Acorns athletics: Forty runners in Cross Country race

The ladies 6k race got under way with a large field of 140, Karen Alexander first member of the team to finish, a fine fourth place overall in 24:16.

Siobhan Brown had a great race to finish in 27:38 and Annemarie McKernan wasn’t far behind her in 28:22. Lisa Simpson, Leanne Sands and Rosemary Hargan crossed in under 30 minutes, whilst Stacey Hinfey, Edel (HC) McGuckin, Donna Patterson, Wendy Wensley and Joanne Irwin all in around the 31 minute zone.

Erika Kudrenko had a strong run to finish in 32:43, as did Judith Newell who crossed the line in 33:45. Evelyn Morgan, Sandra Smyth, Roisin Bowman and Diane Carey had a close battle together completing the distance in just under 35 minutes.

Ciara Quinn hit the line in 36:59 and on her heels was Caoimhe Purvis in 37:07. Little separated Margaret McKee (37:11) and Denise Wright (37:22) as they crossed, closed followed by Marina Abbott (37:57) and Bronagh Stockman 40:03. Well done on another great set of results and full league points.

The men’s race got under way with a strong field of over 150 across the 12k distance, longest race of the campaign. Martin McVey was the Acorns lead runner in 45:03 and just seconds behind was Bliadhan Glass in 45:31. Eoin Hughes had another strong race in 46:30. Marty Loughran made a return to XC and put in a solid shift, 47:47. Diarmuid O’Kane was back after his podium success the previous week and completed in 48:19.

Alan Shaw had another strong run,50:40, just ahead of Fergal Mulgrew in 50:51. Pat Groogan raced around in 50:51 and Stephen Kerr finished in 53:34. Chalky McGuckin hit the line in 55:22, with Richard Smith not far behind in 56:24 and Niall Hasson 56:27.

Barry Loughran raced to the line in 57:20, and Karl Murphy covered the course in 64:53, John Knocker and Colin Thom rounding off the team results in 65 minutes.

There is one race remaining in XC league – at Stormont, therefore it is vital we field a strong team in both events to stay in the top three. Please advise Francis Purvis if = able to attend and keep a check for transportation details.

On Thursday the Annual Armagh 3k and 5k road races took place and as usual there was a huge turnout of talented runners for the event. In the 3k race Cathaoir Purvis had a strong run to finish in 9:52 and just behind him was Martin Loughran in 10:06.

In the 5k event, which is for sub 17 min runners, Darrell McKee and Bliadhan Glass were in action. Darrell posted a time of 16:08, whilst Bliadhan crossed the finish in 16:54.

Oli Murphy and Shauna Young were in action in Castleward Last One Standing Challenge runon Saturday, which is a real test of stamina and determination. The event is quite unique in that runners must complete a 4.2 mile loop inside an hour, and continually do that at the start of every hour. Sounds easy! Once you have several hours of running under your belt then things change! Oli completed 10 sessions, nearly nine hours running, and Shauna had an excellent run, covering 12 sessions! A superb achievement and well done to both of you.

And a large number of members were in Parkrun action at various locations.

MUSA

4 Sam Linton 18:19

7 Roger Mclean 19:51

8 Natalie Hall 20:14

11 Cathaoir Purvis 21:24

20 Don Brownlee 23:29

35 Judith Black 28:29

36 Cormac Logan 28:44

49 Brenda Buchanan 34:13

53 Mairead Purvis 55:02

Derry

3 Marty McGirr 19:35

Antrim

101 Mary Martin 31:06

Ormeau

113 Maura McKenna 26:29