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.

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

Gerry Carson

Honorary President

Club Committee

Ghislain Demeuldre

Ghislain Demeuldre

Chairperson

Ralph Coetzee

Ralph Coetzee

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

Deane Fisher

Deane Fisher

Club Coach

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

Ashleigh Lisette Collim

Ashleigh Lisette Collim

Environmental Officer

Temporarily Vacant

Temporarily Vacant

Kit, Equipment and Merchandising Officer

Peter Nicholson

Peter Nicholson

Club Vice Captain

Training

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

Our weekly training:

SessionDay/TimeLocation
TempoMonday
6:30pm*
Victoria Park
IntervalsWednesday
6:30pm*
Victoria Park
IntervalsThursday
6:30pm*
Victoria Park
Long runSunday(locations and distances posted in club WhatsApp chat)
TrackOne Sunday each month
10 or 11am
Mary Peter’s Track

* Warmed up and ready to start at 6:30pm

Our athletes represent the club at all sorts of events from road races to mountain ultras. We regularly take part in parkrun and help out with Jog Belfast programmes.

Membership costs £50 a year and includes: registration with Athletics NI, strength and conditioning sessions, club vest, entry to club supported races, long sleeved training top and more!

Club Records

1500m5:57Edyta Różycka-Gabryś2018
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 miles26:46Peter Thompson2022Connswater 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.