North Belfast Harriers Race Report 17th-23rd April 2023

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North Belfast Harriers Race Report 17th-23rd April 2023 

At the finish line of the London Marathon. Photo courtesy of Peter Dolan.

As the spring sunshine intermittently gave way to showers, members of North Belfast Harriers took to the roads and track locally and throughout the UK and Europe, at distances from 5,000m to marathon, to test themselves against their peers and celebrate their love of running. As we have come to expect, there were some very impressive performances. 

Róise Roberts sets a New Club Record at the Irish Universities 5,000m Championships, 21st April 

North Belfast Harrier, Róise Roberts, running in the DCU vest, set a new club record for a female athlete in the 5,000m, finishing her heat in 5th place in a time of 17m:25.22s. Well done Róise on a fantastic performance. 

Position Bib Name Club Chip Time 
5 037 Róise Roberts DCU 17:25.22 

North Belfast Harriers Afternoon of 5,000s, Saturday 22nd April 

Several athletes from the Harriers took part in this event at Mary Peters Track on Saturday, and against a field of elite runners, turned in some impressive performances. Worth a special mention is Andrew Milligan. Andrew continued to demonstrate the superb form that he has evidenced recently, to finish the A Race in first place, in a time of 14m:03.09s. Not surprisingly, Andrew was also the fastest athlete of all the races of the afternoon. 

Andrew Milligan set the fastest time of the afternoon, at the Mary Peters Track, finishing 1st in the Male Race A. Photo courtesy of NBH Twitter.

Male Race A 

Position Name Chip Time 
1 Andrew Milligan 14m:03.09s 

Female Race A 

Position Name Chip Time 
10 Elisoa Crawford 17m:44.61s 

Male Race B 

Position Name Chip Time 
6 Peter Donely 15m:13.23s 
12 Cathaoir Purvis 15m:33.35s 

Male Race C 

Position Name Chip Time 
7 Gareth Lyons 16m:03.01s 
11 Mark Cornett 16m:18.43s 

The Afternoon of 5,000s is an initiative by North Belfast Harriers, aimed at promoting and developing track running across the UK and Ireland. The club want to help raise athletic standards in 5,000 track running. The hope was to provide a steppingstone to greater things, be that a qualifying time to compete in subsequent IMC or BMC meets, or the qualifying time to compete in European and/or Commonwealth championships. Ultimately it would be hoped to emulate the glory days of the 1980s and 1990s, at the Mary Peters Track, when thousands of spectators lined the banks of the natural amphitheatre and witnessed some of the best athletes in the world compete head to head. 

Almac 10k Race, Craigavon, Saturday 22nd April 

Declan Liggett ran in the 10k race in the Almac meet, at the South Lake Leisure Centre in Craigavon. Declan ran a great race to finish 7th in a time of 38:40, in a race that was a fundraiser for the Southern Area Hospice. 

Declan Liggett at the Alma 10k. Photo courtesy of Declan Liggett
Position Bib Name Gun Time Chip Time 5k Split 
7 102 Declan Liggett 38:41 38:40 20:35 

London Marathon, Sunday 23rd April 

Sunday saw the staging of the London Marathon, at its traditional time of year, on the first occasion since the pandemic, and several members of North Belfast Harriers produced great performances, as they took to the streets of the UK capital. Worth a special mention is Conal McCambridge, who recorded a new personal best, at this distance, and finished 32nd overall out of over 48,000 in the mass race event. Despite the damp conditions, Conal finished the race in the superb time of 2h:24m:27s. Well done to Conal and all the participants.  

Conal McCambridge in impressive form in London. Photo courtesy of Paddy McCambridge.

Photos from the London Marathon courtesy of Peter McClelland, Peter Dolan and Lorraine Hibburt.
Gender Place Category Place Bib Name Category Chip Time 
32 29 1486 Conal McCambridge M 18-39 2:24:27 
2523 356 36378 Arran Rutledge M 45-49 2:58:34 
2808 404 36319 Neil Mercer M 45-49 3:00:03 
5528 537 34599 John McGuigan M 50-54 3:21:19 
10593 1918 9021 Peter McClelland M 40-44 3:48:57 
4082 350 34166 Lorraine Hibburt F 50-54 3:54:23 
12326 89 9462 Greg McClure M 65-69 3:56:30 
13140 6380 8328 Peter Dolan M 18-39 3:59:19 

Vienna Marathon, Sunday 23rd April 

Ray Cameron was North Belfast Harriers’ representative in the Vienna Marathon. Staged on the same day as the London Marathon, this race afforded runners the opportunity to test themselves against their peers, over 26.2 miles, running through the elegant and historic capital of Austria. Whilst Sunday brought rain to London, Ray and the other runners were challenged by the sunshine and comparative heat. Well done to Ray and all the runners.  

Ray Cameron in the heat at the Vienna Marathon. Photo courtesy of Ray Cameron.

Gender Place Category Place Bib Name Category Chip Time 
2681 385 5456 Ray Cameron M 45 4:02:35 

ParkRuns 

Mid-April saw intermittent showers appear; however, this did not deter the hardy Harriers, who turn out regularly to partake in the camaraderie, craic and convivial collective engagement, that are at the core of every Saturday 5k ParkRun. Worth a special mention this week are Ian Keys, who was a first finisher, as well as Una McConnell, Natasha Henderson, and Martsje Hell, who were first female finishers on their respective courses. Martjse was also third overall. Congratulations also to Fionnuala O’Hare, who was a second female finisher, Glenn Beattie, who was a third finisher and April Clarke, who was a third female finisher. Achieving new PBs this week were Robbie Speers, Bernadette Duffy, and Thomas McKinstry. Congratulations to each of them. 

Well done to all those who participated, the runners and especially the volunteers, without whom the events could not be staged.  

Waterworks ParkRun 

Position Name Age Grade Time Remarks 
5 David Curran 77.46% 19:31  
6 Thomas Coy 76.11% 19:32  
8 Patrick McAuley 71.57% 19:49  
19 John Gerard Murphy 71.41% 21:20  
21 Piaras McShane 59.04% 21:51  
23 Joseph Gallagher 75.87% 22:06  
25 Paul Williams 71.51% 22:14  
26 Una McConnell 71.12% 22:20 1st Female 
27 Oscar Purvis 60.40% 22:41  
29 Odhrán Conal Rafferty 58.69% 22:43  
28 Fionnuala O’Hare 65.15% 22:43 2nd Female 
31 Chris Callaghan 69.26% 23:09  
39 Cailein Curley 61.75% 23:58  
41 Liam Daniel 60.73% 24:06  
44 Tony Reid 65.12% 24:25  
50 Orán Steele 56.96% 24:54  
51 Anthony Steele 54.34% 24:56  
58 Sean McShane 57.54% 25:38  
61 Thomas McLaughlin 54.41% 26:04  
74 Sabrina Nulty 59.12% 26:52  
79 Liam Smyth 58.85% 27:01  
85 Milo Purvis 60.15% 27:11  
88 Lyle Carleton 58.77% 27:17  
89 Philip McIlwrath 53.57% 27:19  
99 Jack Carberry 74.01% 27:44  
107 Chris O’Donoghue 48.76% 28:12  
116 Matthew Purvis 47.43% 28:53  
123 Thomas Peter Norton 48.88% 29:01  
126 Colm Smyth 48.77% 29:05  
138 Eva McLoughlin 58.18% 30:10  
139 Michelle McLoughlin 50.97% 30:11  
149 Stella Harrison 63.52% 31:26  
162 Magdalena Bisewska 45.99% 33:27  
164 Grainne Stephens 44.16% 33:31  
169 Margaret Stephens 58.26% 33:47  
176 Martin McLarnon 42.68% 34:01  
197 Catherine Carleton 49.72% 39:01  
200 Elizabeth French 38.25% 43:50  
201 Robbie Speers 29.40% 43.53 New PB 
202 Ita Weir 39.14% 43:54  
203 Kathleen Montgomery 44.22% 45:50  
206 Gerry Anderson 26.70% 57:33  
207 Rosy Ryan 28.43% 57:34  

Belfast Victoria ParkRun 

Position Name Age Grade Time Remarks 
119 Paul Jenkins 48.45% 30:12  

Queen’s ParkRun 

Position Name Age Grade Time Remarks 
138 Philomena Donaldson 59.43% 34:38  
139 Bernadette Duffy 59.40% 34:39 New PB 
144 Eadaoin Kelly 40.94% 36:31  

Ormeau ParkRun 

Position Name Age Grade Time Remarks 
130 Matthew Carleton 50.59% 25:30  
159 Nicky Hagan 50.48% 26:17  
166 Mannix McAlister 48.44% 26:38  

Antrim ParkRun 

Position Name Age Grade Time Remarks 
25 Brian Stewart80.10% 22:17  

Larne ParkRun 

Position Name Age Grade Time Remarks 
4 Paul Hutchinson 67.87% 21:13  
17 April Clarke 58.80% 25:12 3rd Female 

Comber ParkRun 

Position Name Age Grade Time Remarks 
6 Ryan Armstrong 68.84% 19:41  

Valley, Newtownabbey ParkRun 

Position Name Age Grade Time Remarks 
29 John Davidson 55.77% 27:19  
37 David Johnston 52.78% 29:07  

Stormont ParkRun 

Position Name Age Grade Time Remarks 
130 Thomas McKinstry 53.26% 29:06 New PB 

Dungannon Park ParkRun 

Position Name Age Grade Time Remarks 
25 Matt Shields 68.36% 25:41 First Timer 

Sixmilewater ParkRun 

Position Name Age Grade Time Remarks 
8 Natasha Henderson 71.20% 20:50 1st Female 

Knockbracken Reservoir ParkRun 

Position Name Age Grade Time Remarks 
22 Eamon McCambridge 56.69% 22:56  

Hillsborough Forest ParkRun 

Position Name Age Grade Time Remarks 
3 Martsje Hell 73.83% 20:23 1st Female and 3rd overall 

Oak Hill ParkRun 

Position Name Age Grade Time Remarks 
173 Vincent Bradley 55.63% 29:20  

Oranmore ParkRun 

Position Name Age Grade Time Remarks 
1 Ian Keys 69.52% 18:42 1st Finisher and First Timer 

Luitpold ParkRun 

Position Name Age Grade Time Remarks 
3 Glenn Beattie 59.09% 23:51 3rd Finisher 

Leazes ParkRun 

Position Name Age Grade Time Remarks 
135 Paul Lavery 29.02% 58:21 First Timer 

Charlton ParkRun 

Position Name Age Grade Time Remarks 
223 Peter Dolan 39.24% 34:32 First Timer 

Donaupark ParkRun 

Position Name Age Grade Time Remarks 
127 Ray Cameron 49.37% 29:10 First Timer