'˜Relay' great effort by Larne Junior Academy

On Friday evening, Larne Junior Academy members, friends, parents and coaches took part in a World 5K Challenge and World Marathon Challenge.
By The Newsroom
Published 24th Jun 2018, 20:14 BST
Updated 24th Jun 2018, 21:18 BST
The girls relay team.The girls relay team.
The girls relay team.

The aim being to try and beat the world record times for these events in a continuous relay.

The juniors raised £500 for the Mae Murray Foundation through sponsorship.

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The World Record over the 5K distance is 12 minutes, 37.35 seconds and was set by Kenenisa Bekele. First to try and break this record was the Primary School Girls Team, with team members Abbie Lavery, Clare Hagan, Evie Lavery, Keira Feeney, Madison Finnegan, Isla Allen, Taylor Black, Leah Kerr, Anna Montgomery and guest runner Charlotte Smyth. The girls team, did not beat the record but ran a fantastic time of 16 minutes, 21 seconds.

The boys relay team.The boys relay team.
The boys relay team.

Next up was the Primary School Boys Team made up of Luke Marcus, Caleb Morrow, Jack McKeen, Joel Shaw, Jack Somerville, Oliver Smyth, Joel Paine, Ross McNeill, Alexander Davidson, Adam Wallace, Ralph Wilson, Ollie Reid, Jonah Somerville and Oisin McAllister, with guest runner Riley Montgomery. The boys again did not beat the world record but achieved another fantastic time of 15 minutes and 49 seconds.

Next up was our team who were going to attempt to break the World Record Time for the Marathon. The world record set by Denis Kimetto stands at two hours, two minutes and 57 seconds.

There were 30 team members taking part, including Junior Academy secondary school members, coaches, mums and dads of the juniors and friends of Larne AC.

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The team was made up of junior members Robyn Park, Jamie Longmore, Katie Allen, Anna McKenna, Brooke Black, Kirsty Wilson, Eva Conway, Will Barham, Abi Barham, Katie Barham, Orla McRandal, Esther McBride, Hannah Shaw, Jane Hagan and Sam Drummond. Along with the coaching team of Sammy Drummond, Julie Allen, Rhonda Montgomery, Emma McKeen and Ian Brennan. A big thank you to Barry Morrow, Lorna Feeney, Roger Barham, Emma Somerville, Andrew Davidson, Roisin Lavery, Nicky Marcus, Ciara Montgomery, Gary Montgomery, Susan Nicholson and Dan Nicholson. Larne Athletic Club Chairman Billy Thompson was invited to start the challenge by running the first lap.

Although the world record was not broken, the team ran the 26.2 mile distance in a time of two hours, 13 minutes and 36 seconds.