Defending champion Joe Sweeney of Dundrum South Dublin, along Clonliffe marathon man Mark Kenneally are among the likely starters at Sunday’s Rathfarnham 5km (10.0).
Kenneally, who had a disappointing run in the marathon at the London Olympics, bounced back after a few weeks rest to win the Grant Thornton Corporate 5km a fortnight ago.
Sweeney has had a quiet summer, but is back in full training after a period of injury.
With €400 on offer to the winning man and woman, plus €100 if the course records goes, he won’t have it all his own way. The men’s course record of 13 mins 54 secs was set two years ago by Martin Fagan, while the women’s best of 15 mins 25 sets was run by Maria McCambridge.
Nothing is ever certain when it comes to road races, but one athlete likely to show up is West Waterford’s David McCarthy, who has graduated from Providence College and is based in Ireland at the moment. McCarthy set a number of course records in the West Waterford Road League over the summer and most recently won the Tinryland 4-mile.
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| Will Joe run on Sunday? |
Pencilled in for the women’s race is Aoife Culhane of DSD who, last autumn, was virtually unbeatable on the Dublin roads, winning both the Rathfarnham and Tallaght races. Culhane then got injured and over a frustrating summer, missed out on DSD’s track and field league victory.
She may well face, among others, Irish athletics legend, Catherina McKiernan, now 42, who has been surfacing on the roads in recent months and finished irst woman at the Grant Thornton Corporate 5km.
In all, over 1,000 runners of all standards are expected to line out on Sunday.The race comes at a perfect time. Club runners can use it as a fitness test before the looming cross-country season, while the less series can chek that they haven’t lost too much fitness over the summer.
The first 800 finishers will receive a high quality technical t-shirt, while all finishers get a packed goodie bag. Pre-entry until Friday is still only €20. Some entries will be taken on the day for €25, or €15 for students (bring ID). Race HQ is Terenure College with the race start a short jog away at Rathfarnham Shopping Centre.
* A number of Dublin Marathon aspirants are running the Charleville Half Marathon on Sunday, including Rathfarnham’s Sean Hehir, Gary O’Hanlon and Sergiu Ciobanu of Clonliffe, and Annadale’s Paddy Hamilton in the men’s race. Maria McCambridge of Letterkenny leads the women’s entry and will take on Rosemary Ryan of Dooneen, Raheny pair Barbara Sanchez and Lorraine Manning and Leevale’s Lizzie Lee.
* A number of Dublin Marathon aspirants are running the Charleville Half Marathon on Sunday, including Rathfarnham’s Sean Hehir, Gary O’Hanlon and Sergiu Ciobanu of Clonliffe, and Annadale’s Paddy Hamilton in the men’s race. Maria McCambridge of Letterkenny leads the women’s entry and will take on Rosemary Ryan of Dooneen, Raheny pair Barbara Sanchez and Lorraine Manning and Leevale’s Lizzie Lee.
Next up for the women’s only races is the Runher 5km and 10km in the grounds of Stormont Castle in Belfast on Sunday October 7. Chrildren are also welcome with a ChildLine Walk starting the day’s programme at 12 noon. That is followed by the Dash for Kids and For Those with a Disability at 1pm (free entry), the Runher 5 km at 2pm and the Runher 10km at 2.30. Groups of ten or more will get a special goody bag worth €80 that includes a rather nice fleece for the team leader. There are also special deals on trains for the day. Late entry until September 30 costs €22. Details www.runher.co.uk.
* Lizzie Lee of Leevale won the Cork Women’s Mini Marathon last Sunday.
Marathon Mission members Sean Hehir and Maria McCambridge, both aiming for the Dublin Marathon, were the winners at the Mick Murphy Memorial 4-Mile in Ferns. Hehir’s time of 19 mins 15 secs was a new course record. In the women’s race, McCambridge finished in 21 mins 12 secs, beating European cross-country champion Fionnuala Britton of Sli Cualann who was running her first race since London 2012.
Joe McAllister of Marathon Mission/St Malachy’s and Raheny’s Elish Kelly were the winners at the Dublin Half Marathon in the Phoenix Park, where 6,385 completed the course. In all, four half marathons were held around the country last weekend, with no-one breaking 70 minutes at any of them. Yet the overall standard at the race was higher than in the Great North Run a day later – exactly half the entry finished in under 1 hr 55 ins, while only a quarter of the 39,000 finishers at Great North Run came home in under this time; the 50% mark was reached around 2 hrs 7 mins.
The Grey Lake 10km in Loughrea, originally scheduled for Sunday September 30, will now take place on next Sunday September 23 to avoid a clash with the All Ireland hurling final replay. First off are the juniors at 1pm, with the senior race following at 1.30pm. All money raised by the race goes to the club’s building fund. Info www.loughreaathleticclub.com.
A healthy entry turned out for the inaugural Ratoath 5km, with Dunshaughlin junior Thomas Moran just beating Luke Forde of Dunboyne for victory in an excellent time of 15 minutes 36 seconds. Comeback kid Patrycja Wlodarczyk of Raheny was first woman, having finished fifth in the Dublin Half Marathon a day earlier.
British ultra runner Mimi Anderson will make an attempt on the Malin to Mizen record, starting on Sunday Septmber 22 from Malin Head in Donegal to Mizen Head in Cork. She is hoping to compelet the distance of about 350 miles in under four days.
Last March, Sharon Gaytor, also from the UK, took four days 1 hour 40 minutes to run in the opposite direction – from Mizen to Malin. A year earlier, in June 2011, Jen Salter ran a shorter 345 route from Malin to Mizen in 4 days 23 hours.
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