A busy and varied week for Ballymena Runners saw athletes from the club perform everywhere from the former Olympic Stadium to the iconic Dark Hedges to one of the highest peaks in the British Isles!
James Hamilton
James Hamilton competed in both 800m and 1500m finals at the World Para Athletics Championships in London.
In his T20 category he ran strongly in both finals finishing a super sixth place in 4:01 in the 1500m.
James then finished third in his 800m heat on Friday night, recording a season best time of 1:59:04, and the final the following evening he claimed a great sixth spot.
Well done, James, on your achievements.
Dervock Half/10k
A strong squad of some 25 members made their way to Dervock for the Kennedy Kane McArthur Festival of Running, completing in either the Half Marathon or 10k events.
The day kicked off with the 10k. Seamus Kelly was best placed (39:29) whilst there were age category wins for Ray Curran and David Nicholson.
This was followed by the Dark Hedges Half Marathon. John Robinson ran well (1:26:19) to finish first out of the Ballymena contingent with Elle Forrest (1:38:16) picking up an age category win.
Brigid Quinn also added to her long list of achievements, winning her age group too, as well as collecting a special award for oldest competitor to complete the Dark Hedges Half Marathon
Ford 5k
Ben Morrow and Noel Connor produced strong performances to win their respective age categories in the Ford 5k in Newcastle, County Down.
Ben finished fifth overall and claimed top spot in the M35 category with a time of 16:27 while Noel (17th overall) took the M55 honours, coming in at 18:02.
Dalriada Festival 10k & 5k
Many congratulations to Paula Worthington on winning the ladies race in the Dalriada Festival 5k in Glenarm, with a time of 20:08. In the 10k, Tom Mills was best placed from Ballymena, clocking in with a time of 42:05.
Acorns Blue Belles 5k
Grace Snoddy, Cara Johnston and Catherine O'Melvena represented the club at the second running of the Acorns AC BlueBelles 5k ladies only event in Magherafelt.
The race got underway on the Kilfaddy Road on the outskirts of Magherafelt and finished at the Meadowbank Sports Arena with a final 300 metre sprint around the track.
In a strong field of approx. 200 athletes Grace was first over the line out of the Ballymena Runners contingent, clocking a time of 33:13 while Cara and Catherine finished together a short time later.
Snowdonia Trail Marathon
John Hasson travelled to Wales at the weekend to tackle the Snowdonia Trail Marathon, a challenging event which ascends some 1685 metres over 26 miles of iconic and spectacular trails which circumnavigates and eventually climbs Wales’ highest peak.
John recorded a time of 5:35:07, finished 10th in his category and 108th overall.
Roy White and Pamela Kane run through the iconic Dark Hedges
Cara Johnston, Catherine O'Melvena and Grace Snoddy before the Acorns BlueBelles 5k
Ben Morrow (#170) and Noel Connor (#172) - age category winners at the Ford 5k
John Hasson at the Snowdonia Trail Marathon