 |
| A wet Joe Sweeney |
Undeterred by the rain, a record 239 athletes from clubs all over the country turned out for a memorable Gerry Farnan/Sheila Brennan cross-country hosted by Metro St Brigid’s in Dublin’s Phoenix Park.
That came after a packed programme of juvenile league races and the Dublin U-18 championships – cross-country is back and it’s thriving!
First up were the women and with most of the top Irish women aiming for next Monday’s Dublin Marathon, Fionnuala Britton of Sli Cualann was in a class of her own. Over the three-mile course, she built up a lead of over a minute on DSD’s Aoife Culhane, with Leevale’s Lizzie Lee a close third.
Leading home the masters in fourth place was Clare Gibbons McCarthy of St Finbarr’s, who was fighting for a place on the Irish team for next month’s British and Irish International in Scotland. Raheny’s Annette Kealy in eighth place was first over 40, followed by May Scully of Mullingar and Riocht’s Niamh O’Sulivan who was first over 45. First over 55 and sixth veteran overall was former world track champion Carmel Parnell of Leevale.
Raheny Shamrock, led by Orla O’Mahoney in seventh place, was first team.
Almost as dominant in the men’s 5-mile race was Joe Sweeney of DSD. The current national champion pushed the pace from the start, with Michael Mulhare of North Laoise, Leevale’s Mark Hanranhan and Eddie McGinley of Annadale doing their best to hold on. By the finish, Sweeney had over a minute to spare on Mulhare, who could help the Irish U-23 team take another medal at the European Cross Country Championships.
Hanrahan finished third ahead of the fast-finishing John Coghlan from the host club MSB and McGinley. In an incredibly tight team competition, DDS beat Annadale by a single point with Raheny two points adrift for third; 16 clubs had entered teams.
First master home was Annadale’s former Irish champion David Morwood, who was 16th overall, narrowly beating Peter Matthews of DSD, the current British and Irish champion. Third home was Raheny’s Mick Traynor who will lead the over 45 team in Scotland; full team to be announced.
Over 50 runners of all standards from Dunleer-based Team Carrie will compete in next Monday’s National Lottery Dublin Marathon.
After first meeting in the first week of June, the team embarked on a 21-week journey that included twice weekly training sessions. They did far better than anyone expected, with team wins at the Irish Runner 5-Mile in July and the Dublin Marathon in September, where team member Mark Hoey was the overall race winner.
Leading the team is David Carrie, no mean marathon man himself and in contention for a master’s medal next Monday. Give them all a cheer next Monday!
With €500 going to the race winner, the cream of Irish middle distance runners donned their cloaks for the Dracula 5km Cloak Race in Dublin’s Clontarf. Leading them home was Dublin-based Mullingar man Mark Christie, who managed to finish in 15 minutes 2 seconds despite a ferocious headwind out to the Bull Wall. Colin Costelloe came home second followed by David Campbell and Gary O’Hanlon, with all managing to keep their feet on the ground!
* Only slightly faster was Tallaght’s Tomas Fitzpatrick winner of the racepix.ie 5km in NUI Maynooth in 14 mins 49 secs. Mary Hanley of Na Fianna was first woman.
Raheny Shamrock’s men and Mayo AC’s women represent Ireland this weekend at the European Clubs Road Championships over a 15km course in Almeiria. For Mayo this is a fourth outing in this competition; last year, they finished an excellent fourth. Team captain this year is Mary Gleeson. Leading the Raheny team is Vinnie Mulvey.
Special good wishes for next Monday’s National Lottery Dublin Marathon to Seamus Greenan – a man with a unique record in the Dublin race. Although the north Dublin doctor has started all 31 Dublin Marathons to date, he has only finished 30 of them. In the earlier days of the marathon, Seamus faced a professional assessment the day after the race. Feeling jaded half way through, he dropped out to conserve his energy for the next day. Still, 30 and a half Dublin marathons ain’t bad!
If you thought the current weather here is bad, think what it was like for Dublin-based Dane Torben Dahl, winner of last weekend’s Polar Circle Marathon in Greenland. With much of the running on the polar ice cap and temperatures peaking at -5 degrees celcius, Dahl took 3 hours 2 minutes 57 seconds to complete the race. Also competing from Ireland was Anthony O’Reilly with a time of 4:47.08. A total of 48 men and 14 women completed the race.
No comments yet.