Fruitful trip for Drogheda crew
A COLD, raw day greeted the hundreds of athletes who made their way to the DkIT sports grounds in Dundalk for the National Masters Cross-Country Championships - but the trip was worth the wait for the Drogheda & District AC contingent.
Conditions on the day were typical of most cross-country races, but the ground was pretty churned up by the time the Juvenile races had finished and most of the runners gave their laces a final tug before the starter called the Masters runners to the line.
In the Women’s 4K event the girls from the Wee County ran their hearts out from gun to tape, and buoyed on by a huge and very vocal home support the county team of Mary Leech, Nicola Welsh, Derbhla Greene and Yasmin Canning took home the bronze medals.
This really was a powerhouse display of quality running against the best that Irish athletics has to offer and special mention must also go to Ciara O’Reilly, Edel Smith and Roisin Coade who helped to push back the opposing teams’ runners in the points scoring.
Young Abigail Tegart, running in the Under-17 Girls B Championship 3K, put on an incredible display of running to claim the silver medal against some very good opposition, while clubmate Kate O’Reilly finised a magnificent sixth and the sky really is the limit for this talented pair.
In the Under 17 Boys 3K Liam Mulligan ran well to finish ninth overall, with training partner Sean Toner just missing out on a medal when finishing 13th.
The Master Men’s race turned out to be a classic affair - as it almost always is - and there were some fine performances from D&D members, with Paddy Murphy in particular perhaps having the run of the day when he scalped some useful athletes over the demanding 7K course.
Elswhere, the quiet rural roads of Trim, County Meath, were turned into a sea of red when a large group of D&D members turned up for the Trim AC 10 Miles road race on Sunday.
This course, which was looked upon favourably by the more than 1,500 participants, had a sting in its tail as the last four miles were pretty much all into a headwind and had a few testing climbs thrown in for good measure.
Brian Martin certainly made good use of the early miles as he sped threw the five-mile mark in a fast 27 minutes and kept good form over the latter part of the course to finish 10th overall in a fine 55:23.
D&D’s second finisher was Boston Marathon hopeful Bryan Harvey who put the work in and was rewarded with a useful 1:08:20 which was good going given the heavy training miles in his legs. He should go even quicker come the Spring Marathon.
David Gough made a welcome return to racing and his 1:11:49 time shows that his training is going well.
The club’s first female finisher was Roisin Donnelly who looked strong and she coped well with the tough conditions to record a fine 1:13:56, while clubmate Nuala Reilly continued her preparations for an upcoming half-marathon with her run of 1:15:42.
There were some fine performances also from Conor Cooney (1:15:26), Karen Delaney (1:16:48) and Brian Guilfoyle (1:17:03).
Double World gold medallist Mark O’Shea’s feet must have been on fire as he scorched round the 200m track at the NIA in Blanchardstown on his way to a new Irish Masters indoor 1500m record of 4:09, beating the old mark of 4:10:80.
O’Shea has certainly hit a rich vein of form lately and he’s showing many of his younger rivals a clean pair of heels these days.
Also running the 800m was Orla O’Connor, who was sixth in her event in a lively 2:20:62.
In the Men’s 800m, Kieran McGrath ran well and went close to the two-minute mark when finishing 3rd in 2:00:48, with Hugh Callan sixth in 2:09:97.
Last Saturday’s BHAA Garda Cross-Country, which was held in Phoenix Park, tempted four club members to take to the fields and Nuala Reilly certainly didn’t disappoint as she sped round the two-mile course in a solid 18:38 to win her category.
Her son Colm ran well to finish 42nd in the Men’s 4-mile race despite having to run with a broken wrist!
Gerry Mullins was back in action and delivered a decent run to record 31:20 for his first race back in the club colours, while Conor Cooney won his category with his run of 31:22.
Closer to home, at the weekly Oldbridge Parkrun, Stephen Kelly raced round the challenging 5K course in 18:04 on his way to another win in this popular event. Next across the line was Des Feeley in eighth spot in a useful 19:57, followed by Paul McDonnell who was 14th in a new PB time of 20:47. Paul Browne was 18th in 21:24, with Tony Corcoran 21st in 21:52.
Michele McCullough was D&D’s first female finisher in 74th place in 26:17, followed by Bronagh Lane who was 79th in 26:46.