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!
Club Officials
Gerry Carson
Honorary President
Club Committee
Ralph Coetzee
Chairperson
Ghislain Demeuldre
Treasurer
Kyle Montgomery
Club Secretary
Anne Moore
Membership Secretary
Liz Watt
Club Captain
Temporarily Vacant
Coaching and Competition Coordinator
Club coaches
Gary Keenan
Club Coach
Club Officers (non-committee)
Mark McFeeters
Welfare Officer
Ellen Orr
Information, Media and Marketing Officer
Sile Brennan
Jog Belfast (C25k) Coordinator
Temporarily Vacant
Environmental Officer
Temporarily Vacant
Kit, Equipment and Merchandising Officer
Caitríona Hamilton
Club Vice Captain
Club Life
Training
Our training sessions take place in Victoria Park, Belfast BT3 9EF.
Our weekly training:
| Session | Day/Time | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Tempo/progression run | Monday 6:30pm* | Victoria Park |
| Main training session - intervals | Wednesday 6:30pm* | Victoria Park (or track as notified) |
| ‘Mop up’ - Same as Wednesdays | Thursday 6:30pm* | Victoria Park |
| Long run | Sunday | (locations and distances posted in club WhatsApp chat) |
* Warm up drills at 6:20pm
24/25 Target & Championship Races
| Race | Date | Fee refunded | Target | Club Championship | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Queens 5K (NI&U Championship) | Wed 13 March | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |
| Omagh Half Marathon (NI&U Championship) | Sunday 7 April | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |
| Run the Runways 5K/10K | Friday 10 May | ✔ | ✔ | ||
| Comber 10K | Friday 21 June | ✔ | ✔ | ||
| Portaferry 10 mile (2 x 5 mile relay) | July TBC | ✔ | ✔ | ||
| Carlingford 5K | Friday 2 Aug | ✔ | ✔ | ||
| Maze Runner 3K, 5K or 10K | Friday 2 Aug | ✔ | ✔ | ||
| Bangor 10K (NI&U Championship) | Sat 28 Sept TBC | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |
| Seeley Cup | Sat 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 5K | TBC | ✔ | ✔ |
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
Club Records
| 1500m | 5:57 | Edyta Różycka-Gabryś | 2018 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1500m | 4:40 | Adam Harvey | 2024 | |
| Mile (Road) | 5:43 | Sarahjane Cooke | 2018 | |
| Mile (Track) | 4:52 | Ed Cooke | ||
| Mile (Road) | 4:32 | Peter Thompson | 2023 | Griffith Avenue Mile race |
| 3000m | 11:04 | Jenny Black | 2018 | |
| 3000m | 8:45 | John Craig | 2020 | |
| 5K | 17:19 | Sarahjane Cooke | 2021 | Down Royal |
| 5K | 15:31 | Peter Thompson | 2023 | Carlingford |
| 5 miles | 29:57 | Leann Gibson | 2020 | |
| 5 miles | 26:36 | Ronan Toland | 2024 | CS Lewis 5 Mile |
| 10K | 35:40 | Sarahjane Cooke | 2021 | Coastal 10K |
| 10K | 32:04 | John Craig | 2019 | |
| 10 miles | 1:06:15 | Leann Gibson | 2018 | |
| 10 miles | 54:19 | Stephen Wylie | 2018 | |
| Half marathon | 1:16:43 | Sarahjane Cooke | 2021 | Antrim Coast Half Marathon |
| Half marathon | 1:11:51 | Stephen Wylie | 2020 | |
| Marathon | 2:46:49 | Natalie Hall | 2021 | Wrexham |
| Marathon | 2:33:09 | Chris Hutchinson | 2019 |
Club Honours
| 2017 | Male | 🥈 | NI Half Marathon Road Championship Silver Medalists (Team) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Male | 🥈 | NI 10K Road Championship Silver Medalists (Team) |
| 2018 | Female | 🥉 | NI Master Road Relay Championship Bronze Medalists |
| 2019 | Male | 🥈 | NI Master Road Relay Championship Silver Medalists |
| 2021 | Female | 🥈 | NI 5K Road Championship Silver Medalists (Team) |
| 2021 | Female | 🥈 | NI 10K Road Championship Silver Medalists (Team) |
| 2022 | Female | 🥈 | NI Half Marathon Road Championship Silver Medalists (Team) |
| 2022 | Female | 🥇 | NI 10K Road Championship Gold Medalists (Team) |
| 2022 | Leann Gibson | 🥉 | NI Half Marathon Road Championship Bronze Medal (Individual) |
| 2022 | Female | 🥉 | NI Master Road Relay Championship Bronze Medalists |
| 2023 | Female | 🥉 | NI Marathon Championship Bronze Medalists |
| 2023 | Male | 🥈 | 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.