D&D ‘Marathon Man’ Fay past the 500 mark
WHILE many Drogheda & District AC members were well wrapped up for a cold winter’s evening run, some of their Masters Sprint Group and middle-distance athletes were zipping round the 200m indoor track at the NIA meeting in Abbotstown last week.
This top-class facility provides an opportunity for athletes to test themselves against the clock in pretty much perfect conditions and there were some good performances.
In the shortest event of the evening, the 60m dash, Andrew Kelly ran well to finish third in his heat in 7.30sec.
Next up was the 200m where Kelly again placed third in a lively 23.65, while Jennifer Gregory was fourth in her heat in 35.75.
Karl Carton ran a solid 27.3sec when finishing third in his 200m heat, with Frank Cruise also finishing third when running 29.38sec in his 200m race.
In the 400m event, which was run over two laps, Gerry O’Connor was fourth in his heat in 1:03.30.
Ciaran Hanrahan ran well in the 800m to finish fourth in 2:14, and once he gets the knack of running these tight bends his times will fall further.
In the Mile race, Cillian Dyas finished third in Heat 1 in 5:00.40, with Hugh Callan fourth in 5:03.20.
The lure of of a lightning-fast course and the chance of that all-important new PB time tempted some athletes to make their way to Phoenix Park for Saturday morning’s Jingle Bells 5K race.
This very popular annual race, promoted by Donore Harriers, has attracted a field of close on 2,000 runners in the past and the standard required to win an age category prize rises every year as the race is packed with quality athletes anxious to end the running year on a high note.
Colin Leonard certainly proved that he’s recovered well from his Dublin Marathon run and his time of 16:45 (63rd overall) shows that there’s some speed in his legs and he should go well in the coming year.
A mere seven seconds behind was Ruaidhri Nolan who had a terrific run to finish 70th in 16:52, while Sam O’Neill continued his comeback with a 78th-place finish in a lively 17:03.
Shane Russell and Pat O’Grady battled it out for most of this race, with Russell just getting the nod when finishing 91st in 17:13, with O’Grady close behind in 94th spot in 17:18 which was good enough to win his age category.
Other category prize-winners included Conor Cooney, who ran well to place third in his category in 21:22, finishing 328th overall.
Prolific racer Nuala Reilly picked up a second-in-category prize thanks to her run of 22:53, showing many of her younger rivals a clean pair of heels.
Young Liam McGreehan O’Grady had a real breakthrough run when finishing well up the rankings in the Juvenile section, with his run of 19:43 being just reward for his efforts in training recently.
In the Women’s race, Barbara Byrne ran well to finish in 22:23, followed by Gillian Farrelly who ran the course in 23:40 and Jane Glynn in 24:47. Also running were Maire Guilfoyle (31:10) and Mary Reilly (41:24).
Meanwhile, congratulations are due to ‘Marathon Man’ Gerard Fay who recently received an award for completing his 500th marathon from the Marathon Club of Ireland in Clonakilty - that after completing his 532nd marathon just before!
Fay will also complete his 100th marathon this year and is hoping to reach his target of 108 by New Year’s Eve.
Elsewhere, some D&D members were taking to the hilly slopes of Donore at Saturday’s Oldbridge Parkrun and this challenging 5K cross-country course is a true test of speed and stamina and is growing more popular by the week.
The club’s first finisher was Rodney Thornton who sped round the course in an eye-opening 18:15 on his way to winning the race. Thornton has come on in leaps and bounds since taking part in the group training structure which the club endorses.
Next in was young Daniel Danko who finished 16th in 23:19, followed by Paul McCabe who was 21st in 24:31. Regular Parkrun competitior Seamus Roe finished 24th in 24:50, while Barney Flannery was 35th in 27:30.
First of the club’s ladies across the line was Linda Bowe who was 37th in 27:38, followed by Rose Dalton (49th in 31:39) and Audrey Corcoran (60th in 35:33).