Drogheda & Di speedsters in
WHILE most people look forward to a well-deserved lie-in on a cold Saturday morning it’s the irritating tone of an alarm clock that regularly greets those Drogheda & District members who are soon on their way to the hilly slopes of Greenhills for a tough session of sprint drills.
It’s here, away from the bright lights and the cheering crowd, that the will to win is forged in the sometimes monotonous routine that is part and parcel of a dedicated athlete’s life.
All of that hard work was put on the line last Saturday at the Leinster Junior, Senior and Masters Indoor Championships which were held at the National Indoor Arena in Abbotstown.
The day got off to a great start when local firefighter Karl Carton exploded out of the blocks and then held good form to draw clear of his rivals and get the win in the shortest event of the day, the 60m dash.
Later in the day, Carton ran a good bend on his way to doing the sprint double by winning the 200m in a lively 26.53.
Also running the 60m was Mary Flanagan who went close to getting a medal when finishing fourth in her W6 race in 12.36.
Frank Cruise had a storming run in his 200m to finish runner up in 28.73 and a short while later just missed out when finishing fourth in his 400m event in 1:16.33.
Training partner Andrea McCabe coped well with the tight turns on this state-of-the-art track to take bronze in her 200m race in 32.54.
Next up in the 400m, run over two laps of the track, was sprint group coach Gerry O’Connor who got off to a good start and then held his form coming off the final bend to win his M5 event in 1:00.75.
A few minutes later it was the turn of Brian Pentony to do battle in his M4 400m and Pentony ran well against good opposition to finish second in 59.86, while Paul Stuart also took silver in his M1 event in an eye-opening 57.51.
In the Junior Men’s events, young Harry Caffrey ran well to finish fourth in his 400m in a solid 56.70 and this fine young athlete has a bright future.
In the 800m, Sean Toner just missed out on a medal when also finishing fourth in 2:06.46, but gained valuable championship racing experience which will stand to him. Tadhg Everitt Thompsom went one place better when getting the bronze medal in the Junior Men’s 1500m, winning a terrific sprint battle off the final bend to cross the line in 4:27.67.
D&D’s senior athletes had plenty to cheer about, watching Andrew Kelly run a terrific race to finish second in Heat 2 of the 200m in 23.51 to make the final of what turned out to be a highly competitive race.
A few hours later, Kelly delivered a fine performance in the final to finish sixth in 23.84, which was great running given that he’d