Report by Siobhán Grant
On Thursday, focus returned to the second race of the Hill and Dale series in our own backyard of Tollymore Forest Park. It doesn’t matter how many times you run around Tollymore, there is always a hill that you have chosen to forget existed until you are half way up it and cursing your great idea to follow this route.
Report by Siobhán Grant
The second instalment of the Fab 5 series was yet again blessed by beautiful clear blue skies and a dramatic drop in temperature as the sun went to bed and our young athletes powered on at Mary Peters Track on, late into Thursday evening.
Report by Siobhán Grant
One would have anticipated that the heavens would open and pour upon over 340 runners who had made the trip to Castlewellan as Newcastle AC rolled out Race One of this years Hill and Dale Series. However there was a change in the daily weather storyline as the grey clouds dispersed and Castlewellan Lake glistened under clear blue skies. However the weather in recent days had held itself within the ground and runners were quickly reminded of this at different points throughout the route when they skidded around corners and searched for any grip on the grass.
Always a popular race with the trail and mountain runners alike, Race 1 also opens itself to those who tentatively want to dip their toes in some off road adventures, maybe inspired by their participation in December’s Christmas Cracker, with the stunning backdrops of the forests and mountains of South Down surrounding them. They either finish and have caught the bug or decide spectating is way more fun.
Report by Siobhán Grant
As the number of baby lambs pracing around the fields increases, bright yellow daffodils line the roadside, the skies are blue and you can feel the heat in the sun, this all points to Spring however for the Newcastle AC Junior squad, it also means the arrival of Track and Field Season. The Nike Vaporflies are getting a few more road miles these days and the cross country spikes have been made redundant and replaced for track spikes whilst the trail shoes are just getting a run out at parkrun and family adventures in the mountains.
Report by Siobhan Grant
The Parkrun bug is spreading through the Newcastle AC junior camp and with the better weather and a few Easter Holiday lie ins already under the belt resulted in Castlewellan Parkrun welcoming a number of the Juniors for a Saturday Morning 5k.
270 people had the same idea as runners, walkers, dogs and prams gathered lakeside at 9.30am.
Patrick McDaid was the first of our Juniors to cross the line, securing 3rd place in 18.30, knocking another 12 seconds off his Parkrun PB.
Report by Siobhan Grant
Yasin Brannigan, fresh off his 5k PB at Queens a few weeks ago, packed his kit and his trainers to go on holiday and went out to prove that it doesn’t matter where you are, solid training will stand by you anywhere in the world.
Bristol Track Club 5K took place on Good Friday at Odd Down Cycle Circuit, Bath.
With a 3k and 5k option on the evening, Yasin opted for the 5k which consisted of 3 full loops and a little bit more of the circuit.