Newcastle AC 5 mile Handicap 12 Dec 2023

Results to the club’s 5 mile handicap race are available here.

Butcher Kelly - Club Handicap Winner 2023

Butcher Kelly – Club Handicap Winner 2023

The Annual Club 5-mile Handicap is the stuff of legends. In the days of yore, people were known to have eaten a hefty turkey and ham lunch, washed down with half a dozen pints of stout and romp to victory. There is also the tendency to arrive and proffer all sorts of excuses about how badly you are running, how out of shape you are and the struggle it will be to even complete 5 miles, let alone run them at any kind of tempo. Continue reading

NAC Senior Men Taste Success On Roads

Report by Eoghan Totten

Synopsis

The Newcastle & District AC senior men’s team has tasted success on the roads during the past two weekends. On September 23rd, we won the Northern Ireland and Ulster team road relay title in Victoria Park in east Belfast by a margin of one minute and thirty-five seconds. Averaging this margin out over the four runners (Eoghan Totten/me, Niall Goodman, Robbie Hagan and Patrick McNiff) for each of the four short legs (3,380m) equates to roughly eleven seconds per mile, per runner. This is a huge pace differential for any distance race but especially for what can still be considered a middle distance event. The statistic demonstrates the strength and depth of talent within the club at present. Most importantly, it shows that, under the coaching methodologies and guidance of Richard Rodgers, we are getting something right, and getting it right consistently. Continue reading

Superb Newcastle & District Road Relay Championship Victory

Report by Bogboy

Congratulations to Newcastle & District AC’s senior men’s team who took victory at the Road Relay Championships in Victoria Park, Belfast on Saturday. Each leg was two laps of the park covering a total of 3,380m (2.1miles). Conditions were dry with a blustery southerly win in the face of runners for about 350 metres on each 1,654m (1.05miles) lap. Continue reading

The 40th Dublin Marathon & Totten Shines in the Best Ever for Newcastle & District AC

The great thing about running is that eventually, unless you’re really unlucky, it gives you back what you put in and more. Sunday 27th October, the occasion of the 40th Dublin Marathon, was absolutely one of those days with PBs (personal bests) all over the place. The weather for the last week of October was almost as perfect as it can be for marathon running, cold at the start, only 4C, but sunny, not a cloud on the sky, and a light north-westerly – so ok it wasn’t flat calm, but given the conditions we experience in this part of the world, it was as good as.

Merrion Square in Dublin is like you never ever see on this weekend over the year. It is thronged by people with one thing on their mind – excitement, trepidation, torture, the pain? It’s the marathon, there’s no easy way, whether you’re on your feet for less than 2 and a half hours or over 5 hours… it’s a challenge for every single participant. Then there’s the hundreds of marshals and officials and helpers with thousands of spectators, the well-wishers along the way. It is a celebration of humanity… Continue reading