East Down AC runners take part in a number of running events
Mourne Mountain Marathon
On Saturday morning East Down’s mountain men Niall Gibney and James Cuffey got themselves and their maps and compasses out to take on the massive task of the Mourne Mountain Marathon.
Niall and James were entered into the 6 hour class, so in brief they have 6 hours to get as many checkpoints as possible in 6 hours.
Each checkpoint is worth different points, more points for the checkpoints that are more difficult to get to, with strict penalties in place for exceeding the 6 hour time limit.
The visibility and ground conditions were the worst the pair had experienced for some time, but working well as a team they racked up 340 points along the way and just got back in time under the 6 hours time limit.
In doing so the guys were delighted to be placed 3rd team out of 35 pairs taking part, James and Niall managed to cover 18 miles with 5400 feet of elevation, a great effort for this new team in very bad conditions.
PBs at the Belfast Half Marathon
Sunday morning saw the 10th running of The Mash Direct Belfast City Half Marathon, this is the largest Half Marathon event in Northern Ireland and has seen a massive growth, selling out 4 years in a row.
The 2023 race started on the Ormeau Embankment and will take in South, East, North and West of Belfast, including a new section in the East of the City.
The race this year will use more of the greenway, instead of Sydenham Bypass, before travelling through Victoria Park and the Titanic Quarter.
The conditions were cool and very wet, some runners would approve of the cooler weather, but not so happy with the dampness.
With 10 EDAC athletes on a very wet start line Neil Curran headed to the front of the race and paced a great Half Marathon crossing the finish line in Ormeau Park in 49th position in a time of 1 hr 17 min 42, great running form Neil.
Second red and yellow vest to cross the finish line was the ever improving Matt Bezzant in a new PB 1 hr 25 min 44 sec, he will be happy with how he paced the race in not perfect conditions.
The next PBer to finish was Daniel Giles who has had a great year over the distance with a number of PBs and is over the moon with a new PB of 1 hr 28 min 52 sec.
EDACs first lady to finish was the ever determined Niamh Kellett who seemed to be pacing Barrie Atkinson around the course, Niamh finished 29th lady in the race in a time of 1 hr 29 min 19 sec with Barrie not so far behind in 1 hr 29 min 33 sec.
Paul Lloyd will be happy with his time of 1 hr 33 min 18 sec coming in front of training buddy Dee Murray who crossed the finish in 1 hr 35 min 23 sec.
Eamon Kelly who is a jack of all trades ran a steady race finishing in 860 position in 1 hr 41 min 51 sec, the second Kelly to cross the line was Gareth, a stalwart of the club he finished in 1 hr 54 min 40 sec.
The second lady to finish in a new PB was Clare Forster, who is over the moon with her day’s efforts, well done Clare.
Next weekend see’s the N Ireland road relays in Victoria Park, which is a great team event for EDAC.
