Peter blows away his rivals

A COMBINATION of placings, back-to-back marathons and a scramble for Captain’s Series league points made it an interesting weekend’s action for Duleek & District AC members.

First off was the SOSAD 5k in a wet and blustery Drogheda where Peter Hearty put in another excellent performance to finish second overall in a competitive field. Equally impressive was his time of 17:13 which was narrowly outside his PB and a great effort considering the inclement conditions.

With the bar for the weekend set very high, the challenge was met by Derek Reilly as the East of Ireland bandwagon rolled into the sleepy south Meath village of Longwood.

Over a tough course in the 20mile event Reilly ran a great race with a negative split, finishing just outside his previous best over the distance with a time of two hours and 35 minutes.

On the same day and in the same location, Ray Cassin ran the first leg of his back-to-back marathon weekend with an equally impressive four hours and 19 minutes. A mere 24 hours later Cassin was on the roads again to repeat the same feat as he completed the second leg of his 52-mile weekend at the inaugural Dundalk Marathon. This time Cassin finished in another excellent time - four hours and 42 minutes.

All roads then led to Ratoath for the Ratoath AC 5k and this local race carried the added significance of being the last one in the Captain’s Series. As league points were eagerly sought a large Duleek contingent took to the start line.

The race was run over a rural circuit in slightly blustery conditions, with both the course and the conditions facilitating a good number of fast times and great performances.

Alan McKeown flew the green flag with aplomb as he powered home in 20:58, followed closely by Stephen McKee in 21:13.

Lisa Chambard and Graham Byrne finished side by side in just under 23 minutes, Olive Wall made an impressive return to action with a time of 29:55 and Maria Nestor rounded off a great Captain’s Series with another impressive run.

Orla Hillman clocked a PB to earn some valuable points for her team, while Paddy Lennon’s great form this year continued here and Celena Tierney ran an impressive 28:30.

There is now an anxious wait until the upcoming Club Captain’s Night where the winners of a massively successful league will be announced.