Double joy for Star team in Ratoath half marathon
second in his category.
Larkin’s break from racing has seen his batteries recharged and the spark is back in his running, so his cross-country opponents may watch out as he’s a man on a mission this year.
Close behind in sixth place was Colin Dyas, who ran well to finish in 17:25, which earned him a third-in-category prize, and it’s good to see him back racing in the red singlet again.
Hugh Callan was D&D’s next finisher in 62nd place in 20:11, followed by Ieva Ofmane, running her second race that day, who finished 133rd in 23:11.
Also running were Catherine O’Neill (354th in 30:34), John Kirwan (32:33) and Paula Floyd, who finished in 33:25.
Meanwhile, at the Oldbridge parkrun Tony Corcoran was the club’s first finisher over the tough 5K cross-country course in 14th place overall in 22:05. Close behind was Eimear Monaghan in 22:15, followed by Michele McCullough in 24th spot in 23:49. Others who ran included Mike Staunton (25th in 24:09) and Linda Bowe (41st in 26:43).
Elsewhere, at the mid-week Clonliffe Grand Prix 4 Mile race which took place on the track, Gerard Fay ran 28:35, taking 15 seconds off his previous PB time. THERE was plenty to celebrate for Star of the Sea AC as they enjoyed both individual and team success at last weekend’s Ratoath 5K and half marathon.
On an extremely challenging course but in perfect weather conditions, Ciaran McKenna sped round in 1:08:38 to win the half marathon event outright, while the ladies firstteam prize went to the quartet of Aoife Parrella, Susan Vickers, Fiona Kenna and Karen Lavelle. The latter clocked 1:29:56 to win the Over45 category, while Parrella came home in 1:33:11. Vickers was just 34 seconds behind her and Kenna clocked 1:37:10.
Other half marathon finishers were Brian Moore, Gerry McKiernan, Declan McGrath, Sandra Mullen, Louise Maloney, Nessa Hutcheson and Eamonn Morris, while in the 5k Susanne Brodigan came home in 26:55, Lianne Ryan in 28:54 and Aisling Gaffney in 28:56.
The athletes found the route often very quiet and isolated, which was difficult for runners, but still it was a really well-run event and the soup at the end was a welcome treat.
Meanwhile, competing on the other side of the world was Orla Timmons who got round in 1hr 24min at the City Bay Half-Marathon in Adelaide.
Four Star of the Sea athletes braved temperatures of more than 20 degrees to take part in the Kilkenny Medieval Marathon 30k, an event which starts in the Kilkenny Castle grounds, takes in the town’s historic sites and finishes in the heart of the city. Fiona O’Byrne recorded a time of 3:13:37 and was followed home by Sharon Farrell (3:33:12), Fiona White (3:15:47) and Grainne Kiernan 3:56:22.
Finally, Star of the Sea also had one athlete competing in the Derryheen 10k in Cavan where Charlie Keogh finished fourth male overall in 44:26. Bettystown boy Ferguson on international duty in Spain
BETTYSTOWN schoolboy Evan Ferguson was on international duty with the Republic of Ireland Under-17s last week as they were edged out 2-1 by Russia in a friendly that was played in Spain.
Ferguson, who featured for Bohemians in a pre-season game against Chelsea as a 14-year-old, had a goal ruled out for offside in a very tight game. In all, Ferguson spent 75 minutes on the pitch in temperatures of 26 degrees that saw Russia eventually win 2-1.