Described as the toughest, and the most stunning marathon by past runners of the event made Brooks Snowdonia Marathon Eryri a must for Bobbie Irvine this year.
Almost 2000 runners lined up at the start near the village of Llanberis in the heart of the Snowdonia National Park. Heavy rain and gusty winds prevailed throughout making the 3000ft of climbing over its 26 arduous miles particularly challenging.
Bobbie finished the race in a time of 3hr 56 min.
Marathon No. 125 for Gillian Barnhill and second this week. Gillian came home today in 3:45 and once again was first lady home.
Iain Hunter represented Seapark at the annual NIMAA [Northern Ireland Masters Athletics Association] Cross Country 2015
at DUB Road Playing Fields in Belfast. There was a strong field of local runners present as the event doubled up as the trials for the upcoming Masters British & Irish XC International. Iain finished well in a time of 32:02 over the sun drenched 8k course.
Once again a large party of runners from Seapark attended the popular GR8 Dundrum race run by Murlough AC. More than 800 runners descended on the village of Dundrum in fine weather for this 6th year of the event. The multi terrain route remains a firm favourite with Seapark runners and improvements on last year’s times for many of the runners today. Ian Clelland was first home for the men in a time of 51:32 and Gillian Cordner was first home for the ladies in a time of 61:58. 
Results – Male
Ian Cleland 51:32
Charlie McCormick 55:14
Bobbie Irvine 57:36
Mark Welsh 61:35
Colin McCrum 61:55
Gary Connolly 62:51
Phil Poag 68:52
Neill Harper 70:08
Allan Grant 71:54
Trevor Lamb 76:22
Philip Magill 79:15
Tony Barclay 99:24
Results – Female
Gillian Cordner 61:58
Caroline Salters 62:50
Gillian Strudwick 68:36
Qin Ni 68:40
Karen Poag 72:17
Ruth Hawkins 73:11
Angela McCormick 73:45
Lynette Magill 75:46
Alison Welsh 79:28
Marie Nicholson 79:59
Ann McCracken 81:53
Rebecca Tester 83:04
Sara Johnston 87:04
Karen McMaster 89:06
Gillian Barnhill and Brendan Rice from Seapark were off to an early start at the latest race in the East Antrim Marathon series on Wednesday 14th Oct. Today’s hilly 4 lap loop course took runners around the Greenisland, Monkstown Wood, Whiteabbey Shore Road areas. Despite feeling ill during the event Gillian Barnhill managed a strong finish and came in 1st lady (3:53). Brendan put in a strong steady run to finish in a time of 3hr 52 placing him 4th overall.
On Saturday 10th October 2015 Iain Hunter from Seapark was amongst the hundreds of athletes turned out for the first race of the 2015/16 Athletics Northern Ireland XC league, the Comber Cup XC, which was hosted by one of Northern Ireland’s oldest running clubs, Ballydrain Harriers.
Iain had a great run finishing well inside the top half of his category in a time of 34:01.
Marathon des Sables presentation to Rotary Club of Carrickfergus
The Rotary Club of Carrickfergus recently contacted Seapark AC after hearing about three of our members taking on the Marathon des Sables in April this year. They extended an invitation to speak about the experience at one of their regular lunchtime meetings in the Loughshore Hotel.
I put together a short presentation with some photographs, videos, statistics and facts about the 2015 MdS and how I prepared and trained for the event. I also took along the equipment I used, including backpack, sand gaiters, cooking equipment and some examples of meals. I also passed around some Saharan sand which I brought home with me, to demonstrate how fine it is compared to our local beach sand.
The Rotarians were all very interested in the whole event and asked a number of questions about specific training, insurance, funding and dealing with the conditions in the Sahara Desert.
I enjoyed the opportunity to speak about the MdS and relive my experiences and was equally delighted that the Rotary Club members enjoyed hearing about it.
Bobbie Irvine.
Colin McCrum gave it 100% at the 5th Athlone 3/4 Marathon on Sunday. Set in the heart of the Midlands around Lough Ree the course undulated for the first 10k before settling to a pleasant descent back into Glasson village. The measured course distance is an even 31.646km / 19.664 miles long !!! and Colin completed in a time of 2hr 48min – a 
PB for that distance.
In the 5k race Seapark ladies placed twice in the first 10 with Qin Ni coming in 7th place in an impressive time of 23:17 and Sarah Rea in 10th place in a time of 24:26. First home for Seapark in the 10k was Elisoa Crawford in a time of 43:32 with Caroline Salters 28 seconds behind on 44:00. This placed both ladies 4th and 5th overall.
The 10k line up included Becki Tester who has been attending a series of pre-event training workshops for the last 8 weeks. You can read more about Becki’s training journey on Belfast Telegraph website.
Results 10k:
Elisoa Crawford 43:32 (4th)
Alanah McCombe 44:00 (5th)
Ruth Hawkins 50:42
Roisin McConnell 54:41
Lynette Magill 55:26
Beth McCormick 55:56
Ann McCracken 58:41
Geraldine Kane 62:37
Karen Poag 59:54
Alison Welsh 60:00
Marie Nicholson 60:01
Chantel Daniels 60:02
Sara Johnston 60:26
Glenda Murray 60:34
Becki Tester 60:42
Julie Kelly 61:27
Emma Pearson 62:48
Karen McMaster 67:21
Carol Downey 67:58
Susan Kane 70:01
Results – 5k
Qin Ni 23:17 (7th)
Sarah Rea 24:26 (10th)