North Belfast Harriers Junior  Report 22nd-29th June 2025

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The last report before our summer break brings plenty of action once again but before we turn our attention to this week’s results, we would wish to highlight briefly the Club’s new Talented Athlete Policy https://northbelfastharriers.com/talented-athlete-policy/ which aims to plug a gap and provide financial assistance for any junior club athlete participating in qualifying events. No doubt everyone agrees that none of our athletes should ever miss out on a significant race opportunity for financial reasons, and it is the club’s privilege to support our juniors in this way, therefore please read the policy to familiarise yourselves with it and nominate any junior athlete who may benefit from this new resource.  Now over to the week’s action…

National Juvenile Outdoor Championships 2025

It was fabulous for the Club to have a number of athletes qualifying for the All Ireland Club Championships which took place over the weekend.  The Juniors involved have all performed at an exceptionally high level to make it this far. 

First up on Saturday, we had Thomas Coy running an impressive race in the Boys U16 3,000m just missing out on the medals with a superb 4th in a time of 9.08.  Then we had Cadence Hamilton competing in the Girls U17 3,000m. Cadence came in a fantastic 7th place with a new PB of 10.41. Out on the field we had Erin O’Regan achieve a very respectable 16th place in the U14 Girls Shot Put event and also on Saturday, Eoin McConnell just missed out on a podium place coming in 4th place in the Boys U19 3,000m. Well done to you all.

Then on Sunday, we had the now familiar combination of Cassie Curran and Leila Jones running in the U15 Girls 800m.  Both showed huge grit and determination in a very fast paced event.  Cassie crossed the line in 6th place with a new PB of 2.17 and Leila close behind in 11th place with a time of 2.22. Fab to have 2 from the club in the same race competing at this level.   Then it was over to Cormac Leheny for his turn – he ran in another blistering race and finished up in an excellent 8th place in a time of 2:09.  Well done to all those athletes for making it this far and thanks to the coaches who made the long trip to the event for their ongoing dedication and support.  Full results are accessible here http://live.athleticsireland.ie/menu.html

Waterworks Parkrun Results

Back on home turf we had the usual busy Parkrun turnout.  On Saturday we had 12 juniors showing up with their barcodes to get a trot out in the early morning sunshine.  Leo McAuley was the first Junior harrier home in 8th place, Seamus Wolf on his 3rd go ran a new PB of 19:54 in 12th place.  We also had Georgia O’Shaughnessy celebrating her 25th milestone with plenty of cake to go around as well as the excitement of a new purple Tshirt and finally a big shout out to Oisin Caldwell who ran a fabulous time of 26:47 on his first go!  Well done to all our Juniors for getting round the 5k route. 

8Leo MCAULEY 46 parkruns | Member of the 25 ClubJM11-14 71.75% age grade19:46 PB 18:23
9Ruarcc SHERIDAN 3 parkrunsJM11-14 71.69% age grade19:47 PB 19:27
10Dara CASSIDY 83 parkruns | Member of the 50 Club​Member of the Volunteer 50 ClubJM15-17 68.01% age grade19:51 PB 19:02
12Seamus WOLF 3 parkrunsJM15-17 69.93% age grade19:54 New PB!
34Senan MCCONNELL 16 parkruns | Member of the 10 Club​Member of the Volunteer 10 ClubJM11-14 62.67% age grade22:38 PB 21:26
57Niamh MCMILLAN 37 parkruns | Member of the 25 Club​Member of the Volunteer 10 ClubJW15-17 63.74% age grade24:19 PB 22:19
74Séadna OHARE LYNCH 42 parkruns | Member of the 25 ClubJM10 66.78% age grade25:29 PB 23:51
96Georgia OSHAUGHNESSY 25 parkruns | Member of the 25 ClubJW10 67.50% age grade26:00 PB 23:58
97Ruby Mae MCLAUGHLIN 13 parkruns | Member of the 10 ClubJW10 67.50% age grade26:00 PB 25:57
113Oisin CALDWELL 1 parkrunJM11-14 57.13% age grade26:47 First Timer!
188Nola RAFFERTY 58 parkruns | Member of the 50 ClubJW11-14 52.98% age grade30:44 PB 23:11
196Katie-Louise GOODFELLOW 59 parkruns | Member of the 50 Club​Member of the Volunteer 10 ClubWWC 54.97% age grade31:03 PB 27:11

Valley Parkrun

Meanwhile up at Valley Park Jessie Smith was the only Junior harrier to run the course finishing 52nd in a great time of 29:26.  Well done Jessie!

52Jessie SMITH 21 parkruns | Member of the 10 ClubJW11-14 54.25% age grade29:26 PB 26:42

Waterworks Junior Parkrun

As usual we had a great turn out of Harriers at the Junior Parkrun with Sion McAllister coming in first place in an epic time of 6:55 just a second off his PB!  Seadna O’Hare Lynch one of our younger athletes was not far off his own PB in a fabulous 5th, and Georgia O’Shaughessy and Malcolm Mackenzie both managed PBs coming in 8th and 9th respectively.  Well done to all the Juniors once again – those ice lollies were worth it!!

1Sion MCALLISTER 85 junior parkruns | Member of the Ultra Marathon junior parkrun ClubJM11-14 80.91% age grade06:55 PB 06:54
5Séadna OHARE LYNCH 31 junior parkruns | Member of the Marathon junior parkrun ClubJM10 69.60% age grade08:36 PB 08:26
8Georgia OSHAUGHNESSY 9 junior parkrunsJW10 71.12% age grade08:56 New PB!
9Malcolm MACKENZIE 25 junior parkruns | Member of the Marathon junior parkrun ClubJM10 66.88% age grade08:57 New PB!
10Jessie SMITH 53 junior parkruns | Member of the Ultra Marathon junior parkrun ClubJW11-14 62.29% age grade09:17 PB 08:31
11Miles MCKINNEY 31 junior parkruns | Member of the Marathon junior parkrun ClubJM10 69.38% age grade09:23 PB 09:09
12Olivia BOYD 24 junior parkruns | Member of the Marathon junior parkrun ClubJW11-14 61.19% age grade09:27 PB 08:21
13Oisin CALDWELL 50 junior parkruns | Member of the Ultra Marathon junior parkrun ClubJM11-14 57.79% age grade09:41 PB 09:29
15Ellen CULLEN 22 junior parkruns | Member of the Marathon junior parkrun ClubJW10 62.50% age grade09:53 PB 09:35
16Aoife LEMON 47 junior parkruns | Member of the Marathon junior parkrun ClubJW11-14 60.35% age grade09:59 PB 09:28
17Annabelle BOYD 25 junior parkruns | Member of the Marathon junior parkrun ClubJW10 61.16% age grade10:06 PB 09:51
20Fóla O’KANE 67 junior parkruns | Member of the Ultra Marathon junior parkrun ClubJW11-14 58.40% age grade10:19 PB 09:52
40Owen WHITE 25 junior parkruns | Member of the Marathon junior parkrun ClubJM10 44.72% age grade13:23 PB 11:50
57Dara MCLAUGHLIN 221 junior parkruns | Member of the 100 junior parkruns Club​Member of the Volunteer 50 ClubJM11-14 23.29% age grade23:22 PB 10:40

Woodvale Junior Parkrun

At the newer Woodvale event, 2 Juniors notched up another run with Finn McConnell finishing in an impressive 15th and Katie-Louise not far behind him in 18th place.  Well done to you both for supporting this newer venue!

15Finn MCCONNELL 23 junior parkruns | Member of the Marathon junior parkrun ClubMale 11/1218:43 PB 13:04
18Katie-Louise GOODFELLOW 58 junior parkruns | Member of the Ultra Marathon junior parkrun Club​Member of the Volunteer 10 ClubFemale 5/523:05 PB 20:45

Future Events and Training News  

Just a reminder that there is no formal track training until 5th August due to the summer break – no doubt the coaches have encouraged you to continue independent training over this time. The continuing dedication of the coaches all year round deserves a special mention at this stage -thank you to all for your continuing hard work and commitment and giving up your free time in the pursuit of excellence for our young athletes. Without you there would be no club!