North Belfast Harriers in conjunction with St Malachy’s College - Question & Answer session with Kevin Seaward
Saturday 29 September, 7:30pm
St Malachy's College - College Hall
North Belfast Harriers Press Release: 'Saturday 29 September, 7:30pm at St Malachy’s College, Belfast is the date, time and place to listen to and question a maestro explain how he has got to be so successful. On the 29th North Belfast Harriers will host a question and answer session with local marathon running expert Kevin Seaward, compered by North Belfast sports historian Colin Beattie.
However, Kevin is only a part-time runner while being a full-time Senior Leader & Teacher of PE at Martin High School in Anstey, a village outside of Leicester. Kevin is coached by Andy Hobdell, as is fellow local marathon runner Paul Pollock.
Kevin started his running as a junior pupil in St Malachy’s, College, Belfast under the experienced eye of Paddy McKillop. As a schoolboy he won Ulster School cross country and track titles and as an under 20 represented Ireland in the U20 European Cross-Country Championships. Kevin has repeatedly noted how he still remembers and appreciates a nugget of advice from Paddy (father of Irish middle distance Paralympian superstar Michael McKillop) that consistency with training was vitally important and explains that ‘My experiences at St Malachy’s helped develop the resilience and determination I think is needed to run a marathon.’
Kevin after leaving school went on to become one of the top Irish senior runners on the track, road and cross country but it was his 2014 marathon debut that saw him gain his first senior selection for Ireland at a major championship, i.e. the European Championships that summer.
Since that 2014 marathon and subsequent championship debut Kevin has went from strength to strength.
In 2015 running a 2:14:15 Marathon in Berlin, knocking two minutes off his best time and now has only Greg Hannon and Tommy Hughes ahead in the local marathon rankings. In 2016 he represented Ireland at the Marathon in the Olympics & World ½ Marathon Champs.
In 2017 he ran 2:15:50 for the Marathon, again in Berlin.
And in this year 2018 he had an excellent 4th position in the Commonwealth Marathon & 15th in the marathon at the European Champs
Listening to Kevin talking about his training it is clear it requires total focused commitment.
‘Balancing work with running can be difficult. I often have early and late meetings, meaning I’m running before 6am and after 6pm. I can remember starting an 8 x 3km session at 8pm after a meeting. It is about time management and prioritising the right things at the right time.’
North Belfast Harriers is one of the top multi-faceted running clubs in the North. It started in 1896 and has grown significantly over the past few years to support runners from Couch to 5k Program, a fantastic Junior section, cross country teams to athletes who have competed in the Olympics and Commonwealth Games.
Kevin has a well-established relationship with the club and it’s runners. In his early 20’s and still living in Belfast Kevin trained regularly with North Belfast Harrier runners on a Sunday morning, running the ‘Big trail’ from the club’s Oldpark Terrace clubhouse.
Kevin and North Belfast Harriers see this free unsponsored Question and Answer session as an opportunity for both to share their love for all things running, from high end competition to just the buzz of running through your local park (particularly if it is the Cavehill).
Interested parties are asked to check the club’s website and Facebook for further details and if they want to go along to complete the registration form on the website, which also allows them to put forward burning questions they have for Kevin, many of which he will try to answer on the night.