Pegasus AC out and about Northern Ireland!

Pegasus AC has been well represented throughout NI over the past 2 weeks, running competitions from Ballymoney right down to Newcastle. Most members made it out at sometime during the usually less busy summer period, with no less than 8 members in action.

The K.K. McArthur Half Marathon and 10km took place in Dervock with the July heat wave in full effect, but that didn’t deter Shirley Park, Linda Gillen, Pamela Cochrane and Tess McComb also taking part in the 10km run and it turned out to be a very successful time for our women, with Shirley and Linda taking a marvellous 1 st and 2 nd, not forgetting Pamela and Tess also made a great top 4 finish for Pegasus, showing the strength of the ever improving ladies, with the weekly Monday night sessions a necessary component to their improvement. Well done!!! The 2 other representatives were the “ Marathon man” Harry Reilly and Dervock’s top runner Paul Gray, both managing to finish well in the top half of the 61 strong field.

The next race was the Riada 5 Road race organised by Springwell RR with another 6 Pegasus athletes making it out for this very popular race which attracted a record 152 runners from all over “Norn Iron”! Peter Bell managed a very good 9 th position in the Veteran category with 31:33, a season’s best. Linda Gillen conjured a PB of 39:11 on this usually difficult course, and is going from strength to strength. Tess McComb managed an excellent PB time of 39:26 finishing as one of the top Veteran ladies. The normal Pegasus’ leading lady Shirley Park seemed off colour, with her legs tiring after the swift start she made but ended up with a fighting 41:14. Lynda Gray finished with a competitive time of 42:31 considering she has only returned to competitive action. Other runners competing were Pamela Cochrane, who entered her first 5 mile race along with Alison McAfee. Pamela managed 43:02 which will certainly improve with more experience which can be similarly said with Alison, who completed the course in 48:36.

Lastly, Pegasus junior Jason Wilson competed in the Uphill Slieve Donard which incorporated the World Mountain Trophy Selection race and the 7 th round of the NI Mountain Racing Association championship organised by the ever capable Newcastle AC. Conditions were horrific to put it mildly, with fog restricting the view from half way up the mountain to 20 metres! The juniors had to negotiate through a 4.6 mile course winding through the mountain forest and climbing along the infamous Mourne Walls. With Jason only back in action after a lengthy knee ligament injury, he was in an uphill battle to find a place on the team, but managed to finish 6 th, an agonising 3 seconds off a position on the team going to Turkey… He still managed to take the 1 st reserve spot and if a runner pulls out for whatever reason, he may find himself on the team! Visit www.pegasusac.org.uk for more information on club matters, with details on Shirley Park’s starter programme to help woman progress from running novices to club runners in a matter of weeks.