Portadown Running Club

🏃🏻‍♂️🏃‍♀️Parkrun Takeover! 🏃🏻‍♂️🏃‍♀️

PRC will be at Craigavon Lakes tomorrow morning to give the City Park team a well deserved week off from Parkrun duties!

As well as filling every volunteer role, we’ll also have a full team of pacers on hand to help anyone chasing a new PB or aiming for a specific finish time. ⏱️

Whether you’re aiming to beat your best time, taking it easy, walking the course, or joining your very first parkrun, we’d love to see you there! 🏃🏻‍♂️🏃‍♀️

parkrunday this Saturday will be much simpler for the core-team as Portadown Running Club are fulfilling all the volunteer roles and also providing pacers!

Thanks to PRC for their ongoing support for our event ☺️

🏃🏻‍♂️🏃‍♀️Race Report🏃🏻‍♂️🏃‍♀️

Our first stop on our week-late review is Lisburn for the Half Marathon and 10K event, 10 runners represented the club across the Half and 10km distances and faced tough conditions on what was a warm Wednesday evening. The heat proved little hindrance to Naomi Allen though who stormed her way to an impressive new PB! Well done folks! 👏

Thursday night brought the penultimate race of the Hill and Dale series, Hen and C**k. 8 PRC runners took on the short but steep course, with notable performances from Richard Hammond, Rachel Winter and Ania Bennett who all had top 10 placements in their age categories. Well done folks! ⛰️🏃🏻‍♂️🏃‍♀️⛰️

Saturday saw our own Coach Jo back in action at Atlas Running’s Last One Standing event at Florence Court. Representing as part of Team Ireland in the national race, Jo took the heat and tough conditions in stride on her way to completing 18 laps of the course and clocking up an impressive 120km! 💪🏃‍♀️

While Jo was finishing up on Sunday morning, a team of PRC ladies were in Belfast for the Women’s 10Km. Julie Beattie ran a sterling performance as the 60 minute pacer and Noelene Marshall also nabbed herself a new PB. Well done ladies! 🏃‍♀️🏃‍♀️

🏃🏻‍♂️🏃‍♀️Race Report: PRC Internal 10K 🏃🏻‍♂️🏃‍♀️

On Monday 15th June, (yes I’m running behind on updates, bear with me 😅) Craigavon Lakes would see the return of the PRC 10K, the second distance in our internal race series.

These races are a great chance for members to test their speed on a free timed event or enjoy a social run on an evening that always gets a great turnout.

With the sun shining and conditions near oergevt, but for the various swarms of flies!, the course delivered some rapid times as right runners stormed their way to new personal bests, no small feat in such conditions! 💪🏃🏻‍♂️🏃‍♀️

Congratulations to our podium placers 👏:

Men’s Podium
🏅 Richard Hammond - 42:15
🥈 Aidan Jones - 43:02
🥉 Richard Templeton - 43:37

Women’s Podium
🏅 Rachel Craig - 47:40
🥈 Amy Dunlop - 48:01
🥉 Paula Haire - 52:10

Special mention also to Mark Winter, Jonny Cunningham, Dawson Jones, Seamus Mallon, Sarah Haughian, Amy Dunlop, Stuart Patterson and Jon Kerr who all nabbed personal bests! 🔥🏃🏻‍♂️🏃‍♀️

From first across the line to the final finish, it was a night full of effort and encouragement. To top it all off, a few lucky runners also walked away with some highly coveted spot prizes!

Well done to everyone who took part and to the club’s committees and volunteers for putting it all together, here’s to more club racing to come! 👏
🏃🏻‍♂️🏃‍♀️🏃🏻‍♂️🏃‍♀️

🏃🏻‍♂️🏃‍♀️ Race Report 🏃🏻‍♂️🏃‍♀️

We begin last week’s adventures in the Mournes with Race 7 of the Hill and Dale Series at Millstone. This would be a race that rewarded patience as the crew displayed some strong climbing before a strong headwind greeted them on their descent. Performances to note include Mark Winter and Oonagh Mac Oscar crossing the line as first PRC male and female, with Oonagh also placing 6th in the F35 category. Well done folks! 👏🏃🏻‍♂️🏃‍♀️

Closer to sea level, mother daughter duo Joanne and Katie Weir were in Belfast for the CS Lewis 5 Mile Challenge. Both were rewarded for their efforts on the multi terrain course with a Lion bar and a chance to meet Aslan himself! Well done ladies 👏🦁🏃‍♀️🏃‍♀️

Saturday saw some of the PRC Crew, who made it all the way to Poland, take on the Babis Góra Ultramarathon. The event consisted of repeated ascents of the Babia Góra peak, the highest peak in the Beskid Żywiecki region, on a course which offered rugged tracks and technical mountain terrain. The club was well represented across many of the distances on over with John Martin and Richard Hammond completing the 4x challenge, Richard Templeton completing the 3x and Ania Bennett and Simon Hamilton competing the 2x course. Well done folks, that’s some serious elevation! 👏🏃🏻‍♂️🏃‍♀️⛰️

🏃‍♀️🏃Race Report🏃🏃‍♀️

We had a fabulous group of women down in Dublin for the BEST TIME EVER! at the Vhi Women’s Mini Marathon. This 10k, which has been run since 1983, saw over 28,000 women running this year. Our 13 ladies made a day of it, the party starting on the mini bus down to Dublin💃. An amazing day was had, especially for mother and daughter duo Joanne W and Katie W who both brought home new pbs🤩. Fabulous running by the ultimate girl squad 👑.

Two runners headed to Manchester for the AJ Bell Great Manchester Run, competing in the half marathon distance. This exciting route passed by some iconic city sites such as Man City AND Man United football grounds, and Coronation Street for those who like a different kind of drama🎭. Well done Simon M and Paul M, it looked like a great time away👍. A special shoutout to Paul M who also ran a brilliant new pb ⭐️!

Beth G headed over to the Newmarket half marathon in England. In the heart of Sulfolk this course brought Beth along a fast one-lap tarmac course through the rolling countryside and past some iconic horse racing landmarks 🐎. The odds were in favour of PRC’s Beth (and some great training was in her legs 💪) and she thus ran an awesome new half marathon pb ⭐️. Great racing Beth 👍!

This weekend we also had Rachel W taking on the Norn Iron 100 Mini. Now, do not let the word ‘mini’ distort the truth that this was in fact not a short race, as it totalled an epic 37 miles 🤓. Rachel started her run in Dungiven and ran all the way to Gortin, and what a class job of it she did. Rachel finished 3rd female, another podium finish for a podium performance 🥉. What a star ⭐!

Taking the more scenic route, Mark W took part in the full Norn Iron 100. Again, to tell the truth and give him his dues, this race was actually 106 miles (Mark can explain how those extra 6 miles take effect). The route was a point to point run from Ballintoy to Gortin, taking in 3,800m elevation 🫪. His stellar endurance, whilst unfathomable to some, is a testament to his dedicated and meticulous training over the last few months. Well done Mark 🤩!

Great work everyone 👍

🏃‍♀️Race Report - PRC Internal 5k Race🏃

On Wednesday night (27th) we hosted our internal club 5k race at Craigavon Lakes. We host this event every year as a way for our runners to enjoy a free timed event of which they can test their speed or run a social 5 with club friends. The hot weather is lovely when you’re sitting in the garden but our runners will tell you how hard it is to run in. Despite the heat 64 athletes came well hydrated and ready to run 🏁.

First over the line was Stephen M in a time of 19.11, followed one second later by Gareth K in 19.12 with Adam M securing 3rd male in a time of 19.19 ⭐️. Our first female home was Naomi A in a time of 21.53, followed by Rachel C with 22.08 then Ellen M in 22.23⭐️. Those on the podium weren’t the only one celebrating as we had 12 pbs! I’d like to present some kudos to the following for their fabulous pbs: Pauline M, Naomi A, Naomi W, Beth G, Chris McC, Aidan J, Katie W, Jayne V, Rachel C, Stuart P, Sarah Q and Kev T 🔥

A special thanks to the coaching committee for organising this event for our runners. Thanks also to the steering committee for providing the prizes and post race snacks and water. Finally a big thank you to the volunteers who helped by marshalling or by pacing their fellow club mates. 👏👏👏

What a great night everyone! 🤩

🏃‍♀️🏃Race Report🏃🏃‍♀️ [part two - if you’re reading this first, head to our profile to read part one as well]

Down the road PRC had a 10/10 day at the Newry half marathon and 10k. This is a fast and flat route with both races heading out the dual carriageway towards Warrenpoint and then back to Newry. Our runners were earning kudos all around as they came home with pbs. The fabulous five runners were Stuart P (in the half marathon) and Ellen M, Paul M, Rachelle S and Seamus M (in the 10k)🤩. A special mention to Ellen M who also achieved 1st place in her age category 👑. Amazing running you five. We also had Sinead M running the 10k with a very strong performance 👏. We are one very proud club!

At 6pm on Saturday evening we had 8 runners at the start of the Argory Twilight Endurance Challenge. This entailed athletes completing as many 3.3km loops as they could within the 3hr, 6hr or 12hr races. At 9pm the 3hr challenge finished with Simon M completing a fabulous 23.1k 👏. 3 hrs later, as the fairytale goes, the clock struck midnight and the 6 hour race came to an end. Richard H had racked up an impressive 56.1k and secured 2nd male 💪. Janine M, in her debut ultra, ran a fantastic 46.2k and placed 1st female 👑. This reporter can confidently say that this is sure to be the first of many for Janine! Finally at 6am when some folk began to rise from their beds (not me 😴), the 12hr challenge ended and our last five runners stopped their watches. Both with a staggering 89.1k we had Mark Winter and Chris W who finished 2nd and 3rd male respectively 🤌. With a mighty 79.2k complete Jo Mac and John M came next 🔥. A special mention to Jo who came 1st female 👑. Our final runner was Mark J who ran an impressive 66k 💪. We are all in awe of these fabulous results guys, well done!

Great running this past week everyone! 👍

🏃‍♀️🏃 Race Report 🏃🏃‍♀️ [part one]

Pour your beverage of choice and take a seat, we’ve got another long report after a glorious week of running for PRC.

Starting with the 5th race of the H&D series at Luke’s Mountain on Thursday. Nearly 300 competitors took on this race which involves a tricky, rocky downhill with amble opportunities to fall, of which Jon K availed of, resulting in a nasty dislocated finger 🫪. Notable performances include top 10 age category finishes for Oonagh M and Rachel W. This reporter can also confirm that despite what the picture on this post suggests, Tim did run the race with both shoes on. Well done on Thursday and good luck at Donard this week everyone 💪!

In the Cooley mountains on Saturday, Simon H took part in the IMRA Cooley Half Marathon. This tough course packed almost 900m climb into the 21k over the trails of the quiet Cooley hills. All taken in his stride, Simon ran a fabulous race on a cloudy but warm day. Great work Simon 🤩!

Thankfully one does not need their finger to run, and so following the H&D on Thursday, Jon K was back on the trails at the Fox Trail Marathon in England. You don’t need me to tell you how warm it was this weekend, but I’m going to anyway as the the temperature hit 29 degrees C in Guildford, making it a particularly tough 4 hours for Jon, but he got it done and did it well. Great racing Jon 👍!

Over in Edinburgh on Sunday we had Jacqui B race the Edinburgh half marathon and Tim J race the full marathon. During this event our runners passed by iconic spots such as Greyfriars Kirkyard and the Royal Mile. This race is also boasted as one of the fastest marathons in the world. Tim ran a great run in the full, taking advantage of the flat scenic course 👏. Jacqui shared with us the mental struggle of having to pass by the finish line with still over 3 miles left of the race. Despite this she ran a fabulous time ⭐️! Well done guys 🔥

Great going everyone 👍

Head over to part two on our profile!

🏃‍♀️🏃Race Report🏃🏃‍♀️

The fourth race of the Hill & Dales series took place on Thursday at Meelmore. Back to an up and down route this week, the steep course took on the iconic climb up Spelleck which challenges both strength and route choice. Performances to note include Ellen M who finished 5th in the F55 category ⭐️ and Richard H and Oonagh M who were first PRC male and female home 👏. Good luck this week at Luke’s Mountain.

On Saturday we had a bunch of runners on the start line of The Coast half marathon and 10k organised by Born2Run. Our runners were treated to scenic sea and majestic mountain view’s, with the half marathon also getting to visit the tallest onshore lighthouse in Ireland, St. John’s! The views weren’t the only fantastic thing about this race as our runners produced some fantastic results. Notably in the half marathon Jane V, Katie W and Claire Y achieved pbs and Babu S and Debbie T brought home new pbs in the 10k🤩. Brilliant running everyone! 👍

On Sunday some of PRC travelled to Coalisland to race in the seriously fast Newell Stores 5k and 10k. This flat course boasts the opportunity for speedy times which all our runners achieved. Special mention to Pauline M and Aidan J for their pbs in the 10k and Matthew L who got a new 5k pb 👏. Great racing everyone 🤩.