East Coast AC mother and son pair take on 10k race

Karl looked strong as he neared the finish line, running well over what was a challenging course, clocking a finish time of 58:41 which secured him 415th place. Jacque Craig was placed 244th in the ladies category when she crossed the line in a time of 1:10:19.

Also on Friday, NI and Ireland international Justin Maxwell lined up for the start of the annual Energia 24 hour race at Mary Peters Track in Belfast.

Justin started off well; after six hours he was in 6th place and working his way through the field with 39 miles covered. However, after about 85 miles, he began to suffer from the effects of a damaged hamstring which resulted in severe swelling behind the knee; determined to cover 100 miles he battled on and went through the landmark distance in approximately 17 hours.

At this point, he stepped off the track after guidance from medical staff.

Also on Saturday, Stephen Whelan took part in the Browns Bay Beast Triathlon, described as the toughest Olympic distance triathlon in NI. The event comprised a 1.5k swim in the waters of Browns Bay followed by a very undulating and demanding 40k bike and two-lap hilly 10k run.

Stephen most definitely ‘beat the beast’ when he took a top 20 position (18th place), after an impressive overall finish time of 2:37:29 for all three disciplines.

Meanwhile, nearly 300 athletes descended on the village of Dervock for the annual half marathon.

John Steele impressed in what was only his second attempt at the distance, covering the 13.1mile route in a time of 1:45:55 (83rd place).

Sandy Plumb had a good outing also when he finished under the infamous two hour barrier with almost two minutes to spare, finishing in a time of 1:58:12 and securing 133rd place overall.