northdownac.co.uk  Information About | Friday, August 08, 2008 |
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About North Down AC 
North Down AC was formed in 1974 and was based until 2001 in Ward Park, Bangor using the former cricket pavilion, now demolished. A lot of winter training is still held in Ward Park. Among the founding members were the Hamill family and Geoffrey Weir with Daphne Hamill the first Treasurer and Geoffrey the first Mens' Captain. The leading figures in the club in the early days included Arthur and Hilary O'Neill, Billy Brannigan, the Elliott family and Noel Kane. Its fame at this time was mainly in the hands of veteran cross country and road runners and a group of talented girl throwers. Many events were promoted, the most famous being a series of 10K Bangor Classics which included Zola Budd and many other famous runners. As stated above, in the early days there were two main areas where from the beginning the club dominated. Girls throwing was one where Noel Kane coached Alison Moffitt, Anita and Lisa Kane, Jacky Crawford and many others. The other was veteran athletics mostly after Billy Brannigan became a veteran athlete. Billy was the originator of cross country and road running in North Down AC and in fact most of the early training runs started and finished from his house in Somerset Avenue. In 1980 Billy became a vet along with teammates, ex boxer George Graham and Terry Mallon, father of Roma McConville the Belfast Marathon winner in 1983 and grandfather of decathlete Brendan. Alongside the slightly older vets, John Dawson, Vince Elliott and Ken Hawtin, the vets were never to lose a team race for at least ten years. Time moves on of course and other clubs caught up but the club still has a major veteran presence, especially in the older categories. North Down AC is now based at Bangor Sportsplex, Ballykillaire, on the Old Belfast Road and since the move there in 2001, there has been a dramatic increase in its profile. The Senior Mens Track and Field Team is the most successful in Northern Ireland, winning both the Golden Four League and Team Trophy from 2001 to 2005, continuing in 2006 and 2007 with the Team Trophy now the only team competition. The Northern Ireland Young Athletes Boys League was won in 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005 resulting in a place in the National Auxiliary Finals in Birmingham. The Womens team also won the Golden Four League in 2003 and 2004 and the Team Trophy in 2005, and the girls were marginally second in the Young Athletes League. The Mens' Team in 2004 were runaway winners at the first attempt of the All Ireland Mazda League Division 1 and were promoted to the Premier Division, where they were second in 2005 by 4 points to Crusaders. However the team were winners in 2006 and 2007 gaining eligibility to European competition, and becoming only the 6th team to ever win the Premier Division. Entering the BAL Cup in 2007 led to a third place finish in the Golden Jubilee Plate Final at Bedford. The Womens' team has also had some success in the Irish National League and were third in Division 1 in 2007. A big improvement in cross country has taken place in recent seasons with the odd team victory including third team in the Northern Ireland Junior Championship with an individual win by Francis Marsh. The Malcolm Cup was won in 2007 while the girls won the U20 Championship from 2004 to 2006. A surge in recruitment has led to a large pack of endurance athletes on training nights, particularly on Monday evenings from the Sportsplex when a pack of forty or so runners of all standards may be seen, usually on the roads. Current GB Senior Internationals are Brendan McConville (decathlon) and Eva Massey (shot) with Tom Reynolds (decathlon) a GB Junior and U23 International and Michael McConkey a GB U23 International. Brendan and Eva competed in the 2006 Commonwealth Games and Eva also competed in the 2002 Games. Eva has also represented Great Britain in the European Cup. Former GB Junior Internationals included Allison O'Neill, Roger Sexton, Darragh Murphy and Alison Moffitt - also a Senior Irish International. Ben Reynolds is the latest GB Junior International having competed indoors at a combined events International in March 2008. Paul Curran represented Ireland in the Europa Cup in 2004. Competing for Ireland Amy Foster won silver at the European Youth Olympics at Lignano in 2005 and has competed in both the World and two European Junior Championships as well as gaining medals at Senior level in the Indoor and Outdoor Irish Championships. Eva is a current Northern Ireland record holder and Alison a former holder and there have been a multitude of Northern Ireland Internationals The club has continued to promote events and the flagship event, the Bangor Classic 10K, was revived in 2005 on a different course and is held in September. Other promotions include a trail race in Crawfordsburn and a track meeting for juniors in August and the January cross country relays in Castle Park. North Down AC Officers are Chairman: Norman Munnis Vice Chairman: Norman Lellyett Secretary: Gillian Weir Assistant Secretary: Ian Atkinson Treasurer: Geoffrey Weir Assistant Treasurer: Tony Wall Mens Captains Track and Field: Brendan McConville Cross Country/Endurance: James Budde Womens Captains Track and Field: Gemma McAnirn Cross Country/Endurance: Jill Dowie.  
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