North Belfast Harriers Race Report 13-19th October 2025

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This week saw the inaugural Galloper Thompson 5k organised and promoted by the club. The race was a huge success with costumes and smiles galore and lots of positive feedback from the participants. Meantime the European Masters Athletics championships were taking place in the spectacular Madeira and the Irish cross country trials took place at Abbotstown outside Dublin. With harriers excelling at all of these and in a number of other races as well it was truly a bumper week of racing !

Galloper Thompson 5k (Fri 17th Oct)

Conditions were perfect on Friday night at Grove Park as the runners gathered, many in fancy dress for the Halloween themed run. Conal McCambridge and Holly Collins flew round to take 3rd male and 3rd female prizes respectively. A total of 60 harriers took part and their results were:

PosnAthleteTime
3Conal McCambridge0:15:41
6Conor Curran0:16:31
8Connor McCann0:16:35
14Odhrán Rafferty0:17:23
24Brendan McCambridge0:18:00
29Holly Collins0:18:22
30Andrew Newell0:18:20
31Emily McRitchie0:18:26
32David Foster0:18:26
34Adam McCleave0:18:31
48Conor Doris0:19:28
55Matthew McCombe0:19:48
77Matthew Carleton0:20:33
91Mark Mulhern0:21:25
104Geoff Dickson0:21:52
118Michelle McLoughlin0:23:07
127Chris Callaghan0:23:44
139Stephanie Coy0:24:26
190Fiona Magill0:26:22
195Sean-Paul Donnelly0:26:43
289Joanne Boal0:29:16
296Fiona Sharratt0:29:22
297Lindsay Bell0:29:22
318Rebekah Lutton0:29:56
320Jackie Rafferty0:30:30
321Maria Lynch0:29:28
325Elizabeth Faver0:30:16
352Gerry Anderson0:31:19
354John Carberry0:31:39
357Estelle Lee0:30:35
369Colm Smyth0:31:39
396Martin Doherty0:32:35
397Aisling Doherty0:32:36
402Conor Henry0:32:16
413Catherine McKenna0:32:48
417Leah Lamont0:33:07
420Naoimhin Anglin0:32:54
428Ellie Mccarney0:32:35
429Eva Mccarney0:32:35
451Fergus Jamison0:33:39
453Fiona McLaughlin0:34:12
495Christine Rainey0:35:48
503Alison Dickson0:36:23
524Joanne Reilly0:36:45
525Linda Beattie0:36:44
534Sinead McKeown0:37:44
535Michelle Harkley0:36:56
538Bertha Mawhinney0:37:14
539Eleanor Morgan0:37:14
548Laurice Falsis-Marsden0:38:24
549Ita Weir0:37:36
573Emer O’Brien0:39:35
581Catherine Jones0:39:44
582Martin McLarnon0:39:44
585Michael O’Brien0:41:02
586Denise Fuenzalida0:40:52
590Stella Harrison0:41:22
598Alana Mckinney0:42:39
601Denis Loughran0:47:17
608Kate Montgomery0:59:00

Some of the volunteers and runners in fancy dress:

European Masters Athletics Championships, Madeira, Thu 16th / Sun 19th Oct
European Masters 10k, Thu 16th Oct

At 8.00 pm on the evening of Thursday 16th October, Joe Gallagher lined up with hundreds of runners aged 35 and over for the European Masters 10k Road Race. Joe completed the race in 44min: 39sec, 23rd place in the M65 category and 169th place overall. Joe was the third scorer in the M65 Ireland team that finished outside the medals, in 4th place. The race started after sunset, on the promenade in the capital city of Funchal. The runners were afforded extra challenge of long steep inclines, sharp turns and large sections over the uneven cobblestoned streets of the old town, in the dark. However the gathered crowds that cheered on the runners compensated enormously.

Team Silver in the European Masters Half Marathon, Sun 19th Oct

On Sunday morning Joe Gallagher was the third scoring member of the Irish team that lifted Silver in the M65 category in the European Championships. Joe finished the challenging course in 1hour: 39min: 42sec, in 18th place in the category and 132nd place overall. The Ireland team finished in 4hours: 38min: 50src, over 7min behind GB and NI in Gold and just over 3min ahead of Italy in Bronze. On Sunday morning at 8.00am many of the runners who challenged themselves at the 10k road race, turned out again for the Half Marathon Road Race. Continuing the theme of racing in the dark, this event started just before sunrise.Covering a different route from the preceding 10k race, it nonetheless continued the theme of challenging climbs, stretches close to the sea, along the promenade and sections over the cobbles of old town.

Photos and details from Joe Gallagher. Photos show the Irish team on the podium and Joe at the start of the half marathon just before sunrise.

Saintfield 5k/10k (Sun 19th) Oct

Conditions were wet and windy in Saintfield on Sunday morning. The 5k started at the Saintfield Sports club, then the runners headed through the centre of Saintfield to the turn near Rowallane Gardens. Jason Reid was the only harrier competing in the 5k, completing in 24:18.

Mark Brooks competed in the 10k, completing in 58:11.

Photo by Jason Reid:

Centra Action Cancer 5k/10k Ormeau Park (Sun 19th Oct)

It was also wet and windy in Ormeau Park on Sunday morning and a little muddy at times nevertheless there were more than 530 finishers in the 5k and 560 in the 10k which also attracted a good number of harriers. Photos are by Colm Smyth.

Their results were:

PosnAthleteTime
230Elizabeth Faver0:59:31
231Martin Rafferty0:59:34
287Fiona Sharratt1:02:03
371Angela Robinson1:04:47
474Aisling Doherty1:10:58
475Martin Doherty1:10:59
529Michelle Harkley1:16:35
536Alson Dickson1:17:57
564Denise Vivien1:26:00
Heady Trotter 4 miler in Stowe Vermont (Sun 19th Oct)

The Heady Trotter is a 4 Mile Race starting and finishing at The Alchemist (a brewery specializing in IPA) in Stowe Vermont in the USA. It also incorporates a music and beer festival as part of the race experience. Denise and Roy Rainey took part finishing in 1:02:36 and 1:02:37 respectively.

Autumn Open / Irish Masters XC trial (Sun 19th Oct)

Conan McAughey earned an Irish vest for the Home Nations XC team with a super run to win the masters M35 and overall masters title at Abbotstown outside Dublin. There were also strong performances from John Black and Paul Blaney (both selected as reserves for the Irish team) and Philip Goss. Full results were:

PosnAthleteCat.TimeCat RankNote
1Conán MCCAUGHEYM3500:26:051Team M35
11John BLACKM3500:27:226Reserve M35
25Philip GOSSM4000:28:219
46Paul BLANEYM5000:30:087Reserve M50
Amsterdam Marathon (Sun 19th Oct)

Steven Walker had a fine run in the Amsterdam Marathon, comfortably ducking under the 3hr mark in 2.57.59.

Altra Yorkshire 10 Mile (Sun 19th Oct)

Sarah-Jane McFadden ran the Altra Yorkshire 10 Mile race on Sunday, coming 2nd in her age category in a super time of 1:05:15. The race started and finished at the University of York, and attracted around 4,000 runners.

parkrun (Sat 18th Oct)

The results from Saturday’s parkruns were:

Waterworks parkrun, Belfast18 Oct 2025#718
PosparkrunnerparkrunsAge GradeTimeComment
2Ryan MOORE6077.59%17:51
4Leo MCAULEY5176.81%18:28
5Dara CASSIDY9072.65%18:35New PB!
6Frank HUGHES22479.76%19:16New PB!
15Thomas MCLAUGHLIN39468.58%21:10
24Una MCCONNELL8574.06%22:06
26Fionnuala O’HARE36166.12%22:23
32Senan MCCONNELL1962.71%22:37
33Seamus LEHENY37764.46%22:42
35Séadna OHARE LYNCH5171.04%23:01New PB!
38Niamh MCMILLAN4965.71%23:17
45Matthew MCCOMBE12356.06%23:31
50Oisin CALDWELL1164.78%23:37New PB!
64Georgia OSHAUGHNESSY3671.20%24:39
78Peter DOLAN19053.75%25:35
86Matthew CARLETON22349.49%26:04
87Ian BRENNAN23553.48%26:07
89Nicky HAGAN11851.72%26:12
92Ruby Mae MCLAUGHLIN2166.65%26:20
96Paddy MCCAMBRIDGE19461.15%26:41
98Mark BROOKS9058.83%26:48
99Greg MCCLURE60164.29%26:50
101Paul WILLIAMS51760.16%26:54
102Tony REID68460.54%26:57
108Matt SHIELDS54365.54%27:14
109Conal MCCAMBRIDGE14947.40%27:15
112Catriona MCCAMBRIDGE11555.33%27:21
113Michelle MCLOUGHLIN23657.03%27:23
115Robyn THOMPSON853.95%27:26
129Rachel AICKEN3352.66%28:29
131Orán STEELE14247.04%28:42
137Ann CRAVEN10265.24%28:55
147Joanne BOAL21459.71%29:32
151Gerry ANDERSON31352.85%29:35
155Patrick HAMILL46553.27%30:06
158Grainne STEPHENS24149.01%30:16
168Stella HARRISON54066.22%31:05
169Jack CARBERRY44771.03%31:11
184Margaret STEPHENS50463.82%32:15
186Nola JAMIESON5447.96%32:19
200Paul MC CUSKER23646.70%34:20
201Leah LAMONT2343.09%34:21
222Michelle HARKLEY11243.65%37:07
226Cathy SCULLION11143.66%37:29
244Hollie BRENNAN7034.60%46:09
248Jim CLINTON65533.92%48:59
254Ita MCCAMBRIDGE24137.39%53:24
Belfast Victoria parkrun18 Oct 2025#674
PosparkrunnerparkrunsAge GradeTimeComment
5Mark SMITH5593.94%16:30New PB!
Queen’s parkrun, Belfast18 Oct 2025#622
PosparkrunnerparkrunsAge GradeTimeComment
94Noel MCKNIGHT2152.69%30:43
120Vincent BRADLEY27948.90%33:59
Falls parkrun, Belfast18 Oct 2025#577
PosparkrunnerparkrunsAge GradeTimeComment
11Kevin MCCANN23360.19%25:45
Wallace parkrun, Lisburn18 Oct 2025#534
PosparkrunnerparkrunsAge GradeTimeComment
58Stephen MCCULLOUGH5155.24%25:28
Citypark parkrun, Craigavon18 Oct 2025#591
PosparkrunnerparkrunsAge GradeTimeComment
5Colin MCDOWELL30986.92%17:50
Southwark parkrun18 Oct 2025#545
PosparkrunnerparkrunsAge GradeTimeComment
8Conor O’RAWE27373.57%17:32First Timer!
Enniskillen parkrun18 Oct 2025#558
PosparkrunnerparkrunsAge GradeTimeComment
60Chris CALLAGHAN12846.38%00:35:11First Timer!
Ormeau parkrun18 Oct 2025#557
PosparkrunnerparkrunsAge GradeTimeComment
95Eimear O’REGAN4966.43%23:20
391Erin O’REGAN2153.79%29:41
599Mannix MCALISTER20128.94%44:41
603Paul LAVERY19438.19%45:10
Antrim parkrun18 Oct 2025#506
PosparkrunnerparkrunsAge GradeTimeComment
41Brian STEWART22079.35%23:29
Larne parkrun18 Oct 2025#519
PosparkrunnerparkrunsAge GradeTimeComment
11Janice PLUMB18177.74%23:17
47Bernadette DUFFY39861.86%34:18First Timer!
48Philomena DONALDSON37861.53%34:29
53Greg LAVERY8025.86%57:56
Valley parkrun, Newtownabbey18 Oct 2025#514
PosparkrunnerparkrunsAge GradeTimeComment
3Ian ONEILL1574.13%21:27
12Dermot COY11761.52%23:13
21Alina BISKUPSKA13663.44%24:37
46Eimear COY3757.16%27:56New PB!
92David JOHNSTON19446.30%33:46
Lough Key parkrun18 Oct 2025#400
PosparkrunnerparkrunsAge GradeTimeComment
5John Gerard MURPHY68074.58%20:47First Timer!
Avondale Forest parkrun18 Oct 2025#272
PosparkrunnerparkrunsAge GradeTimeComment
1Sam CARR15868.74%18:46
24Sandy CARR43163.66%24:57New PB!
Orangefield parkrun18 Oct 2025#304
PosparkrunnerparkrunsAge GradeTimeComment
99Fergus JAMISON19744.37%36:08
100Ita WEIR11547.32%37:16
Sixmilewater parkrun18 Oct 2025#220
PosparkrunnerparkrunsAge GradeTimeComment
1Andrew NEWELL18969.98%18:26
4Mason MERCER4175.85%19:36New PB!
10Natasha HERSOM16070.91%21:05
15Rory KANE4066.39%22:13
Crawfordsburn Country parkrun18 Oct 2025#211
PosparkrunnerparkrunsAge GradeTimeComment
2Martin Muldoon678.66%18:54First Timer!
Paisley Park parkrun18 Oct 2025#47
PosparkrunnerparkrunsAge GradeTimeComment
12Lindsay BELL25658.42%28:01First Timer!
25Thomas Peter NORTON11835.01%41:08
Christie parkrun18 Oct 2025#21
PosparkrunnerparkrunsAge GradeTimeComment
77Jason REID26640.53%33:26First Timer!
Belvoir Forest parkrun18 Oct 2025#5
PosparkrunnerparkrunsAge GradeTimeComment
109Ray CAMERON33524.59%59:59First Timer!
Lough Head parkrun18 Oct 2025#4
PosparkrunnerparkrunsAge GradeTimeComment
20Philip MCILWRATH45956.56%26:17First Timer!
79Rosy RYAN45932.97%51:28First Timer!