We visit the Glens, Mallusk and the parks – all the craic over the jump!

Warmup
Hello to all our newer members – this is your roundup, a weekly insight into just what we’ve been getting up to over the last seven days. All you need to do list your club as Dub Runners and you can get your name in lights right here!  I have heard, that recently in Africa, they tried an experiment where they blessed the rains – it was a Toto failure.  Now that’s out of the way – here’s some roundup goodness!

Race Over the Glens
The Christmas leftovers continue with this classic New Year’s Day rave. Starting in Glenariff Forest Park, the first two and a half miles twist uphill following the scenic trail into the valley, before a final sharp uphill finish. With an elevation change of 700ft we had two runners taking part:

Cracking running from the pair of Dubbers – a lovely morning to go racing in the glens and to kick start the new year and decade. Apparently, there is an infamous piper, who, for the novelty factor, plays the bagpipes on top of the glen during the race! Brilliant running and some brilliant times all round. Even got a photo to share with us all:

Mathieson Cup and Shield
The first angry country race of the year, and now a staple on the local XC scene. Over by the motorway it is all mud, followed by and steep banks of mud. Usually held on the coldest day of the year (who remembers last year?!), but not this year – it was a balmy 6 degrees (tropical)! Who braved the mud in 2020?

Nice running, jumping and tiptoeing folks with three laps of fun for the ladies and veteran men, while four for Steve in the Cup. A nice little podium spot for Claire who fought back from a distance fourth place at the end of her second lap – brilliant. Just outstanding running from your all though, the biblical rain on Saturday ensured for a particularly muddy and slippery race. Thanks to our spy for the photo too:

EAMS World Half Marathon Day
Monday was World Half Marathon Day, being 13th day of the first month, you could write that as 13.1 – which is also the digits required to make up the distance of a half marathon! Early first thing on a Monday morning you’d have seen runners start at Carrick Castle and make their way to Gideons Green before making a turn and heading back to the Castle. With Storm Brendan looming large, his namesake plus one took to the course:

You’re both not going to let a weather warning and storm put you off – brilliant running from you pair. A pair of first place finishes too – which considering that wind is something else. Plus, who wants to run on a Monday morning, so you’ve got that over the rest of us too! Great going, thanks for the photos too:

parkrun
With a warning of torrential rain and winds in place – it was a brave person who made the choice of parkrun this weekend. It was a story of two halves, the wind was strong at the beginning, but thankfully for most, the rain stayed off just long enough to complete the 5k courses. Let’s see who ventured outside:

28 blue tops out this week – still seeing really great numbers as we continue into January. Now, it would be remiss of us to not mention Andrew Mc Dermott who set his new all-time 5k personal best time of 18:51 on New Year’s Day – astounding work and what a way to start the new year! Now, tip your hat this weekend, as setting new course PBs was Roisin and Amy (at Waterworks) and Ronan O (at Sixmilewater). We also had a trio of tourists out and about including Laura (at Queen’s), Alastair (at Stormont) and Brendan (at Colin Glen). Photo time:

Warmdown
That’s a wrap for this week. Don’t forget that it doesn’t matter about times, this is all about highlight the achievements – big and small of everyone in the club. So don’t be afraid to send in your photos for everyone to celebrate with you!  Did you know: the word “diputseromneve” might look silly, but backwards its even more stupid.

Live long and prosper.

Disclaimer: Every effort was taken to ensure the results above are correct (those resolutions didn’t last too long did they??) If you’d also like to make a complaint, then you’ll automatically volunteer yourself for writing duties