Reed’s rave run

Road race, Indoor and Trail run action makes up this weekend’s agenda.

The final race in the Sperrin winter League is at Lough Fea on Saturday at 12noon; the Albertville 5miler in Belfat has a 2pm start and the final events in the NI/Ulster Juvenile Indoor championships are in Magherafelt on both Saturday and Sunday.

There may also be some local juveniles travelling to Glasgow for the two day weekend Scottish Juvenile Indoors and finally on Sunday, its off to Stranorlar for round two of the Finn Valley 5K series, start time 11am.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

While the big run of the weekend definitely came in Santry where Declan Reed added significantly to his growing reputation with one of the best ever national senior cross country championships placings by a local male athlete in recent memory. Possibly only Gerry Craig, Bobby Farren and Peter McColgan have posted top ten finishes at this level in the last three decades, so the Spartan’s brilliant ninth place puts him right up there in exalted company.

Reed has been a revealation this season and has built on his breakthrough Provincial masters cross country win of January 2011 in Stormont with a couple of NI international vests and big performances on the country, road and track since then. Annadale’s Eddie McGinley was an impressive winner in Santry, coming home well clear of three Clonliffe Harriers to record an emphatic maiden national senior cross country victory over the 12K distance. Reed’s dramatic improvement, from his 21st place finish last year has been rightly lauded by all athletics pundits.

Clonliffe easily took the team honours ahead of Raheny and DSD but from a Northern and local perspective Reed’s run was right up there with McGinley’s winning effort. He claimed some significant scalps and was in his own words ‘absolutely delighted with the performance’.

He will now make a decision on accepting a place on the NI senior squad, alongside Greg Roberts, for the upcoming major race in Birmingham in early March.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Ciaran Doherty of Letterkenny was the closest North West finisher in a gutsy 15th place but only Inishowen AC fielded a team in the race as the North West clubs generally chose to sit out Santry this year. That may be different in 2013 as the City of Derry club have an application pending to bring the senior championships to the Gransha grounds this time next year.

Staying with cross country and the Civil Service meeting at Stormont on Saturday. Emmet McGinty was involved in an engrossing three way battle for individual honours in the mens 8K race but lost out to Annadale’s Paul Carroll and Willowfield teenager Ryan Holt, both of whom got clear in the last of three testing laps as the Spartan finished third. Noel Logan lost a few places late on and finished seventh.The rest of the local squad were masters and good efforts from Dermot Connolly, Oran McBride, Peter Lilburn and Christy Mcmonagle saw the red vests finish fourth team behind Willowfield, North Belfast and North Down.

This was enough however to retain the runners up spot behind winners North Belfast Harriers, in the NI Winter league, a pared down womens squad of Camilla McGranaghan, Bridgeen Byrne and Una Gavin also made the trip and collectively ensured that enough points were garnered to also hang on to second place in the Womens Winter league, won easily by North Down AC.

The supporting Primary Schools races attracted big numbers, including pupils from local schools Broadbridge and St Johns. The Eglinton school’s very talented girls team fresh from their exploits in the local Primary school league and the NI finals, were in flying form and led home by race winner and runner up, Caoimhe Walsh and Aela Stewart, they swept to an easy team win. Very good to see local schools travelling to and taking on successfully opposition far from home turf.