A treble for Judith, a club takeover in Lisburn, going Hell For Leather and making a molehill out of the Mournes - it was a busy week for Ballymena Runners!
A hat-trick of victories for Judith Brown
It was quite a weekend for Judith Brown as the Ballymena Runners athlete picked up no fewer than three victories across two disciplines.
On Saturday she was first female in the local Ecos parkrun in a PB equalling 21mins 21secs. Not content with that Judith hot-footed her way across town to the Cambridge House 5k where, again, she was first female across the line pipping club mates Linda Petticrew and Alison Foster to top spot on the podium.
And that form continued into Sunday, finishing first female over 10k in the increasing popular 'Hell For Leather' event in Moneyglass with a time of 44:04, showing her nearest challenger a clean pair of heels by some ten seconds.
Well done Judith!
Hell For Leather 5k & 10k
A number of Ballymena Runners competed in the annual 'Hell For Leather' 5k & 10k event in Moneyglass on Sunday.
In the 10k race, as well as the aforementioned Judith Brown finishing first female, Seamus Kelly showed some excellent form by coming 3rd overall in 37:24, while Oliver Bateson (40:40) and Thomas Mills (40:43) finished 14th & 15th respectively out a field of some 105 entrants.
Also donning club colours were Donal Martin (45:09), Sinead Scullion (48:57), Sandy McDermott (49:11), Chris Magill (51:08), Mabel McFall (53:20) and Patricia Macrory (57:42)
Meanwhile, the club were also represented in the 5k event, with David Nicholson leading the charge, coming 24th overall in 24:20 while Mairead Myles Davey (31:22) and Helena Moore (31:47) also performed well.
Lisburn Half Marathon & 10k
On Wednesday night all roads led to Lisburn for the Northern Ireland Half Marathon Championships and associated 10k road race.
A healthy contingent of Ballymena Runners made their way to the Lagan Valley LeisurePlex on a hot summers night to tackle the undulating course.
In the Half Marathon, congratulations go to Linda Petticrew on keeping up her recent run of success by coming first in her age category while, collectively, the Female Team finished 5th overall.
Jim Moore was the first from the club to finish in a time of 1:27:59 followed by Ryan Logan (1:31:12) and Tom Mills (1:42:42).
The race was also part of the Pure Running Half Marathon series and after another strong showing given the conditions Pamela Kane managed to extend her lead in the F35 category.
Moving into the 10k, Nigel McClintock was first over the line for the club in 40:03. Joseph McDermott was next to finish (41:35) and Lynne McFetridge (49:45).
Hill 'n' Dale Series
The Hill 'n' Dale mountain running series over the Mournes concluded this week with a 3 mile course at Drinahilly, a short route which included a climb of 1000 feet!
First from the club to finish was Jonathan McCloy (25:52) just ahead of Mark Alexander (26:38) and Gillian Wasson (26:57).
Afterwards Gillian was officially crowned first in her age category (F40) for the entire series and fourth female overall, a remarkable achievement. Many congratulations Gillian!
Cambridge House 5k
Lisburn Half Marathon & 10k
Helen McCormack, Geraldine McClintock and Lynne McFetridge before the Lisburn Half Marathon
Gillian Wasson receives her prize for finishing first in her Hill n Dale Female age category