Welcome to the first report of 2025 and in keeping with a theme of firsts/ fresh starts/ new beginnings, I’m a first time reporter so please bear with me whilst I learn the ropes… I very much hope I haven’t missed anything or anyone!!
Starting with a massive thank you to Coach Seamus and team, for their ever present enthusiasm; proving they are never ones to rest on their laurels, they put on a special festive training session on New Year’s Eve, at which there was a great turn out despite the blustery conditions at Mallusk (is it ever anything but?!) for those Juniors keen to end the year in good shape, and with a particular eye on the pending School Districts Cross Country races coming up at the end of January.
The very next day, there was a solid showing of Juniors at the Waterworks New Year’s Day Parkrun, with plenty of you starting the year as you mean to go on and notching up an early 2025 Parkrun point at the first available opportunity. A special shout out to all of you who participated in the extra Parkrun events over the holiday period and to some great performances as can be seen in the times below.
NEW YEARS DAY WATERWORKS 5K PARKRUN RESULTS
| 4 | Cormac LEHENY | Male | JM11-14 | North Belfast Harriers | 18:37 |
| 10 | Dara CASSIDY | Male | JM15-17 | North Belfast Harriers | 19:50 |
| 101 | Niamh MCMILLAN | Female | JW15-17 | North Belfast Harriers | 25:23 |
| 113 | Eimear O’REGAN | Female | JW11-14 | North Belfast Harriers | 25:44 |
| 118 | Orán STEELE | Male | JM15-17 | North Belfast Harriers | 25:55 |
| 120 | Milo PURVIS | Male | JM10 | North Belfast Harriers | 26:01 |
| 147 | Eimear COY | Female | JW11-14 | North Belfast Harriers | 27:10 |
| 208 | Erin O’REGAN | Female | JW11-14 | North Belfast Harriers | 29:36 |
| 211 | Eva MCLOUGHLIN | Female | JW10 | North Belfast Harriers | 29:40 |
| 251 | Katie-Louise GOODFELLOW | Female | WWC | North Belfast Harriers | 30:52 |
WATERWORKS PARKRUN RESULTS SATURDAY 4TH JANUARY 2025
Next up we had a cold and frosty start for the usual Saturday morning Parkrun events, some of which had to be cancelled due to course conditions, but not so the Waterworks. Thanks to the team of trusty volunteers, who always do their best to try to ensure that the show goes on, having gritted the course to make for a safe run for all, a number of Junior Harriers followed suit by gritting their teeth and putting in very respectable performances. Well done to Cormac in a brilliant 2nd place, and Oscar and Lucas too keeping up their usual great form, as well as a special mention for Erin O’Regan getting a fantastic PB despite the difficult conditions – did you have ice skates on Erin?!
| 2 | Cormac LEHENY | Male | JM11-14 | North Belfast Harriers | 18:26 | |
| 4 | Oscar PURVIS | Male | JM15-17 | North Belfast Harriers | 18:39 | |
| 11 | Lucas MOONEY | Male | JM11-14 | North Belfast Harriers | 21:34 | |
| 40 | Niamh MCMILLAN | Female | JW15-17 | North Belfast Harriers | 24:14 | |
| 51 | Eimear O’REGAN | Female | JW11-14 | North Belfast Harriers | 24:50 | |
| 66 | Orán STEELE | Male | JM15-17 | North Belfast Harriers | 25:36 | |
| 110 | Erin O’REGAN | Female | JW11-14 | North Belfast Harriers | 28:15 | PB |
| 190 | Phoebe REID | Female | JW11-14 | North Belfast Harriers | 31:40 |
VICTORIA PARK 5KM PARKRUN RESULTS SATURDAY 5TH JANUARY 2025
Katie-Louise and dad Derek were also undeterred by the cold weather and made the trip to Victoria Park on Saturday morning, coming in with an impressive time. No doubt 2025 will be another big year for the dynamic duo who bring lots of cheer wherever they go with their positive vibes and motivating tunes, all whilst doing great work raising funds for the Mae Murray Foundation https://www.maemurrayfoundation.org. We can’t wait to see what you achieve in the year ahead Katie-Louise and how you add to your already extremely impressive medal haul!
| 179 | Katie-Louise GOODFELLOW | Female | WWC | North Belfast Harriers | 28:29 |
WATERWORKS JUNIOR PARKRUN RESULTS SUNDAY 5TH JANUARY 2025
The first Junior Parkrun of the year looked like it may be in jeopardy with the overnight forecast, but after an early morning check, the course got the all clear. Ruarcc Sheridan had a double celebration finishing in 1st place, as well as achieving his 11th Junior Parkrun milestone, along with Lexi McLaughlin who achieved her 50th milestone joining the Juniors Ultra Marathon Club – huge congratulations to you both!
| 1 | Ruarcc SHERIDAN | Male | JM11-14 | North Belfast Harriers | 07:11 |
| 4 | Tom MCLOUGHLIN | Male | JM11-14 | North Belfast Harriers | 08:09 |
| 6 | Katie-Louise GOODFELLOW | Female | WWC | North Belfast Harriers | 10:18 |
| 7 | Nola RAFFERTY | Female | JW11-14 | North Belfast Harriers | 10:20 |
| 8 | Eva MCLOUGHLIN | Female | JW10 | North Belfast Harriers | 10:24 |
| 13 | Fóla O’KANE | Female | JW10 | North Belfast Harriers | 11:58 |
| 27 | Dara MCLAUGHLIN | Male | JM11-14 | North Belfast Harriers | 22:36 |
PORTRUSH JUNIOR PARKRUN RESULTS SUNDAY 5TH JANUARY 2025
The Mooney brothers also had good reason to be proud of themselves – fair play to them both for bracing what looked like a fresh Atlantic wind at the Portrush Junior Parkrun with Lucas coming in first and younger brother Isaac coming in 2nd, well ahead of the rest of the field of 30 runners. They are fine examples of how hard work and consistency pays off. Excellent running by you both!
| 1 | Lucas MOONEY | Male | JM11-14 | North Belfast Harriers | 08:50 |
| 2 | Isaac MOONEY | Male | JM10 | North Belfast Harriers | 08:57 |
LOOKING TO THE YEAR AHEAD…
Given the start of a New Year, lots of you will have been thinking of making resolutions. Why not set yourself a running goal to aim for; keeping a running log, targeting a new PB, achieving a Parkrun milestone, volunteering/ trying a new event, or getting participation points for the club are all great aspirations for the year ahead.
As good a place as any to start, is the imminent Mathieson Cup Cross Country Races at Mallusk this Sunday 12th January – there are race categories for Primary 5 aged runners and upwards so it is a super chance for the younger members to give cross country a go at a friendly, well supported, handy (if sometimes blustery!) venue. The closing date for entries is this week Wednesday 8th January 2025 so it is not too late to enter on the following link – https://www.sientries.co.uk/event.php?event_id=14824 The club would love to see a big turn out from the NBH family – lots of you have signed up already, but we are always keen for as big a turn out as possible – come along and give it a go – your team will be there to cheer you on! As Coach Seamus says nothing helps our young athletes develop, reflect and grow more than running an actual race and Mallusk is an ideal place to start or to continue to learn what you are capable of achieving!
Then looking forward to some other events coming up, there is the Malcolm Cup XC event on Sunday 2nd February https://www.sientries.co.uk/event.php?elid=Y&event_id=12459 and the popular Stormont Cross Country races on Saturday 8th February https://www.sientries.co.uk/event.php?event_id=14740 with both having race categories for Under 13, 15 and 17s- registration is open and again we would encourage as many of you as possible to participate.
ANI’s first indoor Track and field events of 2025 taking place at the University of Ulster, Jordanstown is also now open for registration – take a look at the fixtures page at https://athleticsni.org/Fixtures if interested.
Training will be back up and running from Tuesday 7th January – given the forecasted cold snap and continuing dark evenings, please make sure you are all properly decked out in warm weather gear and bright kit. Speaking of kit, if anyone is interested in purchasing any of the club gear, a bulk order will be placed in January to save on delivery costs, so please text into the group chat if you wish to place an order – the range is available to view here https://www.teamwearireland.com/north-belfast-harriers
That’s all for this week’s report – we’re excited for you all, and to see what the year ahead will bring for all our Juniors. We hope to continue to see you go from strength to strength whatever your running goals may be!