Sun Shines on Fairhill Five
Last Wednesday evening saw Ballymena Runners host one of their main events of the year, the now annual Fairhill Five Mile Road Race. On a route around the town centre streets the event was held in warm and sunny conditions which might have made for a great evening for the hundreds of spectators gathered to watch the spectacle, but it was not as comfortable for the assembled field of runners.
There were almost four hundred runners taking part in the main five mile event with another hundred tackling the supporting 2.5 mile fun run.
On Wednesday 1st June 2016, nearly four hundred competitors took to the start line of the annual Fairhill 5 mile road race in Ballymena, a well-organised event hosted by Ballymena Runners.
In warm sunny conditions the field set off on a reasonably flat and fast two lap route, starting and finishing in the Town Centre.
From the early stages of the race it looked as if the winner would only come from two athletes who led the main field, Scott Rankin of Foyle Valley and local man Mark McKinstry representing North Belfast Harriers. The pair went shoulder to shoulder to the first half of the race but it was Rankin who made the break just over the half way mark, forging ahead to cross the line as winner in 25 mins 1 secs with McKinstry holding o to second spot in 25 mins 34 secs, repeating his finishing from the 2015 race but considerably faster this time round. The pair finished well ahead of 3rd and 4th placed runners Acorn’s Darrell McKee and Kyle Doherty, city of Derry.
In the ladies proceedings there was local interest with Ballymena and Antrim athlete Pauline Thom in the lead group for the first half of the race. In similar form as the men’s race the decisive move was made in the second half of the race with Thom making a break to reel in Jodi Smith of North Down to win in 30 mins 38 secs with Smith having to settle for second spot in 31 mins 1 secs.
In the associated 2.5 mile race, there were some glittering performances from some up and coming stars. Luke Kelly (North Belfast Harriers) led the field home in 1st place, while young Sophie McCluney (Club Unknown) took 1st place in the ladies race.
With Ballymena Runners obviously heavily committed to organisational and marshalling duties the main challenge came through Michael Bennett who managed a top ten finish in 8th overall in 27 mins 57 secs with Richard Agnew next in 28 mins 8 secs in 11th overall with the pair 2nd and 3rd in the MV40 category. Richard’s brother Rodney was next winning his age category in 30 mins 19 secs in 27th spot. First home for the Ballymena Ladies was Judith Worthington in 35 mins 37 secs.
Full Club times and placings as listed;
8, Michael , Bennett, 00:27:57, 11, Richard, Agnew, 00:28:08, 27, Rodney, Agnew, 00:30:19, 36, Rick, Hill, 00:31:18, 43, Nigel, McClintock, 00:32:00, 48, Rodney, Livingstone, 00:32:21, 50, Nicholas, Read, 00:32:15, 66, David, Hamilton, 00:33:19, 67, Derek, Agnew, 00:33:14, 68, John, Donnelly, 00:33:24, 70, Daniel, McClelland, 00:33:26, 75, Colin, Hoey, 00:34:08, 76, John, McClelland, 00:34:06, 81, Kevin, Duffin, 00:34:20, 92, Judith, Worthington, :35:37, 109, Fintan, Neeson, 00:36:27, 113, David, Nicholson, 00:36:40, 129, Chris, Magill, 00:37:37, 138, Alastair, Donaghy, 00:37:56, 143, Dr Julian, Kennedy, 00:37:59, 149, John, Neeson, 00:38:31, 161, Tony, Patterson, 00:38:26, 171, Moyra, McKinley, 00:39:07, 201, Karen, Purvis, 00:40:40, 205, Karen, McCaughey, 00:40:58, 213, Nigel, Davison, 00:41:37, 215, Pascal, O'Sullivan, 00:41:49, 227, Tara, Agnew, 00:42:44, 232, Marion, Connon, 00:42:57, 237, Kelly, Courtney, 00:43:19, 242, Geoffrey, McClean, 00:43:21, 244, Brigid, Quinn, :43:52, 250, Deborah, Kerr, 00:43:58, 274, Cathy, Boyd, 00:45:18, 276, Ann, Erwin, 00:45:28, 277, Karen, Hunter, 00:45:28, 280, Harry, Armstrong, 00:45:20, 284, Sinead, Scullion, 00:45:31, 286, Helen, Beattie, 00:46:10, 291, James, Galbraith, 00:46:43, 294, Patricia, MacRory, 00:46:48, 295, Joanne, Brown Kerr, 00:47:01, 296, Heather, Steele, 00:47:03, 307, Wendy, Moore, 00:48:16, 308, Derek, Power, 00:48:16, 309, Heather, Birrell, 00:48:11, 320, Laura, Hillis, 00:49:37, 321, Mary, Duffin, 00:49:36, 322, Iris, McDowell, 00:49:47, 323, Stacey, McGerty, 00:50:16, 324, Yvette, McClean, 00:50:17, 325, John, McGerty, 00:50:17, 329, Gillian, Kernohan, 00:49:56, 338, Rhonda, Morris, 00:50:43, 339, Sonia, Gormley, 00:51:29, 340, Linda, Livingstone, 00:51:29, 343, Sam, McIlwaine, 00:52:29, 345, Helen, Drummond, 00:52:43, 349, Lynn, Tennant, 00:53:18, 350, Bernie, Drain, 00:53:21, 355, Kate, Dempsey, 00:53:54, 357, Christine, Knox, 00:54:21, 359, Helen, Cavan, 00:55:03, 360, Lauren, McClintock, 00:54:43, 361, Helen, Stevenson, 00:55:12, 364, Stephanie, Read, 00:56:04, 369, Maria, McKeown, 00:59:19, 371, Emma, McWilliams, 01:02:25,