All set for O’Brien vs O’Sullivan crunch 5k

IT was another evening on which the weather held fine enough to see the athletes and fun runners through and home from the second of the trinity of 5K road races hosted by An Ríocht AC. on Wednesday night.

Intriguingly, the first five home on Wednesday night’s installment matched that of the first leg on September 7 – in different positions maybe – but it’s all eyes on the final leg now on Wednesday, September 21.

There is the possibility of a showdown between the most recent winner, Seán O’Sullivan and his An Ríocht clubmate, Tommy O’Brien – who won that September 7 race.

That looks likely unless someone from the field or someone else from that famous five will step up and claim the third stage win for themselves. Then it will be all about timing to sort out the overall winner.

An outstanding talking point among people who know their athletics are the performances of An Ríocht AC athlete, Shona Heaslip in the two races to date. She finished in fourth place on Wednesday night and only 14 seconds behind the winner.

Yes there are medals for all participants and a specially commissioned Buff – a most stylish and versatile form of headwear and suitable for all types of weather.

And there will be a party to celebrate all the achievements in the fading light of the autumn evening.

That’s on Wednesday, September 21st at 7pm.

The Couch to 5K production line / conveyor belt just keeps on going. On Tuesday night 166 returnees and newcomers turned up for the new Couch-to-5K season.

Already there’s a Halloween Family Party being planned for the track for Thursday night, October 27, with a Spook-to-5K fun run and frightening frolics around the floodlit tracks.

The safety of the surroundings and car parking facilities lends itself easily to family occasions. Moms, dads and children of all fages are being invited to dress up in frighteningly frightful gear and join the party.

Fun to Run group members from left: Noreen O’Gorman, Marie Hickey, Eileen Brennan, Catherine Conroy and Sheila Curtin pictured after they completed the second leg of the three Wednesday evening 5K Fun Runs at An Ríocht AC.