148 | 56.94% | 25:42 | PB 00:21:14 |
| 166 | Laura CONNOLLY | 11 | 60.67% | 25:56 | New PB! |
| 171 | Gerry ANDERSON | 152 | 57.33% | 26:08 | PB 00:22:13 |
| 218 | Donna MCLAUGHLIN | 79 | 58.98% | 27:28 | PB 00:24:27 |
| 225 | Aodhan CONWAY | 6 | 53.90% | 27:35 | PB 00:26:58 |
| 228 | Catherine SEAWRIGHT | 55 | 57.48% | 27:38 | PB 00:25:28 |
| 229 | Lucinda MCAVOY | 21 | 57.44% | 27:39 | PB 00:27:25 |
| 230 | Lyle CARLETON | 160 | 56.54% | 27:39 | PB 00:21:22 |
| 248 | Senan MCCONNELL | 7 | 60.92% | 27:56 | PB 00:25:47 |
| 257 | Una MCCONNELL | 31 | 55.00% | 28:11 | PB 00:21:07 |
| 266 | Treasa MCCONNELL | 13 | 58.40% | 28:29 | PB 00:26:43 |
| 276 | Eimear CASH | 28 | 55.60% | 28:43 | PB 00:26:39 |
| 279 | Orla CASH | 85 | 52.31% | 28:54 | PB 00:22:32 |
| 328 | Fergus JAMISON | 54 | 50.53% | 30:09 | PB 00:28:03 |
| 348 | Éabha CONWAY | 5 | 55.71% | 30:38 | New PB! |
| 352 | Lynn MURRAY | 164 | 56.00% | 30:41 | PB 00:23:37 |
| 353 | Trisha MURRAY | 118 | 56.73% | 30:42 | PB 00:28:39 |
| 384 | Karen DUNLOP-WAINWRIGHT | 44 | 47.01% | 31:48 | PB 00:25:14 |
| 389 | Ita WEIR | 21 | 50.93% | 32:08 | PB 00:29:45 |
| 397 | Paul ARMSTRONG | 21 | 46.73% | 32:21 | PB 00:26:07 |
| 401 | Sandy CARR | 263 | 46.70% | 32:33 | PB 00:22:55 |
| 402 | Coleen THOMPSON | 36 | 46.47% | 32:34 | PB 00:23:51 |
| 421 | Jim CLINTON | 460 | 47.94% | 33:10 | PB 00:21:37 |
| 438 | Philomena DONALDSON | 224 | 57.45% | 33:46 | PB 00:27:50 |
| 447 | Paula O’REILLY | 33 | 53.18% | 34:02 | PB 00:31:49 |
| 451 | Bernadette DUFFY | 227 | 56.73% | 34:12 | PB 00:29:29 |
| 456 | Vincent BRADLEY | 102 | 45.99% | 34:17 | PB 00:21:34 |
| 465 | Maeve CUSHNAHAN | 20 | 44.33% | 34:31 | PB 00:25:50 |
| 466 | Gillian RODEN | 79 | 43.99% | 34:33 | PB 00:30:07 |
| 483 | Heather WILSON | 53 | 42.09% | 35:10 | PB 00:26:53 |
| 529 | Martin MCLARNON | 17 | 36.54% | 38:30 | PB 00:35:01 |
| 538 | Ruby THOMPSON | 4 | 41.38% | 42:25 | PB 00:40:06 |
| 539 | Rachel BLYTHE-STONE | 16 | 39.12% | 42:31 | PB 00:34:20 |
| 550 | Eadaoin DONALDSON | 185 | 29.72% | 49:55 | PB 00:24:26 |
| Belfast Victoria parkrun 01/01/2020 #451 | |||||
| Pos | parkrunner | parkruns | Age Grade | Time | Comment |
| 2 | Kent SWANN | 96 | 81.90% | 16:18 | New PB! |
| 35 | Conor O’RAWE | 151 | 66.81% | 19:23 | PB 00:18:03 |
| 43 | Paul WILLIAMS | 329 | 78.55% | 19:44 | New PB! |
| 101 | Ivan MCALLISTER | 83 | 64.43% | 22:21 | First Timer! |
| 109 | Paul CARLIN | 18 | 64.75% | 22:36 | New PB! |
| 111 | Matthew CARLETON | 47 | 57.13% | 22:40 | New PB! |
| 155 | Lyle CARLETON | 160 | 64.87% | 24:06 | First Timer! |
| 210 | Jim CLINTON | 460 | 62.35% | 25:30 | PB 00:21:19 |
| 242 | Catherine SEAWRIGHT | 55 | 58.94% | 26:57 | PB 00:26:00 |
| 289 | Fergus JAMISON | 54 | 53.29% | 28:35 | New PB! |
| 293 | Paul ARMSTRONG | 21 | 52.67% | 28:42 | First Timer! |
| 326 | Philip MCILWRATH | 221 | 47.20% | 30:03 | PB 00:24:47 |
| 328 | Gillian RODEN | 79 | 50.53% | 30:05 | New PB! |
| 356 | Ita WEIR | 21 | 52.51% | 31:10 | New PB! |
| 430 | Rosy RYAN | 222 | 29.96% | 53:01 | PB 00:33:26 |
| Ormeau parkrun 01/01/2020 #333 | |||||
| Pos | parkrunner | parkruns | Age Grade | Time | Comment |
| 249 | Philip MCILWRATH | 221 | 52.30% | 27:07 | PB 00:25:59 |
| 633 | Rosy RYAN | 222 | 29.61% | 53:39 | PB 00:40:37 |
| Antrim parkrun 01/01/2020 #294 | |||||
| Pos | parkrunner | parkruns | Age Grade | Time | Comment |
| 59 | Brian STEWART | 89 | 74.73% | 23:05 | PB 00:20:59 |
| Castlewellan parkrun 01/01/2020 #117 | |||||
| Pos | parkrunner | parkruns | Age Grade | Time | Comment |
| 45 | Martsje HELL | 32 | 66.87% | 22:17 | PB 00:19:27 |
| Valley parkrun, Newtownabbey 01/01/2020 #280 | |||||
| Pos | parkrunner | parkruns | Age Grade | Time | Comment |
| 8 | Luke KELLY | 148 | 71.00% | 19:36 | New PB! |
| 17 | Simon REEVE | 246 | 66.56% | 21:08 | First Timer! |
| 27 | Eoin MCCONNELL | 16 | 67.37% | 22:04 | New PB! |
| 30 | Una MCCONNELL | 31 | 69.30% | 22:22 | PB 00:21:40 |
| 56 | Fionnuala O’HARE | 172 | 61.62% | 24:01 | New PB! |
| 62 | Ita MCCAMBRIDGE | 157 | 75.82% | 24:32 | PB 00:23:03 |
| 63 | Brendan MCCAMBRIDGE | 67 | 54.99% | 24:33 | PB 00:23:03 |
| 74 | Clare HOLMES | 107 | 60.32% | 25:22 | PB 00:24:09 |
| 76 | Catriona MCCAMBRIDGE | 61 | 58.36% | 25:25 | First Timer! |
| 86 | Greg MCCLURE | 401 | 62.93% | 26:10 | New PB! |
| 89 | Tony REID | 452 | 59.01% | 26:16 | PB 00:22:20 |
| 97 | Michelle MCLOUGHLIN | 120 | 57.04% | 26:32 | New PB! |
| 101 | Gerry ANDERSON | 152 | 55.73% | 26:53 | PB 00:25:47 |
| 123 | Coleen THOMPSON | 36 | 53.04% | 28:32 | PB 00:26:04 |
| 124 | Sandy CARR | 263 | 53.27% | 28:32 | PB 00:24:57 |
| 161 | Orla CASH | 85 | 50.53% | 29:55 | PB 00:29:04 |
| 223 | Bernadette DUFFY | 227 | 55.91% | 34:42 | PB 00:32:24 |
| 226 | Philomena DONALDSON | 224 | 55.83% | 34:45 | PB 00:29:14 |
| Lees Road parkrun 01/01/2020 #241 | |||||
| Pos | parkrunner | parkruns | Age Grade | Time | Comment |
| 127 | Orlaith FAHY DUCKETT | 4 | 53.00% | 32:12 | First Timer! |
| 128 | Róisín FAHY | 8 | 50.67% | 32:18 | First Timer! |
| 144 | Cian FAHY DUCKETT | 2 | 36.10% | 41:11 | First Timer! |
| Stormont parkrun 01/01/2020 #228 | |||||
| Pos | parkrunner | parkruns | Age Grade | Time | Comment |
| 52 | John Gerard MURPHY | 445 | 73.00% | 20:22 | PB 00:19:29 |
| 151 | Ray CAMERON | 163 | 60.46% | 23:16 | New PB! |
| 314 | David HURST | 35 | 48.48% | 27:22 | First Timer! |
| 375 | Ciaran HUNTER | 316 | 52.38% | 29:05 | PB 00:23:32 |
| Orangefield parkrun 01/01/2020 #74 | |||||
| Pos | parkrunner | parkruns | Age Grade | Time | Comment |
| 48 | Ray CAMERON | 163 | 60.98% | 23:04 | PB 00:20:21 |
| 235 | Karen MCCLEAN | 18 | 56.90% | 29:28 | First Timer! |
| Wendover Woods parkrun 01/01/2020 #68 | |||||
| Pos | parkrunner | parkruns | Age Grade | Time | Comment |
| 162 | Matt SHIELDS | 357 | 60.38% | 27:46 | First Timer! |
parkrun (Sat 04 Jan 2020)
Normal service was resumed on Saturday morning with the first Saturday parkruns of the new year and the results for NBH athletes were:
| Waterworks parkrun, Belfast 04/01/2020 #484 | |||||
| Pos | parkrunner | parkruns | Age Grade | Time | Comment |
| 3 | Mark MCAVOY | 23 | 77.01% | 16:45 | New PB! |
| 12 | Gabriel MCAVOY | 20 | 71.99% | 19:24 | New PB! |
| 13 | Simon REEVE | 247 | 70.75% | 19:53 | PB 00:17:48 |
| 16 | Ryan ARMSTRONG | 8 | 65.32% | 20:11 | PB 00:19:52 |
| 20 | John Gerard MURPHY | 446 | 72.17% | 20:36 | PB 00:18:49 |
| 33 | Greg MCCLURE | 402 | 75.08% | 21:56 | PB 00:18:41 |
| 34 | Una MCCONNELL | 32 | 70.62% | 21:57 | PB 00:21:07 |
| 38 | Ita MCCAMBRIDGE | 158 | 83.04% | 22:24 | PB 00:20:55 |
| 40 | Orla MCCAMBRIDGE | 68 | 65.05% | 22:45 | PB 00:22:25 |
| 44 | Saul THOMPSON | 5 | 64.22% | 23:09 | PB 00:22:56 |
| 45 | Fionnuala O’HARE | 173 | 63.66% | 23:15 | PB 00:21:38 |
| 50 | Ivan MCALLISTER | 84 | 61.02% | 23:36 | PB 00:21:38 |
| 51 | Lyle CARLETON | 161 | 66.06% | 23:40 | PB 00:21:22 |
| 62 | Laurence ROGERS | 44 | 59.78% | 24:17 | PB 00:21:23 |
| 73 | Tony REID | 453 | 62.71% | 24:43 | PB 00:21:50 |
| 74 | Catriona MCCAMBRIDGE | 62 | 59.93% | 24:45 | PB 00:23:37 |
| 97 | Michelle MCLOUGHLIN | 121 | 58.62% | 25:49 | PB 00:24:00 |
| 109 | Philip MCILWRATH | 222 | 53.93% | 26:18 | PB 00:24:47 |
| 115 | Stella HARRISON | 317 | 71.66% | 26:42 | PB 00:26:03 |
| 120 | Thomas MCKINSTRY | 235 | 55.99% | 27:00 | PB 00:23:09 |
| 127 | Paddy MCCAMBRIDGE | 116 | 57.55% | 27:10 | PB 00:20:36 |
| 128 | Jack CARBERRY | 264 | 70.94% | 27:11 | PB 00:21:14 |
| 129 | Gerard SOWNEY | 56 | 47.92% | 27:14 | PB 00:20:47 |
| 135 | Lucinda MCAVOY | 22 | 57.41% | 27:40 | PB 00:27:25 |
| 153 | Róisín FAHY | 9 | 57.39% | 28:31 | New PB! |
| 164 | Heather WILSON | 54 | 51.48% | 28:45 | PB 00:26:53 |
| 188 | Fergus JAMISON | 55 | 51.55% | 29:33 | PB 00:28:03 |
| 191 | Jim CLINTON | 461 | 53.36% | 29:48 | PB 00:21:37 |
| 202 | Pamela SCOTT | 2 | 48.13% | 30:45 | New PB! |
| 214 | Jacqueline LAWLOR | 178 | 56.81% | 31:27 | PB 00:28:48 |
| 215 | Sandy CARR | 264 | 48.25% | 31:30 | PB 00:22:55 |
| 231 | Bernadette DUFFY | 228 | 57.65% | 33:39 | PB 00:29:29 |
| 233 | Margaret STEPHENS | 272 | 56.01% | 33:41 | PB 00:28:23 |
| 255 | Philomena DONALDSON | 225 | 51.53% | 37:39 | PB 00:27:50 |
| 259 | Coleen THOMPSON | 37 | 39.65% | 38:10 | PB 00:23:51 |
| 260 | Michael LAWLOR | 145 | 40.94% | 38:11 | PB 00:25:44 |
| 265 | Ruby THOMPSON | 5 | 44.58% | 39:22 | New PB! |
| 278 | Elisabeth FRENCH | 65 | 29.26% | 54:48 | PB 00:41:10 |
| 279 | Rosy RYAN | 223 | 28.95% | 54:52 | PB 00:36:00 |
| Belfast Victoria parkrun 04/01/2020 #452 | |||||
| Pos | parkrunner | parkruns | Age Grade | Time | Comment |
| 20 | Rory KANE | 20 | 73.94% | 19:11 | PB 00:18:23 |
| 48 | Ciaran HUNTER | 317 | 74.31% | 20:30 | PB 00:20:22 |
| 81 | Colin SIMPSON | 262 | 67.09% | 22:20 | PB 00:19:23 |
| 137 | Karlene GRAHAM | 11 | 59.84% | 24:59 | First Timer! |
| Queen’s parkrun, Belfast 04/01/2020 #401 | |||||
| Pos | parkrunner | parkruns | Age Grade | Time | Comment |
| 9 | Niall ARMSTRONG | 161 | 61.86% | 20:56 | First Timer! |
| 10 | Ray CAMERON | 164 | 67.09% | 20:58 | PB 00:20:08 |
| 164 | Lynn MURRAY | 165 | 56.74% | 30:17 | First Timer! |
| 165 | John BEGGS | 52 | 51.16% | 30:18 | First Timer! |
| 172 | Trisha MURRAY | 119 | 56.21% | 30:59 | First Timer! |
| Ormeau parkrun 04/01/2020 #334 | |||||
| Pos | parkrunner | parkruns | Age Grade | Time | Comment |
| 5 | Luke KELLY | 149 | 78.55% | 17:43 | PB 00:17:33 |
| 143 | Orlagh MCCOMB | 12 | 62.37% | 25:12 | PB 00:24:10 |
| 526 | Ruth MURPHY | 13 | 46.04% | 35:59 | New PB! |
| Antrim parkrun 04/01/2020 #295 | |||||
| Pos | parkrunner | parkruns | Age Grade | Time | Comment |
| 3 | Gavin MCCAFFREY | 150 | 72.66% | 18:21 | PB 00:16:21 |
| 53 | Brian STEWART | 90 | 72.58% | 23:46 | PB 00:20:59 |
| Larne parkrun 04/01/2020 #309 | |||||
| Pos | parkrunner | parkruns | Age Grade | Time | Comment |
| 4 | Paul HUTCHINSON | 21 | 67.42% | 20:43 | PB 00:19:07 |
| Bicester parkrun 04/01/2020 #189 | |||||
| Pos | parkrunner | parkruns | Age Grade | Time | Comment |
| 67 | Matt SHIELDS | 358 | 65.79% | 25:29 | First Timer! |