Victoria Park and Connswater AC

“Training with Lions”

About Us

At Victoria Park & Connswater AC we are open to athletes willing to compete in various distances (mainly from 1500m to marathons but we also have athletes who like to compete in shorter distances and in ultras) and willing to try various terrain (road and cross country mainly but also occasionally track, trails and fell running)

Our motto is ‘Training with Lions’ which means that we like to train hard together whilst supporting each other, as in a pride of lions, to get to the best of our ability, set objectives and go for the prize.

Victoria Park in East Belfast is our home and we meet several times a week to train. We encourage a supportive atmosphere at the training sessions as well as at the club’s target and internal races. With experienced and passionate coaches, we are here to help you achieve your best. Get in touch if you’d like to come and try our training sessions and find out if our club is a right fit for you.

We regularly take part in parkrun (Victoria Park, Orangefield, Stormont,…) and help out with Jog Belfast programmes.

Membership costs £60 (£25 for students, unemployed and people on benefits) a year and includes: registration with Athletics NI, strength and conditioning sessions, club training and racing clothes, free entry to club targeted races, and more!

If you want to work hard to be the best that you can be at your favourite distances, then we would like to help you achieve that. Get in touch!

Constitution

Code of Conduct

Perks policy

Club Officials

Gerry Carson

Gerry Carson

Honorary President

Club Committee

Ralph Coetzee

Ralph Coetzee

Chairperson

Ghislain Demeuldre

Ghislain Demeuldre

Treasurer

Kyle Montgomery

Kyle Montgomery

Club Secretary

Anne Moore

Anne Moore

Membership Secretary

Liz Watt

Liz Watt

Club Captain

Temporarily Vacant

Temporarily Vacant

Coaching and Competition Coordinator

Club coaches

Gary Keenan

Gary Keenan

Club Coach

Club Officers (non-committee)

Mark McFeeters

Mark McFeeters

Welfare Officer

Ellen Orr

Ellen Orr

Information, Media and Marketing Officer

Sile Brennan

Sile Brennan

Jog Belfast (C25k) Coordinator

Temporarily Vacant

Temporarily Vacant

Environmental Officer

Temporarily Vacant

Temporarily Vacant

Kit, Equipment and Merchandising Officer

Caitríona Hamilton

Caitríona Hamilton

Club Vice Captain

Club Life

Training

Our training sessions take place in Victoria Park, Belfast BT3 9EF.

Our weekly training:

SessionDay/TimeLocation
Tempo/progression runMonday
6:30pm*
Victoria Park
Main training session - intervalsWednesday
6:30pm*
Victoria Park (or track as notified)
‘Mop up’ - Same as WednesdaysThursday
6:30pm*
Victoria Park
Long runSunday(locations and distances posted in club WhatsApp chat)

* Warm up drills at 6:20pm

24/25 Target & Championship Races

RaceDateFee refundedTargetClub Championship
Queens 5K
(NI&U Championship)
Wed 13 March
Omagh Half Marathon
(NI&U Championship)
Sunday 7 April
Run the Runways 5K/10KFriday 10 May
Comber 10KFriday 21 June
Portaferry 10 mile
(2 x 5 mile relay)
July TBC
Carlingford 5KFriday 2 Aug
Maze Runner 3K, 5K or 10KFriday 2 Aug
Bangor 10K
(NI&U Championship)
Sat 28 Sept TBC
Seeley CupSat 7 Dec TBC
Cross Country League
(Bobby Rea, Comber Cup, Malcolm Cup, Stormont)
TBC
Connswater Cup 5K
(Victoria park)
TBC
CS Lewis Shield 4 mile
(XC Victoria park pitches)
TBC
Joe Craney Naked 5KTBC

24/25 Club Championship Points System

  • 10 points for completing race
  • In addition, 1 point per finishing position

Example: If 14 lions/lionesses compete in a club championship race, the points will be:

  • 1st finisher: 10 points plus 14 position points= 24 points
  • 2nd finisher: 10 points plus 13 position points= 23 points
  • …14th finisher: 10 points plus 1 position point= 11 points

Club Perks

  • Refunds to target races
  • London marathon club place
  • Strength and Conditioning classes

(Some restrictions apply)

Club Records

1500m5:57Edyta Różycka-Gabryś2018
1500m4:40Adam Harvey2024
Mile (Road)5:43Sarahjane Cooke2018
Mile (Track)4:52Ed Cooke
Mile (Road)4:32Peter Thompson2023Griffith Avenue Mile race
3000m11:04Jenny Black2018
3000m8:45John Craig2020
5K17:19Sarahjane Cooke2021Down Royal
5K15:31Peter Thompson2023Carlingford
5 miles29:57Leann Gibson2020
5 miles26:36Ronan Toland2024CS Lewis 5 Mile
10K35:40Sarahjane Cooke2021Coastal 10K
10K32:04John Craig2019
10 miles1:06:15Leann Gibson2018
10 miles54:19Stephen Wylie2018
Half marathon1:16:43Sarahjane Cooke2021Antrim Coast Half Marathon
Half marathon1:11:51Stephen Wylie2020
Marathon2:46:49Natalie Hall2021Wrexham
Marathon2:33:09Chris Hutchinson2019

Club Honours

2017Male🥈NI Half Marathon Road Championship Silver Medalists (Team)
2018Male🥈NI 10K Road Championship Silver Medalists (Team)
2018Female🥉NI Master Road Relay Championship Bronze Medalists
2019Male🥈NI Master Road Relay Championship Silver Medalists
2021Female🥈NI 5K Road Championship Silver Medalists (Team)
2021Female🥈NI 10K Road Championship Silver Medalists (Team)
2022Female🥈NI Half Marathon Road Championship Silver Medalists (Team)
2022Female🥇NI 10K Road Championship Gold Medalists (Team)
2022Leann Gibson🥉NI Half Marathon Road Championship Bronze Medal (Individual)
2022Female🥉NI Master Road Relay Championship Bronze Medalists
2023Female🥉NI Marathon Championship Bronze Medalists
2023Male🥈NI Half Marathon Road Championship Silver Medalists

Contact

If you’re interested in training with us or have any questions please get in touch and we’ll do our best to help.