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3rd January 2015

Another great day out with Seapark at the Born 2 Run Kilbroney Forest run. This is only the 3rd run on the Athletic calender for 2015 and already Seapark have showed they are committed to running / racing, with some members having taken part in 2 of the 3 events. The hilly run was no match for the Seapark crew it was just another run in the park ! as the results show, thanks to all the hill training ! Results as follows: Bobbie Irvine 46:11, Gary Connolly 48:56, Mark Welsh 51:30, Gillian Cordner 53:38, Neil Harper 58:37, Karen Waring 60:22, Alison Welsh 63:54. Well done Seapark!

1st January 2015

A great start to 2015, 2 races on the calender today with Seapark members taking part in both events, Titanic 5km - 10km road race and the annual Race over the Glens.

Race over the Glens

Results for the Seapark members at the Race Over the Glens: Ian Clelland  50:36, Bobbie Irvine  51:27, Lynda Shannon 52:41, Gary Connolly 57:27, Gillian Cordner 58:37, Alison Welsh 1:09:17,  Mark Welsh 1:09:18. Well done folks those hill sessions must be working !

Results for the Seapark members at the Titanic 5km and 10km race. Sharon Nesbitt 37:56 5km, Helena Perry 38:04 5km, Allan Grant  50:52 10km, Tony Barclay 1:03:06 10km, Gareth Hamill 1:03:06 10km, Phill Magill unfortunatly dnf and opted to help give support, well done all great running and to Phill for the extra encouragement.

31st Dec 2014

Another great day in the running calender, the last day of 2014 saw East Antrim Marathon's organise another splendid Marathon, starting at the loughshore Jordanstown, the route followed the coastal path into Belfast past the Odyssey Arena and out to the boat club at Holywood / Cultra a 13.1 mile route, it was there that the runners turned around and followed the same route back, there was a great turn out from the local Marathon running community, there were also Marathon runners from England and Southern Ireland who travelled to take part. East Antrim Marathons has proved to be a great succes since its first Marathon on the same date last year 31st Dec 2013.

3 members of Seapark AC took part in the Marathon Bobby Irvine, Gillian Cordner and Gary Connolly. The race was a special race for one of the Seapark members ! Gillian Cordner who celebrated today completing her 100th Marathon ! well done Gillian.

Gillian at the Finish line of her 100th Marathon

27th Dec 2014

Congratulations go to Seapark AC's Marathon Woman, Gillian Cordner who today completed her 99th Marathon on a tough out and back course in Clontarf Dublin. The Marathon was hosted by East of Ireland Marathon Club.

Gillian who only started running in 2011 purly for recreational purposes suddenly found her niche and has excelled over the last few years in all running distances from 5km right through to Ultra running and multi day events. Gillian set herself a goal to reach 100 Marathons. She has completed 68 Marathons and Ultras in 2014 alone. To date Gillian has achieved Podium places at many events representing Seapark AC, too many to mention. Gillian, also a member of The Marathon Club Of Ireland is looking forward to becoming a member of the Elite 100 Marathon Club Of Ireland. She will hopefully achieve this major goal on the 31st of December 2014 at a local Marathon hosted by East Antrim Marathon Club. This will be her 69th marathon in a calender year! An Amazing Achievment

Gillian Cordner having just completed her 99th Marathon

27th Dec 2014

Seapark AC Perform well at Christmas Cracker ! Check out some Photos ! Results Below !!

353 pairs of Runners took part in the Annual Castellwellan Christmas Cracker hosted By Newcastle Athletics Club, The run once again proved to be a great success. Below are the results from members of Seapark who took part.

Seapark AC Christmas Cracker Results 27th Dec 2014

Bobbie Irvine & Richard Hetherington, position 106, 72min 26sec, Ian Clelland & Ross Davis, position 147, 76min 03sec, Mark Welsh & Charlie McCormick, position 166, 77min 55sec, Andrew Smyth & Alanah McCombe, position 251, 87min 09sec, Allan Grant & Angela McCormick, position 277, 90min 06sec, Neill Harper & Yumi Aoki, position 314, 98min 44sec, Vivien Davidson & Marie Nicholson, position 324, 101min 40sec, Alison Welsh & Philippa Bell, position 345, 109min 21sec, Karen McMaster & Ann McCracken, position 350, 113min 54sec.

21/12/14

Seapark AC get in the festive spirit
On Saturday 20th December, Seapark AC members travelled to Tollymore, Co Down to compete in the ‘Born2Run’ 10k forest series. Set in the scenic Tollymore Forest park, 450 athletes completed the undulating course included road and trail and was thoroughly enjoyed by all. Finishing times as follows: Bobbie Irvine 44:19, Mark Welsh 49:21, Neill Harper 54:50, Philip Poag 57:38, Karen Waring  1:00:27 and Alison Welsh 1:05:15.

Also on Saturday 20th December, Seapark was well represented at Carrickfergus Parkrun 5k. Brendan Rice was third to cross the line in a new Personal Best time of 20:21. Other finishing times: Jonathan Brown finished in 24:00, Charlie McCormack 25:47, Allan Grant 26:27, Andrew Smyth 26:37, Roisin McConnell 26:53, Julie-Ann Mitchell 28:15 (PB), Karen Poag 28:16, Gavin Irvine, who travelled from Edinburgh to run the course, 29:00 and Tony Barclay 37:26.

On Sunday 21st December, 4 Seapark AC athletes travelled to Camlough Lake, outside Newry to run the Annual ‘Race around the Lake’. The 7 mile off-road course was undulating and took runners around the outskirts of the Lake. Barclay, a visually impaired runner, was guided around the course by Colm Fearon and was joined by Geraldine Kane. Barclay and Kane crossed the line together in 86:45.

Seapark AC meets on a Tuesday and Thursday evening at 7:00pm at Carrickfergus Ampitheatre. Runners of all abilities are welcome to come along and will be given a very warm welcome.

Dec 2014

Seapark AC produce a week of personal bests

Seapark AC members have once again produced great results at a range of events this week from 5k to back to back marathons.

First up, on Friday 5th December Gillian Cordner ran the Clonakilty Waterfront Directors Marathon in Clonakilty, Co Cork. The 26.2 mile course saw competitors complete 3.5 loops, through the countryside and along the coastline of West Cork, crossing the Dunmore Causeway and around the  stunning blue flag beach of Inchydoney Island. Cordner completed the course in 3:50:56. Cordner then went on to run the Marathon course again the following day, on Saturday 6th December, accompanied by Gary Connolly, also of Seapark AC. This was a particularly special day for Connolly as it was his 100th Marathon and he crossed the line in 3:45:09, followed by Cordner, completing another back to back, in 4:03: 17.

Incredibly, Connolly only ran his first Marathon in Belfast in 2000. He then continued to run several marathons a year between 2000 – 2012, before stepping up and significantly increasing his mileage at the start of 2013. In 2013 Connolly ran 27 marathons and to date, in 2014 has run a staggering 45, including multi-day and ultra marathon events! This is an amazing achievement and Seapark AC would like to congratulate Connolly and wish him all the best for many more miles in the future!

Closer to home, on Saturday 6th December, 7 members of Seapark AC took part in the first of the ‘Born2Run’ Forest Series in Minnowburn, Belfast. The 10k trail run started and finished on the Mary Peters Track and was enjoyed by all with results as follows: Neil Harper 54:00 (PB), Angela McCormick 54:42, Alison Welsh 59:47, Mark Welsh 59:46, Philip Magill 1:03:21, Karen McMaster 1:06:45 and Tony Barclay 1:13:54.

Also on Saturday 6th December, Richard Heatherington ran the Bushy 5k Parkrun in London, crossing the line in 20:35. Closer to home, Charlie McCormick and James Brown ran the Carrickfergus 5k Parkrun course. McCormick was second home in 20:36 and James Brown crossed the line in 29:02.

Seapark AC meets on a Tuesday and Thursday evening at 7:00pm at Carrickfergus Ampitheatre. Runners of all abilities are welcome to come along and will be given a very warm welcome.

21/09/14

Jog Carrickfegus programme #5 commenced Tuesday 19th August. More than 100 local people turned up to take up jog/run for the first time.

-2013;

Seapark AC athletes travelled to Tullymore forest Park, Co Down to compete in the first of the ‘Born2Run’ ‘Run Forest Run’ 10k series on Saturday 21st December. Set in the beautiful landscape of Tullymore forest, the 10k route took runners along an undulating course over tarmac and forest paths and the event had a distinctly festive feel with Santa ringing the bell to start the proceedings!

Amidst a field of over 300 runners, Seapark AC achieved fantastic results as follows. First home for Seapark AC and running his first trail race was our youngest member Kyle McGookin who crossed the line in a superb 43:19, finishing first in his age category and 28th overall. Bobbie Irvine followed a mere one second behind in 43:20 and third across the line for the club was Gillian Cordner, in 46:51, fifth woman overrall and second in her age category. Gary Connolly was next to finish in 47:03, with Karen Poag in 57:05, Karen Waring in 1:00:00 and Neil Harpur in 1:04:03. Karen Poag’s husband Phil also ran the event, finishing in a commendable time of 1:04:57. Fantastic results all round!

Seapark AC would like to take this opportunity to wish all their members and their families a very Merry Christmas and here’s to an enjoyable year of running in 2014!

| Leave a comment Seapark AC athletes compete in range of events

Posted on January 26, 2014

Seapark AC athletes compete in range of events

Seapark AC athletes have had a busy and successful few weeks in the run up to Christmas, with members competing in a range of distance events and achieving podium places.

First up, a new member of Seapark AC, having just recently graduated from the ‘Couch to 5k’ group, Ann McCracken, represented Seapark for the first time and celebrated a huge personal achievement by running her first 10k in the Saul Griddle race on24th November. Over one hundred athletes took on the tough road race in Downpatrick, County Down; hosted by Saul GAC with the assistance of East Down AC. McCracken crossed the finish line in 63:30, a fantastic time and hopefully the first of many!

On 1st December, Action on Hearing Loss NI welcomed running enthusiasts from all over the province to their inaugural 5 mile race, which was organised to raise funds for the local charity. Kyle McGookin represented Seapark AC in this event, which saw competitors run from Portside Inn, Duncrue to Hazelbank Park, Netwownabbey and back, along the shore towpath. This was a flat and fast course and true to form, McGookin put in a strong performance. Aged 15 and one of Seapark’s youngest members, McGookin crossed the line in a superb 30:56 finishing first in his age category and 7th overall – a great result McGookin well done!

Further afield, on 6th and 7th December, three Seapark members travelled to Clonakilty, Co Cork, to compete two back to back marathons – Clonakilty Waterfront Directors Marathon on 6th December, followed by the Clonakilty Waterfront Marathon on 7th December. An event not for the faint hearted, this was Connolly and Cordner’s fourth time running back to back marathons in 2013 and the first time Irvine had taken on this challenge.

The marathon course starts at the Waterfront and runs along mostly coastal roads and paths, taking runners through Castlefreke forest park, Rathbarry and Dunmore Causeway. The course is best described as undulating, with several challenging uphills, quickly followed by unforgiving steep descents. The Directors Marathon on 6th December saw a small field of 20 runners compete the course, with the Seapark runners putting in strong performances with Cordner first female home in 3:55 and Connolly and Irvine both crossing the line in 3:56. The following day the runners crossed the line together with Irvine finishing in 4:04:30 and Connolly and Cordner in 4:04:31. All three runners agreed this was a great weekend running and are looking forward to the next back to back challenge.

Bobbie Irvine ran the popular ‘Parkrun’ 5k series event on 14th December, this time at the Falls Park course. This was Irvine’s 46th Parkrun event and once again he had a great run, finishing second overrall and first in his age category, in a time of 20:37. Roll on number 50!!

Seapark celebrated runners’ achievement in their annual Prizegiving, held in the Knockagh Lodge on 14th December. A chance for personal and club successes to be recognised, as well as a chance for all members to come together for a festive social night out, this was, once again, a great night for everyone. All members are to be congratulated for their achievements throughout the year, and prizewinners are as follows:

Handicap races: 2.75 mile – 1st Caroline Salters, 2ndAndy Smyth, 3rdSarah Rea. 5 mile 1st Karen Poag, 2nd Warren Cosgrove, 3rd Gary Connolly. 5k 1st Mark Welsh, 2nd Nicki Craig, 3rd Julie Ann Mitchell. 10k 1st Julie Ann Mitchell, 2nd Wesley Wallace, 3rd Gillian Strudwick. Overrall in the handicap races – fastest female Gillian Strudwick and fastest male Mark Welsh. Kyle McGookin was presented with Junior Runner of the year trophy and Bobbie Irvine, club coach and Vivien Davidson, ‘Couch to 5k’ coach, were presented with a present from the club, to recognise their time and commitment dedicated to the club throughout the year.

LATEST NEWS !
Ian Clelland 1st home for Seapark in the Race over the Glens

Gillian Cordner completed her 100th Marathon

1st Race 0f 2015


Cracking results by Seapark at the Christmas Cracker !!
Check out the Photos and Results !!

Gillian Cordner has just completed her 99th Marathon today in Dublin