To start the week Lindie Naughton brings us all the Irish endurance action and news from the weekend just gone (Tuesday 23rd July).
Keelan Kilrehill (Moy Valley) better known as a track and cross-country runner was a clear winner of the Irish Runner 10-mile in the Phoenix Park on Sunday (July 21) with a sub-50 minute time.
Although Phoenix Park courses are not known for fast times, Kilrehill finished in 49 mins 56 secs, well over a minute clear of Gerry Forde (Kilkenny City Harriers) in 51:11 and Jamie Fallon (Craughwell AC) a close third in 51:12.
First woman in 56:58 was Grace Lynch (Dundrum South Dublin AC), with junior athlete Heather Murphy (St Michael’s AC) second in 59:29 and Fiona Roche (Raheny Shamrock, W0) third in 60:68.
The race incorporated an Irish Championships and winning the senior men’s team title was Clane AC, followed by Raheny Shamrock and Armagh AC. Winning the women’s team title were the Raheny women. Donore Harriers was second and Dunboyne AC third.
Raheny also took the M35 team title with Rathfarnham WSAF second and Crusaders third.In the W35 age group Crusaders AC was the winner ahead of Sportsworld and Mullingar Harriers third. Best of the M50 teams was Grange Fermoy, with Inishowen second and Raheny Shamrock third. Celbridge AC won the W50 title ahead of Brothers Pearse and Lucan Harriers.
Making it a senior team double were the Raheny women, with Fiona Roche, Ciara Brady and Maria Dolan the scoring three. Donore Harriers was second and Dunboyne AC third. Raheny were also winners in the M35 category, with Rathfarnham WSAF second and Crusaders third. In the W35 age group Crusaders took the title ahead of Raheny Shamrock and Rathfarnham WSAF.
In the M35 age group Crusaders AC was the winner ahead of Raheny Shamrock and Rathfarnham WSAF. Best of the M50 teams was Grange Fermoy, with Inishowen second and Raheny Shamrock third. Celbridge AC won the W50 title ahead of Brothers Pearse and Donore Harriers.
A whole bundle of road racing
John Travers (Donore Harriers) was the winner of the Sligo 5-Mile from Strandhill to Sligo Town, on Sunday (July 21) in a time of 24 mins 1sec. Finishing second and third were Sligo AC pair Matthew McMeekin in 25:04 and Declan Brennan in 26:37. Fifth was first woman was Aoife Kilgallon, also Sligo AC, in 27:39. Second was Michelle Lannon (Carrick-on-Shannon AC, W50) in 30:48 with Mari Johnston (Sligo AC) third in 31:10.
Diarmuid O’Hanlon in 37 mins 52 secs and Bridget Smit in 41:498 were the winners at the Malahide Castle 10km on Sunday (July 21).
Sean Doran (Clonliffe Harriers) in a time of 33 mins 31 secs was the winner at the Dessie McGann Kiltale 10km in Co Meath on Saturday evening (July 20) — his second win of the week. Sarah Dempsey was first woman in 44:18.
Four days earlier, Doran and Laura McDonnnell were the winners at the South Dublin County Council 6km held around Dodder Valley Park, Firhouse Road, Dublin on Tuesday (July 16) and organised with the assistance of North Clondalkin Running Club.
Doran (Harriers Products/Clonliffe Harriers) was a clear overall winner of the race in 15 mins 57 secs. Exactly a minute behind for second in 16:57 was Kahumburka Tuahuku , while third in 17:09 was Karl Mulligan. Paul Nagle was fourth and first M40 in 17:12.
McDonnell finished sixth overall and first woman in 17.45 and was followed home by Clare Sullivan (SCS ) in 18:55 and Sarah Hade in 21:09. Best of the women’s teams was BCM Global’s trio of Rebecca Cuskelly, Sinead Lyons and Kasia Foksinska. Best in men’s grade 1 was the ESB trio of Dermot Shiels, Mick Quirke and Aidan Murphy, with Bank of Ireland second. Winning Grade 2 was Revenue.
Winning the Portaferry 10-Mile the same evening were Dale Murray (North Down AC) in 55 mins 2 secs and Caroline MacNabb (East Down) in 61:57. Some seventy two-person teams had entered the relay with Flo Mada and Declan Magee the winners in 59:36.
Cork on the run with John Walshe
The rules of the Cork BHAA meant that the first man and woman across the line at the Gas Networks Ireland 5km on Wednesday night didn’t qualify for the overall awards since neither Paul Moloney nor Jennifer Martin was registered.
Former national masters champion Moloney had a 12-second victory over Mark Walsh (Dept of Education), 15:10 to 15:22, with Kristan Liepins (Stryker) finishing third in 15:34. Donal Coakley (Gilead Sciences) was fifth in 15:44 and took the third BHAA prize.
The women’s race saw Martin, who recorded 18:12, and Tamzin Muldowney, 18:22, both ruled out as Sharon Rynne (Kepak) collected first prize with her time of 18:32. Second and third BHAA went to Emma Desmond (Primeline Sales & Marketing) in 18:36 and Breeda McGinn (PFGI), 18:45.
On Friday night, there was a fine line-up for the annual Bob Burke Fermoy 4-mile, organised by the Grange-Fermoy club. Ryan Creech (Leevale), winner of the 10km at the same venue on New Year’s Eve, knocked 25 seconds off of Sergio Ciobanu’s time of last year when winning in 19:25.
Sean Doyle (Cork City), in his first race since running 2 hrs 35 mins at the Cork City Marathon, was second in 19:58 with Clonliffe’s Ciobanu having to settle for third in 20:29.
Claire McCarthy of Leevale, who returned to racing after a long lay-off with a third in the 10km held in conjunction with the Cork City Marathon, continued her comeback with victory in 23:45.
Second was Linda O’Sullivan (Watergrasshill) in 24:56 with third going to junior athlete Emilie McElvaney from the promoting club in 26:15.
At the Beast of Beara 20km in Allihies, Beara Peninsula, Co Cork on Saturday (July 20) , Michael Bolton was the winner in 1 hr 18 mins 33 secs. Junior athlete Tommy Arthur (Lagan Valley AC) was second in 1:22.33 and Lianna van Dijk third and first woman in 1:34:43.Fourth and first M50 was Joe O’Leary in 1:36:20.
Photo: James Rhodes
Track and field
Irish athletes heading for the Olympics and Paralympics were having a final run-out at Saturday’s Diamond League London, with all three distance runners setting personal records.
In the men’s 3000m, Brian Fay (Raheny Shamrock) ran 7:34.48 for seventh place knocking over two seconds off his previous best; Fay runs the 5000m in Paris. Also running was Nick Griggs (CNDR TC) who narrowly missed out on qualifying for Paris. Griggs finished tenth in an Irish U23 record 7:36.59 having run 7:41.68 in Cork only eleven days ago
In the mile, Andrew Coscoran (Star of the Sea), who will run the 1500m in Paris, knocked almost five seconds off his previous best when finishing eighth in 3:50.49. That time catapults him into third place on the all-time Irish rankings behind only Ray Flynn and Eamonn Coghlan.
Finally in the 200m, 400m specialist Rhasidat Adeleke (Tallaght AC) finished fifth in a season’s best 22.35 – just one hundredth of a second off her lifetime best.
As for the Paralympians, Shauna Bocquet (Craughwell AC) set new Irish record of 1:48.42 when finishing fourth in the wheelchair 800m. Diamond League now takes a break until August 22 in Lausanne.
At the seventh Dublin Graded Track and Field meet of the season held in Lucan on Wednesday (July 7), Fiona McKenna (UCD AC) won the women’s grade A 3000m in 9:55.58. Second was Sorcha McAllister (Dublin City Harriers) in 9:59.59 while third in 10:02.09 was Barbara Cleary (Donore Harriers, W50) .
In the men’s grade A 3000m, Aaron Donnelly (Dundrum South Dublin) was a clear winner in 8:57.89. Jack McMahon (Ballyroan Abbeyleix and District) was second in 9:05.23 and John Cleary (Donore Harriers) third in 9:06.38.
Winning the grade A women’s 800m in 2:06.78 was Iseult O’Donnell (Raheny Shamrock), with Maisy O’Sullivan (St Abban’s AC) second in 2:09.77 and Eve Marie Noctor (Lucan Harriers) third in 2:134.73.
In a thrilling grade A men’s 800m, Finn Woodger (Metro St Brigid’s) just nicked it from Dara Donoghue (Lucan Harriers) with the pair timed at 1:50.90 and 1:50.91.
A large entry across all the age groups from under 20 to over 70 turned out for the the Louth Track and Field Championships at the Lourdes Stadium in Drogheda on Wednesday evening (July 17) which also attracted guests from all over the country.
Master athletes were using the competition as part of their preparations for the World Masters Athletics Championships, taking place in Gothenburg, Sweden from Thursday August 13 to Sunday August 25.
One of those was world W55 champion Anne Gilshinan of Slaney Olympic in Co Wexford, who recently entered the W60 age group and clocked a time of 5:09.28 in the 1500m. Race winner was Abbie Sheridan (St Peter’s AC) in 4:41.85.
In the men’s 1500m, Rory Mulholland (North East Runners) proved fastest in 4:31.50, with Robbie Keane (Drogheda and District) third and first M40 in 4:40.30.
Leading home an entry of twenty in the men’s 3000m was Mark Cornett (North Belfast Harriers) in 9:27.88; Robbie Keane was first M40 in 9:56.74. Bernie Balfe (Ardee, W40) won the women’s race in 13:08.33.
Mountain running
A clear winner of the 80km Glendalough Tucker Trail race in Co Wicklow on Sunday (July 21) was Enda Cloake (Slaney Olympic), who clocked a time of 7 hours 42 minutes for the three-loop course in and around Glendalough.
Cloake had warmed up for the challenge by winning the Leinster League round at Seahan on Wednesday evening — a mere 9.98km, which he covered in 46 mins 56 secs.
Finishing second in Glendalough was Majiej Dzieledziak in 8 hrs 7 mins, while third in 8 hrs 23 mins was Giraud Sebastien. First woman in 9 hrs 30 mins was Sarah Clarke. Catherine Devitt of Glendalough AC was second in 10 hrs 1 minute and Denise Barretts just three minutes behind for third.
David Hicks (Newcastle and District AC, M40) was the winner of the Spelga Skyline mountain race in the Mourne Mountains on Saturday (July 20). His time for the 21km course which takes in nine summits for a total climb of 1,550m, was 2 hrs 59 mins 29 secs.
Second in 3:08.42 was Paul McAnaspie ( Armagh AC, M50) while third in 3:13:45 was Glynn Johnston (BARF, M45) Finishing eighth and first woman was Esther Dickson (Newry AC) in 3:27:34. Second was Sam McNeilly (Newcastle and District) 4:18:36 while third was Shirley Farnan (BARF, W55) in 4:20:42.The race was a round of the NIMRA Championships.
In France, at the La Montée du Nid d’Aigle (20km, 1,850m) World Mountain Running Cup round at St Gervais, on Saturday (July 20), Ian Conroy (Raheny Shamrock); finished 61st and fifth M40 in a time of 1hr 18 mins 48 secs for the classic 20km course with 1,850m of climb.
Caroline Ayton (Parnell AC) finished third W40 in 1:45:57, David McNeill in 1:48:49, Brian Hutchinson (UCD/Derg AC) in 2:03:19 and Thomas Brosnan in 2:06:18. A total of 378 completed the race; conditions were warm.
A mountain of mountain running this weekend
Best of the Irish at the Snowdon International mountain race on Saturday (July 20) was Paddy O’Leary who finished twelfth in a time of 1 hr 11 mins 48 secs for the ten mile race up and down the highest mountain in Wales. O’Leary was running as an individual.
Behind him in thirteenth and fourteenth places were Mathew McConnell and Zak Hanna, both of them representing the Republic of Ireland. Their times were 1:12.35 and 1:12.51. For Hanna it was an emotional return to the race after the recent death of his father.
First for Northern Ireland in 26th place was Ashley Crutchley in 1:14.42, followed by Keith Johnston 36th in 1:19.46.
Of the women, Jo Hickman Dunne was first for the Republic finishing ninth of the elite field in 1:28.34 and Tanya Cumming, in seventeenth place, best for Northern Ireland in 1:35:32.
The Republic’s and Northern Irish teams finished fourth and fifth overall in both men and women’s competitions. Overall winner was Italy.
Ireland has a proud record in this great race which celebrates its 50th anniversary next year. Former world mountain running champion John Lenihan won the race in 1989, while Robin Bryson’s record for the fastest time to the summit still stands.
In 2013, Sarah Mulligan became the first Irish woman to win the race, followed a year later by Sarah McCormack, who would win again in 2015 and 2019, with Mulligan again a winner in 2016. Glory days!
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Source: fastrunning.com