FRIENDS' School, Lisburn student James Edgar leads the Ulster pursuit of individual and team titles at tomorrow’s Glohealth Irish Secondary Schools’ Cross Country Championships in Sligo.
Edgar had to fight hard to lift the senior boys’ title at the Ulster Schools’ Championship at Mallusk last month and faces an even tougher task tomorrow.
The stylish Lisburn lad not only has to face Bangor Grammar’s Craig McMeechan, who ran him close at Mallusk, but will also have to account for two talented runners from the Republic.
Kevin Mulcaire starts as favourite after the St Flannan’s, Ennis pupil decimated a strong field at the Munster Championships.
Over in Leinster, Clongowes Wood College’s Jack O’Leary was equally impressive in taking his provincial crown, which means Edgar is going to have to be on his best form if he is to bring the title north.
Loreto, Cavan’s Clodagh O’Reilly was a comfortable winner of the senior girls’ race in Ulster but will find also things more difficult. Eimear Fitzpatrick, from OLS Templeogue, ran away with the Leinster title and is hot favourite to take the national title, while Munster winner Fiona Everard of MICC, Dunmanway can’t be discounted.
Banbridge Academy’s Patrick McNiff was an impressive winner of the intermediate boys’ race at Mallusk but faces two strong Munster youths in Charlie O’Donovan, of Colaiste Criost Ri, and Bantry’s Darragh McElhinney. Aaron Doherty from Rice College in Westport should make it a real scrap for the gold medal.
Arguably the best race of the day will be the intermediate girls’ contest.
A strong Ulster trio – Stratearn’s Olivia Nelson, Dean Maguirc’s Niamh Heaney and Enya Haigney from Loreto, Omagh – all carry genuine credentials.
However, they may all find Blackrock AC team-mates Sara Healy, representing Holy Child, Killiney, and Amy-Rose Farrell, from Mount Anville, too hot to handle.
Add in Munster champion Tamzin Muldowney, of St Mary’s, Fermoy, and Connacht number one Aoife O’Brien, from Sacred Heart, Westport and you have a race worth the trip to Sligo on its own.
Newry supplies the top two Ulster runners in the junior boys’ race, with Conor Doherty of St Colman’s and Sean Campbell from Abbey Grammar School taking on Munster champion Chris O’Reilly from Douglas CC.
Ulster champion Rebecca Wallace, from Wallace High, could go all the way in the junior girls’ race.
Methodist College’s Matthew Smyth and Victoria College’s Anna Hill are the leading northern representatives in the minor boys’ and girls’ races respectively.
Castleward a magical backdrop for all runners
THE fifth annual Castleward Challenge will take place at Castle Ward, near Strangford, on April 16. The race is organised by Born2Run Events and offers runners a choice of a half marathon or a 10K. For those who like to take things at a gentler pace there will also be a 10K walk.
Born2Run Events’ motto is Great Races in Great Places and the Castle Ward certainly has it all in terms of stunning scenery. Such is the magic and mystery of the location, it is not surprising that the makers of Game of Thrones chose the place as the location for many of the scenes in the first series.
Runners will enjoy stunning scenery as they make their way around the course with the majestic Castle Ward mansion providing the perfect backdrop to the start line.
The organisers have also opened a new website www.born2runevents.com to meet the increasing demands of its clientele.
‘When we started Born2Run back in 2012 we never imagined it would grow to this level’ said Carol McMenamin director of the company. ‘The old website served us well when we were organising four races a year however with a race calendar that is wall to wall we need a website that is fit for purpose.
“Our recent Run Forest Run race series attracted thousands of runners to our events and our website is the first port of call for anyone who wants to enter a race so it needs to be user friendly and easy to navigate’.
Online entry to The Castleward Challenge is now available on the website where you can see what other events Born2Run have planned in the near future.
Kimosop the star at Carmen
PROJECT Africa Athletics runner Gideon Kimosop is the star attraction at tomorrow’s Carmen 10K in Carrickmore, county Tyrone.
The Kenyan is on his third trip to Ireland as part of the Project Africa scheme, which has been devised by Omagh man Ciaran Collins to help budding athletes from east Africa gain experience running of outside their native countries and condidtions.
Kimosop displayed a impressive turn of speed at the recent Armagh 5K to finish fifth in a personal best of 14:07.30.
That level of performance should put him in a class of his own tomorrow.
Registration is still open for the race, and the 5K fun run, with entries taken at the venue prior to the start time at 11am.
Grand Prix an exciting idea
THE Jimmy’s 10K race in Downpatrick on March 13 could open a new chapter in local running, a chapter where athletics tries to take control of its destiny by offering incentives to the general running public to take part in events run by organisers of a proven quality.
That is not to say there aren’t well-organised races which are not included in the new Novisco Grand Prix series, that starts with Jimmy’s 10k and runs through to November 2016.
It is a non-profit series, supported by ChampionChip, who will be timing all the events.
All races will be accurately measured and certified as being exactly 10km before race day. Athletics NI will certify all races, which will be run entirely on roads. That means they will not include significant trail or offroad sections that cannot be measured using a Jones Counter.
The major departure from the norm is that runners’ performances at each race will be recalculated with reference to the age-graded tables.
In this way, performances are scored according to age and gender. A revised race result ranking all participants will be generated after each race showing the runners’ times and their relevant age-graded score as a percentage. The average percentage score of each runner across all the races will be used.
Runners will have to complete at least six of the 13 races in the Grand Prix to be eligible for a prize at the end of the season. Prizes will be awarded to the top runners in the final table, regardless of age and gender.
A team prize will also be provided, with the team score calculated using the placings of the top 10 club members in the overall ranking table, in accordance to the usual scoring method.
All prize winners, except in the corporate teams section, must be registered with Athletics NI by the date of the final race.
Otherwise they will only be entitled to 70 per cent of their prize value.
Entries will be encouraged from corporate teams, alongside athletic clubs, and a runner can count for their club as well as their company. A corporate team would be made up of five or more runners with prizes for the best corporate teams.
The concept and operation of the proposed 10K Grand Prix is the intellectual property of ChampionChip Ireland and Glenn Grant, who will administer the rankings in agreement with the other stakeholders.
There is a prize-fund is £6300, with £800 for the winner going down to £20 for 15th place. The prize for the leading club is £500 while the top corporate outfit can expect to pocket a cheque for £300.
