Carlingford a fine backdrop to road races

ATHLETICS

GLENMORE AC’s annual Fearon, Marron and Reilly Cup road races lit up the streets of Carlingford last Friday night.

In perfect conditions, the juvenile athletes were first to take to the road competing in various distances, with trophies and medals were given to the top 10 finishers in each event, resulting in plenty of smiling medal winners on the night.

Local clubs from Louth as well as Armagh, Down, Antrim and Cavan competed on the night.

The finish line for all was the incline from Tholsel Street through to Newry Street making for exciting finales to all races.

The following are the top 4 finishers in each juvenile race:

U9 Girls 500m: 1st Lynsey Kelly (3Ways AC) 2nd Grace Reilly (Blackrock AC) 3rd Jessica White (Glenmore AC) 4th Emma McCarragher (Glenmore AC)

U9 Boys 500m: 1st Oliver Carolan (Boyne AC) 2nd Daire Matthews (Dunleer AC) 3rd Craig Touhy (Glenmore AC) 4th Conor Brennan (Dunleer AC)

U11 Girls 800m: 1st Vanessa Brennan (Dunleer AC) 2nd Lucy White (Glenmore AC) 3rd Enya Silkena (St Gerards AC) 4th Rebecca Baldwin (Blackrock AC)

U11 Boys 800m: 1st Joshua Muckian (Slieve Gullion AC) 2nd Tiernan O Hare (3Ways AC) 3rd Sean Reilly (Blackrock AC) 4th Conor Litchfield (St Peters AC)

U13 Girls 1000m: 1st Grace Fitzpatrick (Dunleer AC) 2nd Ella Hayes (Armagh AC) 3rd Olivia Hall (3 Ways AC) 4th Katie Mc Cleary (Lisburn AC)

U13 Boys 1000m: 1st Caolan O Hare (3 Ways AC) 2nd Tiernan Roley (Dunleer AC) 3rd Sean Allen (St Peters AC) 4th Brian Watters ( 3 Ways AC)

U15 Girls 1500m: 1st Caitlin Coffey (3 Ways AC) 2nd Anna Mc Ardle (Glenmore AC) 3rd Tilly Mc Keown (Armagh AC) 4th Ciara Quinn (Glenmore AC)

U15 Boys 1500m: 1st Odhran Hamilton (Amagh AC) 2nd Joseph Hynes (Armagh AC) 3rd Donacha Hughes (Blackrock AC) 4th Ciaran Logue (Dunleer AC)

Apart from the medal winners, Glenmore athletes who competed in their respective ages were: U9 Katie Mc Donald, Grace Keenan, Katie Feehan, Minatulla Lennon, Leah Dunne, Aoife Keenan & Aine Reilly. U11 Anna Dawson, Ava Ashby, Chloe Mc Carragher, Katie McGuinness, Sarah Mallon, Mia Ashby, Katelyn Savage, Finn Reilly, Thomas Mc Cabe & Cormac Mc Coy. U13 Ava Brady, Lisa Conlon & Emily Touhy. U15 Nicole Barry, Breanna Savage, Laoise Mc Guinness, Sam Dawson & Daragh Brady.

This year’s 5k race, saw the number of entrants explode to over 450 athletes. The race itself did not disappoint, with Freddy Keron (Raheny Shamrocks) finishing in a time of 14.45, just managing to hold off he strong challenge of the Irish 5k champion, Conor Duffy (Glaslough Harriers) and Paddy Hamilton (Slieve Gullion Runners).

It was testament to the quality of the field that the first twelve athletes all finished in under 16 minutes (129 athletes under 20 minutes). Brian McCluskey (North East Runners) was the first local athlete home in a time of 15.45 (9th place).

Catherine O’Connor ran well to win the Ladies event in a time of 18.08, ahead of Judi MacAuley from North Belfast AC (18.24), and Sinead Murtagh from Newcastle AC (18.47).

The under 17 and 19 athletes all featured prominently with Dillon Carolan (17.07) winning the men under 17 race.

Local athlete Caitlin Mulholland (St Gerard’s AC) won the ladies under 17 race (21.35).

The under 19 events were won by James Smith (East Down AC, 17.36) and by Daire McCartan (Beechmount Harriers, 19.12).

Glenmore AC athletes Katie Mallon (22.18) and Hannah Stewart (23.16) both ran very well and handled the 5km distance very well in these age categories.

In total 29 Glenmore AC athletes completed the race, with Shane Toner winning the ‘Francis O’Reilly Perpetual Shield’ for being the first club athlete home in a time of 16.12 (16th place).

North Belfast AC men’s teams ran very well to finish first and second in the team event, winning the Michael Fearon Cup. On the female side, the ladies from Drogheda and District AC did enough to win the ladies title and the Kevin Marron Cup, just ahead of the ladies from Newly City AC.

Glenmore AC would like to congratulate all the athletes who completed the race. A special thanks goes to the race sponsor Elite Physiotherapy, to the Red Cross, to the race starter Tommy Neary, John and Mary McGeown, and to all the volunteers who helped ensure the race was a success.

The adult category winners were as follows: Ladies over 40: Cathy McCourt (18.51); Men over 40: Brian McCluskey, North East Runners (15.45); Ladies over 45: Una Breen, Blackjack AC (20.49); Men over 45: Gary Henderson, Armagh AC (16.26); Ladies over 50: Geraldine Branagh, North Belfast Harriers (20.16); Men over 50: David O’Connell, Bohermeen AC (16.58); Ladies over 55: Rose Lambe, Carrick Aces (19.45); Men over 55: David Clarke, North Belfast Harriers (17.10); Ladies over 60: Nuala Reilly, Drogheda & District (21.21); Men over 60: Paul Elliot, North Belfast Harriers (17.18); Men over 65: Willie Weir, Dromore AC (23.27).

Full results from the races can be found on www.myrunresults. com.