Locals excel in Fairhill five mile road race

There was no shortage of Ballymena athletes making the most of racing on home soil to claim podium finishes.

The action got underway with the supporting 2.5 mile junior and fun run event and produced a home grown winner in the form of junior star Connor McQuillan who produced a demonstration performance as he swept to a convincing victory.

Connor who is a member of Ballymena’s Fit N Running looked superb as he crossed the finish line on Church Street in 14mins 52secs to retain the title he won last year.

Connor’s team mate 14 year old Robin Moore made it a Fit N Running 1 and 2 on his debut road race performance when he showed his raw potential to claim 2nd place in 18mins 3secs.

OPEN RACE

In the open race it was Matthew McCooke from the host club who took on the early pace on Wellington Street with Defending champion Jarlath Falls of Ballymena & Antrim, Foyle Valleys Keith Shiels and Richard Johnston from The City of Derry taking close order.

In the female open 2012 champion Cathy McCourt of North Belfast was shoulder to shoulder with Gemma Turley of Springwell at the start of the 2 lap course on Broadway.

By half distance the impressive Keith Shiels had made his move and opened a 40meter gap over Johnston with Falls a further 30meters back in 3rd. McCooke was now in an isolated 4th place.

Turley had opened a small gap over Cathy McCourt by half distance with Ciara Toner and Ballymena woman Geraldine Quigley of Larne Athletic Club locked in a battle for third.

As the lead male athletes came back onto Broughshane Street with 800meters to go it was all Shiels who had opened what proved to be a winning lead when he crossed the finish line on Church to massive applause in 25mins 20secs.

Fast finishing Richard Johnston claimed a good second in 25mins 33secs with 2012 Champion Jarlath Falls filling the podium places in 3rd in a time of 26mins 41secs. Matthew McCooke finished strongly in 4th in 27mins 17secs.

Gemma Turley stretched her lead from Cathy McCourt as she powered her way to victory in 31mins 11secs with McCourt a further 9 secs back. Geraldine Quigley won her tussle with Ciara Toner to take 3rd place in 32mins 24secs.

Ballymena’s Fit N Running had several other athletes in action on a successful night for the club. Talented Mark McKinstry continues to take massive strides forward with yet another impressive personal best performance. Mark claimed 8th place in 28mins 14 secs clipping a massive 43secs of his previous best in the process.

Mark’s training partner James Wallace also recorded a personal best when he finished 3rd in his age category. James was delighted to break the 30min barrier for the first time when he finished in 29mins 56secs bettering his previous time by 13secs.

Fit N Running newcomer Conor Shiels a new recruit to running showed great potential on his club and 5mile debut when he finished comfortably in 34mins 16secs.

Natasha Stevenson on her first race outing in over a year used the event as a training run and ran well to finish narrowly outside her best in 43mins 33secs.

Former Fit N Running member Lesley Doyle now based on the North Coast was also in action and ran a 1min 8sec personal best to finish in 36mins 12secs.