Brian defends his half marathon title
A FIRM favourite on the North East Runners’ calendar for years now, the DUNE Half Marathon provides many distance runners with an immediate focus at the start of the year.
Beginning alongside the canal in Newry and finishing at the square in Dundalk, this half marathon is unique in that it crosses the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic.
It is also one of the trickier half marathons out there with Newry Hill at the start and Jonesborough Hill at the half-way mark proving tough obstacles to all competitors. Sunday’s wintry conditions made the task even tougher.
After breaking his duck last year with his first win in the race, Brian McCluskey was back to defend his title.
Hitting the front early on and leading the field to the top of Newry Hill, Brian was in control and comfortable throughout, extending his lead as the race progressed and arriving at the square in a very impressive time of 1:14:56 to take the win by over 30 seconds. Brian and the North East Runners will hope that this is merely the beginning of another successful year for one of the club’s finest athletes.
Two more male NERs delivered fine showings with Liam Fergus (1:23:12) cracking the top 20 and Niall Gorham (1:26:52) finishing inside the top 40 overall. These three, along with many others not running, will hope to compete strongly next week in Oldbridge at Rás na hÉireann where the club is seeking to retain their club title.
The first female NER home was Laura Mathews in superb time of 1:33:39 finishing eighth overall. A 5k specialist, this was only Laura’s second half marathon and the THE ARGUS
Tuesday, February 13, 2018
longer distance seems to suit her just as well. Laura was followed home in the black and white by the evergreen Anita Bolton finishing first in her age category and Melanie Hearty who put in a strong performance on the very challenging course.
Many, many other North East Runners crossed the line with smiles, PBs and a strong sense of achievement on the day and will now look forward to upcoming races such as the aforementioned Rás next Sunday and Fitzers 5k the following week.