Clonliffe’s Brian McMahon won the Waterford Half Marathon, with his time of 66 mins 37 secs putting him just seven seconds clear of Bantry’s Alan O’Shea. In third place was Gary O’Hanlon of Clonliffe with a time of 67.40, while fourth after a long battle with injury was Tomas Fitzpatrick of Tallaght in 67. 49. Raheny’s Cillian O’Leary was a close fifth in 67:58.
Winner of an equally close women’s race was Raheny’s Elish Kelly, who finished in 78 mins 3 secs. Just 14 seconds adrift was Tullamore veteran Pauline Curley in 78.17. Jill Hodgins of Leevale finished third in 79.05 after giving birth to her first baby earlier in the year. In fourth place was Clonmel veteran Angela McCann in 81 mins 41 secs.
Aboard, there was disappointment at the Fukuoka Marathon in Japan, where Alistair Cragg finished in 2 hrs 23 mins 5 secs and Mark Kenneally failed to finish.
Cragg went through the half in the late 64s but then began to suffer from serious stomach problems and struggled for the rest of the race, with his final 5km taking some 22 minutes. “My stomach didn’t cooperate, couldn’t take on fluids, just lost a lot. Really sorry to let down anyone who followed. Bed!” he said on his Twitter after.
Kenneally, who has struggled with injury since the London Olympics, got to halfway in around 66 minutes but pulled out at the 35km mark. “Unfortunately the marathon finds out any weaknesses and got me today,” he tweeted.
* Clonliffe made it a Dublin hat-trick at Tymon Park, when they added the inter crown to the novice and senior titles they had won earlier this season.
In the men’s 8km, Edgars Sumskis took the individual title chased all the way by Tudor Mircea. Early in the race these two, along with Mounir Bouzzine were part of a lead pack of up to 17 athletes. With one lap to go, Mircea made his move and split the pack with Sumskis in pursuit. Sumskis took over the lead again with 800m to go, with Mircea second and Conor O’Keeffe of Templeogue third.
Completing the Clonliffe scoring four were Mounir Bouzzine and Chris Muldoon, backed by Tom Sherlock. Second team was Raheny Shamrock, led home by Simon Devenney in fourth place, with Collie O’Leary 10th, Des Kennedy 12th and Eamon Delahunt 15th making up the team.
Raheny dominated the women’s 4km race with Dublin novice champion Kate Cronin racing away from the field to win in 15.44 and Chloe Doran second in 16.01. With Fiona Stack 5th and Kate Crossan 6th, Raheny took the team title from novice winners Liffey Valley with ease.
* Diarmuid Collins came home first on the 22km route at teh Run the Line Mountain Run in aid for Dublin Wicklow Mountain Rescue. His time of 2 hrs 1 mins 55 secs put him over a minute clear of DSD’s Emmett Jennings who finished in 2 hrs 3 mins 20 secs. Third was ultra master Eoin Keith in 2 hrs 8 mins 19 secs. First woman was Flora McKnight in 2 hrs 29 mins 34 secs, with Anne Drake in 2 hrs 49 mins 40 secs a close second and Lucy O’Malley third in 2 hrs 37 mins 36 secs. A total of 181 finished.
Winning the shorter 10km race was Derek Hunter in 65 mins 3 secs, with Bruce Campbell second in 65:50 and Karl O’Neill third in 66. 41. Harriette Robinson was first woman and fifth overall in 69 minutes exactly. She was followed by Ann Hunter in 74.47 and Annette Kehoe in 75.40; 168 finished. Full results at www.runtheline.ie.
* Lakeshore Striders from Blessington look like shaking up the old order at the annual Meet and Train Winter League, with Hollie Geslon outsprinting Claire Ni Fhaircheallaigh of host club Dunboyne to win the second round of the league in Dunboyne. In third place was Donore’s Karen Behan, with Sportsworld’s Natalia Sokolowska showing a welcome return to form when she finished fourth.
Sunday December 1
Waterford Half Marathon,”The Run for Home” WIT Sports Complex (1,354 finishers; www.waterfordac.com)
Men: 1 Brian McMahon (Clonliffe Harriers) 66:36, 2 Alan O’Shea (Bantry) 66:44, 3 Gary O’Hanlon (Clonliffe Harriers) 67:40, 4 Tomas Fitzpatrick (Tallaght) 67.49, 5 Cillian O’Leary (Raheny Shamrock) 67.58, 6 James McCarthy (East Cork) 69.16, 7 Simon Ryan (Raheny Shamrock) 69.42, 8 Sandis Bralitis (W Waterford) 71.48. M40: David Ryan 72.34 M45: Pat Quill (Crusaders) 82.55. M50: Ronan Boland (Eagle) 82.49. M55: T Halpin (Ballynonty). M60: Vinnie Clohisey (Raheny Shamrock).
Women: 1 Elish Kelly Raheny 78:02, 2 Pauline Curley (Tullamore, W40) 78:09, 3 Jill Hodgins (W35) 79:06, 4 Angela McCann (Clonmel, W40) 81.41, 5 Anne Marie Holland (St Finbarr’s, W35) 82.57, 6 Anne Curley (Donore, W40) 84.04, 7 Susan Finn 84.27, 8 Teresa Agar (St Abban’s) 85.23.
Women’s Meet and Train Winter League Rd 2 , Dunboyne (2-mile).
1 Hollie Geslon (Lakeshore Strideres) 12.36, 2 Claire Ni Fhaircheallaigh (Dunboyne) 12.37, 3 Karen Behan (Donore A) 12.40, 4 Natalia Sokolowska (Sportsworld A) 12.43, 5 Freda Comiskey (Lucan A) 12.51, 6 Gail Phibbs (Lakeshore Striders) 12.59, 7 Karen Clarke (Bros Pearse, W40) 13.01, 8 Catherine Bennett (Fingallians A) 13.10, 9 Ita Tunney (Bros Pearse A) 13.15, 10 Laoise Moggan (Clonliffe) 13.16.
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