NI Title for Lisburn ladies at Relay champs
Sat 8 October 2011--admin
City of Lisburn AC are the 2011 Northern Ireland Women’s road relay champions! Congratulations to Judith Lowry, Courtney Sloan and Heather McLarnon who combined today at Victoria Park, Belfast to secure the title by almost 30 seconds from North Down AC.
The ladies each ran two miles (ie twice round the lake). Judith Lowry is in good shape as confirmed by her high placing in the recent world duathlon championships in Spain and she was magnificent on leg one today, securing a 60 metre lead in her 11:57 split – the fastest of the day. Courtney managed to extend the lead to around 80 metres on her second leg which she ran in 12:56, pulling away in the last 500 metres after being put under pressure by the North Down athlete. Heather McLarnon (13:00) not only defended the lead but stretched it out to around 150 metres in the end for a hard-fought but well deserved win for the Lisburn ladies.
The event was superbly promoted by Gary Keenan and his Orangegrove AC team who laid out a nice spread in the clubhouse afterwards where the girls were presented with their medals and a very handsome trophy which they will be back to defend next year. The event was well supported by local clubs and there is no reason why it shouldn’t re-establish itself as one of the most popular events on the calendar.