This week saw the Cross Country season kick off with surprisingly dry weather. My advice…. Don’t get used to it, it will never last!
On Sunday morning, many of our juniors stepped out to compete in the Comber Cup XC at The Billy Neill Playing Fields in Dundonald, representing the club at U12, U14, U16 and U18 level.
U12
Sophia Doris, Eva McLoughlin, Issac Mooney and Betsy Taylor.
U14
Dualta McGleenan, Tom McLoughlin and Lucas Mooney.
U16
Cadence Hamilton.
U18
Holly Collins, Lorcan McCann and Emily McRitchie.
Not all results are currently available, however they will be posted on the WhatsApp groups and Facebook page in due course.
In the girls U18 race, Holly Collins finished in a superb 3rd place followed closely behind by Emily McRitchie in 4th. Fantastic running girls. Amazing results.
In the boys U18 race, Lorcan McCann finished in 2nd place narrowly missing out on the top spot. Well done Lorcan.
Waterworks Parkrun – 5K
On Saturday morning everyone was greeted to the delightful combination of wind and torrential rain. 11 of our hardened stags laced up their running shoes and headed to the Waterworks to compete in the 5km park run. Special mention must go to three of those stags.
First up for Kudos is Oscar Purvis who clearly wasn’t put off by the weather. Not only did he finish in first place, but also set a new PB with an outstanding time of 17:54. Well done Oscar.
Second special mention goes to Ruby Mae McLaughlin who completed her first 5km at the Waterworks finishing in a super time of 29:03. Fantastic achievement Ruby Mae.
And the third and final special mention goes to Eimear Coy who completed her 25th park run and treated everyone to a slice of cake to celebrate. Well done Eimear.
Well done to everyone who ran. It was a tough morning but you made it look so easy.
| Position | parkrunner | Gender | Age Group | Club | Time |
| 1 | Oscar PURVIS | Male | JM15-17 | North Belfast Harriers | 17:54 |
| 5 | Cormac LEHENY | Male | JM11-14 | North Belfast Harriers | 19:53 |
| 8 | Dara CASSIDY | Male | JM15-17 | North Belfast Harriers | 20:04 |
| 21 | Thomas COY | Male | JM11-14 | North Belfast Harriers | 21:44 |
| 33 | Fionnuala O’HARE | Female | SW25-29 | North Belfast Harriers | 22:40 |
| 50 | Milo PURVIS | Male | JM10 | North Belfast Harriers | 23:39 |
| 132 | Eimear COY | Female | JW11-14 | North Belfast Harriers | 28:51 |
| 134 | Georgia OSHAUGHNESSY | Female | JW10 | North Belfast Harriers | 28:53 |
| 136 | Ruby Mae MCLAUGHLIN | Female | JW10 | North Belfast Harriers | 29:03 |
| 139 | Nola RAFFERTY | Female | JW11-14 | North Belfast Harriers | 29:18 |
| 146 | Katie-Louise GOODFELLOW | Female | JW10 | North Belfast Harriers | 30:20 |
Waterworks Junior Parkrun – 2K
Sunday morning saw more favourable conditions for our juniors with 9 of them attending the Waterworks 2km Junior Park Run. Everyone had a great time and special mention goes out to Katie-Louise Goodfellow who achieved a new PB of 10:05. Well done Katie-Louise.
| Position | parkrunner | Gender | Age Group | Club | Time |
| 3 | Olivia BOYD | Female | JW11-14 | North Belfast Harriers | 08:25 |
| 9 | Ellen CULLEN | Female | JW10 | North Belfast Harriers | 09:59 |
| 14 | Katie-Louise GOODFELLOW | Female | JW10 | North Belfast Harriers | 10:05 |
| 22 | Lucy DICKSON | Female | JW10 | North Belfast Harriers | 11:08 |
| 24 | Ronan O’NEILL | Male | JM10 | North Belfast Harriers | 11:09 |
| 31 | Fóla O’KANE | Female | JW10 | North Belfast Harriers | 11:52 |
| 35 | Penny DICKSON | Female | JW10 | North Belfast Harriers | 12:24 |
| 54 | Annie CULLEN | Female | JW10 | North Belfast Harriers | 15:03 |
| 59 | Dara MCLAUGHLIN | Male | JM11-14 | North Belfast Harriers | 21:50 |
Victoria Park Junior Park run – 2K
The only other Junior who completed the Junior park run was Taanya Yakkanti who ran a super time of 14.24 at Victoria Park. Well done Taanya.
| Position | parkrunner | Gender | Age Group | Club | Time |
| 43 | Taanya YAKKANTI | Female | JW10 | North Belfast Harriers | 14:24 |
Congratulations
Congratulations to Daisy Lewis and Leila Jones who have qualified for the Northern Ireland Athletics Rising Star Squad 2024/25. The NBH girls took part in a test event which involved competing in four different athletic disciplines. They will now take part in a 12-week training programme. Well done to both of you.
Good luck
The coaches would like to wish everyone competing in the Ulster/NI Juvenile Even XC Championships at Billy Neill Country Park next week, the very best of luck. The team Mascot will be cheering you on, as will Arianne and Ronan who made this fantastic poster showing their support for all the NBH Junior runners.
Announcements
Anyone wanting to enter their children into the Ulster/NI Juvenile Uneven Cross Country Championships which takes place on the 2nd November 2024 in Donegal, please complete the spreadsheet that was sent into the NBH Girls Model WhatsApp group on Saturday 12th October. The club have also organised a bus to take competitors and their family members to and from the event, so please complete the necessary details in the second spreadsheet (also sent on Saturday 12th October) if you wish to avail of this.
This is the second of two major races in the Cross Country Calander and is the reason our coaches have been preparing our junior stags for.
The club will pay and process all entries, however closing date is Monday 21st October, so not long to go.
Clothing for training
As the darker, cooler nights are closing in, please ensure that all children attending the training sessions are dressed appropriately. There is no shelter at the track and weather can be very changeable.
Dark nights
The dark nights have returned and the mobile lights used at the track are back in operation. If anyone is available to help set up and take down the lights, please talk to the coaches. It only takes a couple of minutes but is a great help to our volunteer coaches and allows them to get home a little earlier.
Running spikes
As we enter cross country season, we are asking, if anyone has spikes that their child has grown out of and are willing to donate, please bring them to the training sessions so that another child can make use of them.
A few pairs of spikes have already been donated and will be available at the track on Tuesdays and Thursdays on a first come first served basis. If you are interested, please speak to one of the coaches.