19th July…Grellan McGrath wins Belfast 12 hour race

Eagle AC club member Grellan McGrath has just won the 12 hour race in Belfast. Starting at 6:45 pm on Friday evening (18th July 2014), Grellan completed 315 laps of the 400m Mary Peters track to complete a staggering 81.2 miles / 130.7 kms.

Race report from the organisers…..“Experienced marathoner Ger Copeland, a regular winner of the East of Ireland Marathon Series events, was the early pace setter in the men’s 12 hour race. Undeterred by the quality field behind, Ger started fast and held a good pace; by the time four and a half hours had elapsed, he (Ger) had a 2.7 mile lead on Grellan McGrath and Aidan Blake, who had covered 30.3 miles (48.8k) and 28.5 miles (46k) respectively. Unfortunately, Ger was forced to withdraw during the night because of injury, this left Grellan McGrath and Aidan Blake as front runners. Both men kept up their consistent and steady pace throughout the night, with Grellan finishing on 130.3k (80.9 miles) and Aidan 124.9k (77.6 miles). However, a winner could not be confirmed as Barry Thornton had chosen to run his 12 hours from 6.45am to 6.45pm, so was only starting as Grellan and Aidan were finishing. Although he enjoyed a good run, Barry was unable to match the distances covered by Grellan McGrath (1st place) and Aidan Blake (2nd place) and after finishing on 121.1k (75.2 miles), he was forced to settle for 3rd place.”