S.B.R. A.C.
The county Novice road race was hosted by S.B.R. recently. There was a great atmosphere around the village, with plenty of spectators from clubs all around the county out to see the ladies race over 3k and the men over an extended four-mile route.
It was fantastic to see so many new members in attendance along with many familiar faces, and it goes to show the hard work put in by everyone over the winter to be so well represented at this early stage of the year.
The ladies were off first, starting just past the Ferns G.A.A. club and going down the Stump Lane and back in the old N11 to finish in the village.
The ladies had a big team of eight runners and they all had strong performances. Lisa Byrne - running her first championship road race - was unlucky to miss out on a medal, finishing in fourth place.
She was followed shortly afterwards by two more debutantes - Amy Coade and Louise Cosgrave - and Christine Hill, finishing in eighth, ninth and twelfth, and this was good enough to secure the team silver medal, with Deridre O’Malley Lisa Murphy, Orla Furlong and Marguerite Byrne all coming in close together.
This ladies’ team will definitely be one to watch for the cross-country.
The men’s race started 1k outside the village, with the men running a full lap of the ‘Stump’. A trio of Ryan Gleeson, Tomás Kavanagh and Niall O’Connor took the race by the scruff of the neck from the start as they led coming into the village for the first time.
The same three filled the eventual podium places, with Ryan running out a comfortable winner over Niall in second and Tomás in third.
And with the resurgent Eoin Power taking a brilliant tenth place to give the team 16 points, they won a great team gold.
Ian McQuillan, Patrick Keogh, Adrian Hendrick, Seán Byrne, Patrick Fortune and Lorcan Murphy all showed well, making it a great day for the club. The emotions after the race were a clear indication that the lads had been training hard together for this one over the winter months.
Myles Gibbons and Paul Lynch travelled to Meath for the Bohermeen half-marathon on Sunday. Myles placed 14th in 73:43, and Paul was 20th in 74:36 - great running in a field of 1,243.
Martin ‘Farmer’ Monaghan had a very successful weekend, taking first place in both the Wexford racecourse Parkrun on Saturday morning and the Glynn 5k on Sunday.
Congratulations to Adrian Doyle who tackled the Seville marathon, running 3:04:34 and taking over four minutes off his previous best..not easy to do at this time of year!
Santry Demense was host to the All-Ireland schools cross-country, with Joe Byrne in the Intermediate boys’ event.
Joe had a strong run, coming ninth in the 5k in 17:36. Well done, Joe.