21 January 2017
Paul Barbour bounced back from a troublesome achilles injury with a convincing victory in the third fixture of the Sperrin Harriers Winter League at An Créagan Centre in Tyrone.

Almost 200 runners turned out for the race in frosty conditions. Paul Barbour was tracked all the way around the course by Vincent McAlister and Eoin Hughes but managed to hold off both chasers to win in a time of 27:03.

Shane McGowan became the latest DTC athlete to receive international recognition when he was included in the Ulster U23 team at the Celtic International in Cardiff.
NI & Ulster teams found the going tough at the meeting that was held in conjunction with the British Cross Country Challenge fixture in Cardiff.
Newcastle’s Zak Hanna continued a rich vein of form that included a recent victory in the Race Over The Glens by leading the province’s U23 squad home in ninth place. North Belfast Harrier Conal McCambridge was close behind in 11th while Derry Track Club’s Shane McGowan was back in 13th.

North Down’s Katie Moore was first of the northern representatives in the women’s U23 race taking 10th. Zoe Carruthers (13th) and Edel Monaghan (14th) completed the trio of finishers. The U20 girls race saw Laura Gardiner (16th, Rioghnach Catney (17th), Madison Bowyer (18th) and Enya Haigney (19th) all finish in the top 20. North
Down’s Craig McMeechan impressed in the U20 men’s race with a fine seventh place finish. Eoin McCann (13th) and Donal Farren (18th) completed the Red Hand scorers. The U17 boys probably put in the best NI & Ulster team display of the day with Monaghan Phoenix’s Conor Maguire taking the individual bronze medal.
Miceal McCaul (10th), Antony McCambridge (16th) and Alex Boyd (20th) packed well behind Maguire. Murphy Miller (10th), Rebecca Wallace (14th), Katie Agnew (16th) and Niamh Carr (19th) gave a solid account of themselves in the U17 girls’ race won by Ireland’s Sarah Healy.

Elsewhere DTC athletes made a return to the Limavady parkrun within the space of two weeks and Blackburn Park proved again a happy hunting ground for Cathal McLaughlin.
Vorsprung Durch Technik lapped the compact circuit like a metronome to score his second win in as many visits. His time of 18:02 gave him an age-graded score of 81.15% but that was surpassed by Robert Bigger’s 81.54% from a 19:30 timing.

Sean McIntyre ran well for third overall in 19:15 with Marina Murphy first woman home in 19:28. Conor (Big Dog) McIlveen was happy with his 20:05 to hold off the challenge of Ben Mellon by a mere second.
David Mellon (21:05) and Elaine Connor had their own personal battle while Tom McLaughlin (21:20) finished well. Aaron Carlyle (22:08) sprinted away from Mal McCausland (22:40) in the later stages while Lara Smailes (24:33) showed her usual guts and determination.