Just when we think our Juniors are already running well, they just keep on improving!
That was the clear conclusion this week from across Parkruns and the Ulster Schools finals this week. The young stags continue to improve and learn based on their training and coaches advice as evidenced in their current running form.
Ulster Schools Championships
Several of our young Stags qualified for the Ulster Schools championships last week that took place on Wednesday and Saturday at the Mary Peters Track. This follows their individual qualification after recent successes at the respective regional finals.
Full results are not available at the time of writing this report so apologies if all results are not included but beyond our control currently. They will be accessible in due course via www.ussaa.co.uk
If possible, if your child is running an event, especially Schools and you want to be sure of race details to be included in the run report, please ensure details are posted in our WhatsApp group.
800m Minor Girls Final
Excellent running by Cassie Curran (Dominican) and Leila Jones (BRA) in what was a highly competitive race involving 13 of the province’s best runner in this category. Cassie ran a hugely impressive race in a time of 2:19:32 and finished in second place! Leila finished in 5th place in an excellent time of 2:26:23. Both girls also achieved new PB’s showing the effort involved when it mattered!
800m Minor Boys Final
In a heavily stacked race of 13 runners, Cormac Leheny (St Malachys) also secured himself a new PB in a time of 2:17:86 and finishing in 6th place.
3000m Senior Girls Final
Brilliant run by Holly Collins (Ballyclare High) crossing the line in 4th place in a time of 10:47
1500m Senior Boys Final
Two stags running for BRA in this race with Hugo Reilly claiming a bronze medal and Oscar Purvis also running a strong race. Results TBC.
3000m Intermediate Boys Final
Well done to Lorcan McCann (St Malachys) who finished in 4th place in a time of 9:38:10
1500m Intermediate Boys Final
Well done to Eoin McConnell (St Malachys) finishing in 7th place in a time of 4:19:28
Congratulations to coach Leonard!
A massive congratulations to our coach Leonard O’Regan who just achieved his Level II Athletics Coaching Award.
Leonard brings a wealth of athletics knowledge and experience from his competitive experience in the sport. Leonard is a former Irish schools and junior mens cross country champion and also competed for Ireland at the world cross country championships. Growing up in Cork he ran at a very high level for the prestigious Leevale Athletic Club, maybe a sign that one day he would switch for amber of black of Cork for similar club colours further North. Leonard also studied in the USA and was an accomplished and successful member of the University of Louisiana track and field team. Leonard travelled across the USA running at major college competitions and he set a University of Louisiana 10k record of 31:03 in 1988 that he held for 28 years when it was finally broken in 2016!
Leonard told us – “The coaching course has given me the tools and technical knowledge across run, jump and throwing activities. Introducing a range of disciplines into our warm-up routine allows for better development of our young runners. The coaches at NBH have been very supportive in developing my coaching skills. I’d recommend to parents/ guardians to get involved in coaching or helping out at track sessions”.
From all the team here at NBH, we are very lucky to have Leonard as one of our great band of coaches at the club, its clear our kids are benefitting from their extensive experience.
Please be mindful that all of our coaches are volunteers and are giving up their time to train the kids, its important that both kids and guardians are respectful and appreciative of the coaching and recommendations set by the coaching staff. Thank you.
2km Waterworks Junior Parkrun – Sunday 19th May 2024
Well done to all 12 juniors who ran the Waterworks Junior Parkrun on a beautiful Summer morning. Congratulations to Dara, Pearse, Cassie and Cormac on achieving new PB’s as well! Special mentions to Cormac who recorded the 3rd fastest time ever (one second behind NBH senior and International runner Matthew Lavery) and huge congratulations to Cassie for setting a new girls record for the junior parkrun at Waterworks, smashing the previous record by 10 seconds!
| Cormac Leheny | 1 | 6:33 | *PB* |
| Cassie Curran | 2 | 6:48 | *PB* |
| Isaac Mooney | 6 | 7:46 | |
| Tom McLoughlin | 8 | 8:17 | |
| Pearse Leheny | 10 | 8:42 | *PB* |
| Olivia Boyd | 13 | 9:05 | |
| Aoife Lemon | 22 | 10:31 | |
| Dara McLaughlin | 28 | 11:16 | *PB* |
| Eva McCarney | 31 | 11:24 | |
| Eva McLoughlin | 32 | 11:25 | |
| Ronan O’Neill | 35 | 11:43 | |
| Betsy Taylor | 36 | 11:47 |
The Junior Parkruns are a great way for the juniors to put their training to the test in a friendly environment. If you haven’t registered yet, then please check out the following link:
home | Waterworks junior parkrun | Waterworks junior parkrun
Waterworks 5k Parkrun – Saturday 18th May 2024
Eight of our juniors took on the 5km parkrun on a glorious Saturday morning and special shout out to Leila for being the third female over the finish line. Great running by everyone and well done! Also special shout out to Nola Rafferty who ran the 5km Ecos Parkrun in Ballymena in 24:02…..taking an incredible 1min 52sec off her previous PB!!!
| Dara Cassidy | 9 | 19:58 | |
| Leila Jones | 13 | 20:34 | 3rd Female |
| Thomas Coy | 34 | 21:53 | |
| Lucas Mooney | 51 | 22:27 | |
| Milo Purvis | 58 | 22:55 | |
| Eimear O’Regan | 95 | 25:07 | |
| Erin O’Regan | 226 | 30:40 | |
| Matthew Purvis | 228 | 30:57 |
Future Events
NI & Ulster U12 to U13 Track & Field Championships
Entries close on Wednesday 22nd May so if interested, register ASAP. Event takes place 2nd June at Finn Valley Donegal.
NI & Ulster U14 to U20 Track & Field Championships
Entries close on the 24th May so register ASAP if interested. Event takes place 8th and 9th June at MPT
Lagan Valley Fab 5 Meets
We have another Fab 5 meet at the MPT this Thursday night so I’m sure many of you will be there. After that, the next meet will be on 25th July and entries will open soon via the below link;
Training
Training for the Juniors continues at the Girls Model Track on Tuesday this week as normal but will not be on this Thursday night due to the Fab 5 event at MPT at same time. Back to normal next week.
That’s all for this week folks, hopefully see a few of you at a sunny MPT on Thursday evening.