Duleek ace’s stunning time points to success in October

KEN Brady claimed the ‘performance of the day’ accolade from a Duleek & District AC perspective as their members turned out in force for the Dublin Half-Marathon in inclement conditions at the Phoenix Park on Saturday.

The half-marathon is always a popular event in the Dublin race series and this year it proved more popular than ever, borne out by the fact that the event sold out and the largest ever field of 9,000plus athletes took to the start line.

It was a day of notable firsts for some of Duleek & District’s newer members, with Sandra Loughran and Mary Molloy completing the 13.1-mile distance for the first time.

The club’s more experienced members were not found wanting either. Kevin Durkin set an excellent PB of 1hr 35min, while Shane Reid is building nicely for the Dublin Marathon at the end of October and shaved more than two minutes off his previous best over the distance, and Joe Martin showed no signs of fatigue from the recent Dingle Half-Marathon and clocked another impressive time.

Susan Walsh’s good form shows no sign of abating as she came home in 2hr 14min, Barbara Lenehan produced another impressive outing here and Amanda Noone, Alan McKeown and Deborah O’Sullivan also ran great races.

However, top billing went to Ken Brady who lowered his previous PB by more than 16 minutes and is shaping up impressively for the end of October.

Also on the calendar was a wet and windy Kentstown for the Kentstown National School 5k. The event was not diminished by the atrocious weather conditions, which put paid to fast times, as a very well organised event ensued.

Four Duleek & District athletes lined up at the start line, with Anita Carolan proving she is as adept at competing in races as she is in organising them by taking an excellent second place in the ladies event in an excellent PB of 22:34.

Derek Sheridan put in another very solid run, but the performance of the day was from Rena Grogan who completed her first 5k, while David Doyle took third place in the men’s race.

Visitors to Drogheda enjoyed a balmy September evening for the Harry Mallon 4-Mile Road Race hosted by Boyne AC, with great runs from Gary Moore, Sinead Donnelly and Maria Nestor.