DUBLIN TITLE FOR COGHLAN
John Coghlan won the senior men’s race at the Dublin Cross-Country Championships in Santry today – a first for the Metro St Brigid’s club.
Coghlan, the youngest son of former world 5000m champion Eamonn, was part of the winning Irish U-23 team at last year’s European Cross-Country Championships. Over the summer, he took 1500m silver at the National Track and Field Championhips – his first senior medal.
At Santry, Coghlan tucked in behind the early pacemaker, Sean Hehir of Rathfarnham WSAF, only taking over in front on the final lap.
Clonliffe’s David Flynn, on a break from scholarship in East Tennessee, was a fighting third, ahead of mountain runner Brian McMahon of Clonliffe and Liam Tremble, like Coghlan from the MSB club.
In sixth place Cillian O’Leary was leading Raheny Shamrock to team victory – the club’s third team title of the day.
Not defending his title was DSD’s Joe Sweeney, the current Irish champion. Sweeney withdrew his entry during the week, as did his clubmate Alan McCormack who is injured. It left Emmett Jennings, running his first senior Dublin race, to lead the DSD team home in seventh place.
Raheny dominated the women’s race. With Elish Kelly beating clubmates Aoife Talty and the evergreen Annette Kealy for the individual gold, the team title was in bag, with Fiona Roche making out the winning quartet.
In the men’s junior race, Raheny also made it a team and individual double, with Kevin Dooney the winner ahead of DSD’s much improved James Egan. Jake McDonnell in third place, along with Colum O’Leary and Oisin Corish made up the team.
Siofra Cleirigh Buttner of DSD won the junior women’s race, ahead of her clubmates Claire McCarthy and Sorcha Humphries, but due to a mix-up over numbers, the medals weren’t awarded.
Earlier in the morning, the Dublin Juvenile Even-Ages Championships took place, with DES pair Ella Fennells and Liam Fitzpatrick making it an under 16 double and DSD teams winning five of the eight races held.
MARK POLLOCK
Most of you will know of Mark Pollock – he’s the former Trinity oarsman turned adventurer, who has never let the fact that he can’t see hold him back.
Over the past decade, Mark took on, among other things, the scorching heat of the Gobi desert, the thin air of Everest base camp and the sub-zero temperatures of the North and South Poles. He survived them all, built a thriving business and was about to get married. All changed in July 2010, when Mark stumbled and fell through the window of a second storey window. He suffered multiple injuries, including a broken back which has left him paralysed from the waist down.
After seven months of treatment, Mark was released from the National Rehabilitation Hospital last February and embarked on “Operation Walk” – an aggressive programme of physical exercise that he hopes will get him mobile again.
“Nobody can honestly predict what will happen, but I’m pretty sure that if I spend the rest of my life sitting in a wheelchair there will be little to no chance of me springing up one day and walking,” he says.
His friends are supporting Mark all the way and next Wednesday organise the Run for Mark in the Dark at venues in Dublin, Belfast, Cork and Galway (all 7.30pm). Trinity College is the Dublin location, with 4km and 8km distances on offer. Entry is €25; online entry www.run4mark.com.
BALLYTCOTTON ’10’ ENTRY
The annual scramble to get entries for the Ballycotton ’10’ on Sunday March 4 has started. Entry forms will be posted out on Monday November 28 or can be printed off from the Ballycotton Running website on Tuesday November 29. Those without internet access can get an entry form by posting an SAE to Ballycotton Running Promotions, Ballycotton, Co Cork. You then fill out the form and send it back immediately – only the first 2,500 postal entries received will be accepted. AAI club members and runners who completed the 2011 Ballycotton Summer Road Race Series have until December 15 to submit their entry form in. Entry fee is €15.
FIONNUALA BRITTON IN SPAIN
Kilcoole’s Fionnuala Britton will race in Sunday’s Cross de Atapuerca in Burgos, Spain as part of her build-up to the European Cross-Country Championships next month. Britton finished fourth in last year’s European Championships. Competing in the men’s race are North Laois brothers Dan and Michael Mulhare along with Leevale’s Mark Hanrahan.
A junior men’s team led by Dublin champion Kevin Dooney of Raheny runs at the UK Cross Challenge in Bristol on the same day. Also selected are Sean Tobin (Clonmel ), Liam Brady (Tullamore) and Stephen Kerr (Armagh). Race walker Kate Veale of West Waterford is joined on the junior women’s team by Mary Mulhare (North Laois) and Emma Mitchell (Banbridge). Leevale’s Claire Gibbons-McCarthy runs in the senior women’s race.
WELL DONE TEAM CARRIE
All 51 members of Team Carrie completed the recent National Lottery Dublin Marathon after 21 weeks of dedicated training. Of the group, coached by Dunleer’s Davie Carrie, 30 were attempting their first marathon and most got home in under five hours. First home was Carrie himself in 2 hours 43 minutes followed by Eugene Burns in 2 hours 56 minutes. First woman was Linda Meehan in 3 hrs 26 minutes.
* Of the 14,000 who registered to run the marathon in total, 11,672 reached the finish line.
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