Ulster Schools XC Championships 2026 – 18th February, Mallusk
During the ill-fated polar expedition led by Captain Robert Scott to the South Pole in 1912, his diary entry upon reaching the Pole on 17 January 1912 read; “Great God! This is an awful place and terrible enough for us to have laboured to it without the reward of priority”.
I cannot think of a more appropriate piece of historical literature that perfectly sums up what it was like at Mallusk Playing Fields on Wednesday 18th February 2026….
And so, the efforts and exploits of all of our Juniors who participated in the Ulster Schools XC finals that day are all the greater for showing such perseverance and determination in the face of such a hostile environment, and it didn’t inhibit their performances…
Mini Girls – 1600m – 130 runners
We had one Junior in the opening race and she didn’t disappoint! A fantastic by a recent new member of the club Maia McAllister who finished in 16th place in 6:29. Great running by Maia gaining excellent experience.
Mini Boys – 1600m – 134 runners
A superb showing by the 5 boys in this race from the club who were all representing St Malachys. Sion with an excellent podium and as a team the boys became Ulster Mini Boys Champions scoring 52 points. St Michaels Enniskillen came 2nd with 57 points showing that every place counts!
| Sion McAllister | 3rd | 5:31 |
| Luca McGinley | 8th | 5:47 |
| Isaac Mooney | 11th | 5:50 |
| Kobe McClelland | 30th | 6:00 |
| Oisin Caldwell | 68th | 6.22 |
Minor Girls – 2000m – 118 runners
We had 3 club runners in the girls minor race and first plaudits go to Eloise for an excellent 11th place and qualification for the All-Ireland schools final, great running!
Then we had Nola and Eimear who pushed each other around the muddy course crossing the line together. Well done girls and excellent racing experience today.
| Eloise McAuley | 11th | 8:45 |
| Nola Rafferty | 35th | 9:17 |
| Eimear Coy | 36th | 9:17 |
Minor Boys – 2300m – 123 runners
What a close race this was for first spot with Cormac finishing in 2nd after a tussle for the lead, ultimately coming in one second behind a very experienced provincial and national club runner, superb effort by young Cormac.
Cillian also ran brilliantly and now has the opportunity to test himself against the best as he also secured qualification for the national final on March 7th. Our final runner over the line in this race was Tanoj who put in a strong effort and no doubt already has one eye already on the track season in a few months’ time.
| Cormac Carabine | 2nd | 8:20 |
| Cillian McLoughlin | 11th | 9:00 |
| Tanoj Yakkanti | 83rd | 10:10 |
Junior Girls – 2300m – 111 runners
Only one Stag in this race but Lois Usher acquitted herself brilliantly finishing in 14th place in 10 minutes flat. A great steady run and bagged herself qualification for the All-Ireland schools final on 7th March. Well done Lois, onwards and upwards!
Junior Boys – 2900m – 125 runners
Like the minor boys race, we had three Juniors participate in this race and congratulations to Lucas for one of his strongest runs this season securing a top 10 place and All-Ireland qualification!
Next over was Tom and then Thomas who helped St Malachys to a 5th place team finish overall.
| Lucas Mooney | 10th | 10:56 |
| Tom McLoughlin | 50th | 11:49 |
| Thomas Weineger | 102nd | 13:23 |
Intermediate Girls – 2900m – 105 runners
All five girls in this race had a reason to be very happy with their performance. Congratulations to Leila and Cassie for a great run in a tough field with both securing top 10 finishes and All-Ireland qualification. Then Cadence, not long back from injury put in a gutsy performance in 38th place to show she’s well back on the road to full recovery. Fourth over the line was Niamh McMillan in 49th place and quickly followed by Eimear who continues to progress and her excellent finish and score ensured Dominican College secured bronze medal and All-Ireland qualification! Great running girls.
| Leila Jones | 6th | 11:33 |
| Cassie Curran | 7th | 11:37 |
| Cadence Hamilton Niamh McMillan | 38th 49th | 12:51 13:10 |
| Eimear O’Regan | 54th | 13.19 |
Intermediate Boys – 4200m – 103 runners
What a performance by this group of boys…again! Following their success at the All-Ireland Club final in Dublin back in December, they secured another Ulster title for a 3rd year in a row plus two individual podiums. Add in the fact these boys beat an older St Colmans team by 35 points and will all be eligible to run intermediate again next year, they could well be seeing more silverware in the future. This team certainly has it in them to win their third national title in a row.
They were led home by Thomas in 2nd and Cormac in 3rd, both running a well-executed race. Ruarcc had enough in the tank for a stellar finish to snatch 10th place then the scoring was completed by Leo who dug deep for a strong run at the end. Senan completed the show for the Harriers with a quality run and continues to improve since his return. Roll on the National schools final on Saturday 7th March and fingers crossed for these boys again.
| Thomas Coy | 2nd | 14:13 |
| Cormac Leheny | 3rd | 14:27 |
| Ruarcc Sheridan | 10th | 15:01 |
| Leo McAuley | 17th | 15:30 |
| Senan McConnell | 80th | 17:49 |
Senior Girls – 2900m – 51 runners
An excellent run in a highly competitive field of runners by Holly Collins who finished in an excellent 11th place in 11:38. Fresh from running for NI & Ulster in London recently, Holly continues to improve and make a name for herself in the older running circles. She now has the All-Ireland schools final to look forward to shortly so best of luck!
Senior Boys – 5500m – 69 runners
The final race of the day brought more individual and team success for our older Juniors Eoin McConnell, Lorcan McCann and Dara Cassidy. Eoin secured an excellent 3rd place in 19:25, Lorcan in 5th in 19:46 while Dara finished in 38th in 23:09 thus helping secure the Ulster title for the St Malachys senior team, a hat trick of Ulster titles for St Malachys Belfast, all secured and made possible by members of our club. Roll on 7th March for these boys to target a national senior title next.
NI and Ulster Juvenile Indoor Championships 2026 – Saturday 21st February
We can dream that one day we’ll have our own Indoor track and field facility in Ulster but for now young athletes travel to the National indoor arena in Dublin and we had three young Harriers who made that journey on Saturday and Sunday.
First up on Saturday and it was certainly a worthwhile journey to make for Cassie Curran who claimed not one but two provincial titles!!
First up was the U16 Girls 800m and in a great time of 2:22, Cassie won this with a few seconds to spare on 2nd. A few hours later Cassie was on the track again and she was on a roll this time as she not only won this race in 4:49 (7 seconds ahead of 2nd place!) but she also banked a new PB!
Roll on the national indoors in a few weeks and best of luck Cassie from everyone at the club.
Then on Sunday morning we saw Eimear O’Regan and Erin O’Regan compete in track and field events. First up was Erin with an impressive performance in the girls U15 shot put claiming 4th place and qualification for the Irish Nationals in a few weeks, great motivation for the weeks ahead. Then older sister Eimear took to the track in the girls U17 800m. A terrific run by Eimear who finished in 5th place (2:38) that was only 2 seconds off 3rd place and a podium, Eimear just ran out of track as she was closing on the two girls ahead of her but excellent experience to build on.
Parkruns – Saturday 21st February
Waterworks
Big shout out to Sion McAllister and Isaac Mooney who both clocked new PB’s.
Sion ran 18:40 in 5th place and Isaac ran 19:18 in 6th place – both boys obviously motivated from their good running midweek up in Mallusk.
Also a special mention to Georgia O’Shaughnessy who ran her 50th Parkrun!
Finally well done Tom McLoughlin who ventured across to the velodrome Parkrun course that is Victoria Park in East Belfast and getting himself a super time of 20:04 and 44th place!
To see the full results from the Waterworks, you can see them here:
Waterworks Junior Parkrun – Sunday 22nd February
An impressive 20 stags ran the Junior Parkrun in the Waterworks on Sunday morning with 7 of the first 10 over the line being Harriers! No PB’s to highlight but special shout outs to Sophia Doris as first female and Isaac Mooney as first male.
To find all of the results from the Waterworks Junior parkrun, please visit:
results | Waterworks junior parkrun
Future Events:
- East Coast AC Junior XC Series – Larne – Sunday 1st March
Perfect introduction to XC, especially for the younger kids in a very fun oriented event.
- Laganside Junior Mile – Ormeau Park – Sunday 6th September
This is our very own marquee event as part of the Laganside 10k race on same day and always a great atmosphere. Spaces are filling up fast so please ensure Juniors are signed up asap.Laganside 10k & Junior Mile 2026 | njuko.com
Training
Training as normal this Tuesday and Thursday at Girls Model track from 6pm
Please ensure all Juniors bring additional layers of clothing for warm up, post running and in case they have to sit out at any time as the evenings are currently very cold and wet.
Also, if any parents can lend a support at pack up time with the taking down of the mobile lights that would be appreciated – means everyone gets home in good time!
That’s all for this week folks. All eyes will be on Mallusk for the 7th March….lets hope for a southerly wind and some sunshine for a change! It would be great to see support for our runners that day so if you’re about then, do call up and make some noise for them.