McGrillis storms home to win Larne AC Handicap Trophy

There was a new name on a Larne Athletic Club Handicap trophy on Saturday afternoon as Laura McGrillis stormed home to win the eight-mile Ballygally race.
(l-r) Larne AC's Rory McGregor (third), Laura McGrillis (first) and Amanda Wood (second) pictured after the Ballygally Handicap race(l-r) Larne AC's Rory McGregor (third), Laura McGrillis (first) and Amanda Wood (second) pictured after the Ballygally Handicap race
(l-r) Larne AC's Rory McGregor (third), Laura McGrillis (first) and Amanda Wood (second) pictured after the Ballygally Handicap race

Laura was one of the early starters and by the turn at Drumnagreagh was still running very strongly, eventually coming home to win with a minute to spare.

Amanda Wood was runner-up for the second time this season, with Rory McGregor also running well for third place. Stuart Maxwell ran one of his best times of the year for fourth place, with Charlie Mabin finishing in a time of 59:16 to complete the top five.

Top 10 results (with corrected times): 1, Laura McGrillis, 01:11:06; 2, Amanda Wood, 01:20:10; 3, Rory McGregor, 01:12:46; 4, Stuart Maxwell, 01:00:22; 5, Charlie Mabin, 00:59:16; 6, Roberta Barham, 01:08:21; 7, Elaine Hall, 01:10:26; 8, Bert Shaw, 00:55:05; 9, Gillian Logan, 01:02:34; 10, Karl Simpson, 01:07:58.

Larne AC would like to thank Bernard Brady for setting the handicap times and for organising the timekeeping, Geraldine Hastings for organising prizes, Beverley Gaston for refreshments and to all those who assisted with entries, timekeeping, marshalling or in any other way.

East Coast AC

East Coast AC’s Roy McMullan and Martin Taylor took part in Sunday’s Nutts Corner Circuit Valentine’s Duathlon.

McMullan took a brilliant fifth place in 29:07 at the Super Sprint event which consisted of a 0.9-mile run, a 4.5-mile cycle and another 0.9-mile run. Taylor also performed well, timing 32:20 (11th).

At Saturday’s Larne parkrun, Naoise McLoughlin secured second place and a new parkrun personal best when he finished in 19:32. Other ECAC times: John Steele 22:43 (6th); Conor Sheridan 22:56 (9th, pb); Brian Maltman 23:18 (12th); Harry Plumb 24:56 (17th); Sandy Plumb 25:23 (21st); Paul Clements 26:35 (25th); Hannah Clements 26:35 (3rd lady); Charlotte Dean 28:40 (5th lady); Martin Taylor 29:16 (32nd); Cyndy Hay 31:17 (8th lady).

At the Carrick parkrun, Gillian Pike ran well alongside daughter Caitlin. The pair finished just a second apart. Junior athlete Caitlin timed 37:36 (43rd lady), while Gillian ran 37:37 (44th place).

North Belfast Harriers

Larne-based North Belfast Harriers Penny Lindsay and Janice Plumb produced another excellent display in Saturday’s final race in the cross country league, finishing the 6k course 21st (24:28) and 22nd (24:31) respectively.

Mark McKinstry claimed 2nd (38:09), and Greg Lavery 34th (42.29) in the male senior race.