Athletes complete kilomarathon and 10k for Wicklow Hospice
Over 170 people participated in the third annual Fionnuala MacCormack kilomarathon and 10k on Saturday last in aid of the Wicklow Hospice Foundation.
A kilomarathon is 26.2 kilometres, which equates to a little over 16 miles, and many of those who were running were using this as an ideal long training run in preparation for next month’s Dublin City Marathon.
This year saw new courses for both events which seemed to go down well. Both races began adjacent to The Beehive and followed the same route for about six kilometres. At that stage the 10k turned for home while the kilomarathon headed further out into the countryside.
There were over 60 finishers in the 10k. The winning man was Clive Quinn in a time of 34:17 closely followed by Scott McCann and Derek Crammond. The winning lady was Sheila O’Byrne with a time of 41:06. Rhona McHugh and Audrey Gahan were second and third respectively.
In the kilomarathon over 110 runners completed the distance where Miles Gibbons took first place in a time of 1:41:23, followed by Paul Lynch and Ray Kenny. The winning lady was Catherine O’Connor who ran 1:51:45 with Sandra Lynch and Aisling Kirwan following her home.
All proceeds from the day are in aid of Wicklow Hospice which is currently under construction, thanks to the generosity of the people of Wicklow.
Triple Olympian and double European cross country gold medallist, Fionnuala MacCormack, a patron of Wicklow Hospice, was on hand to assist with the stewarding. Once again the organisers are indebted to Michael Richardson of Wicklow Civil Defence who provided support on the day. Thanks also to Pat Doyle of The Beehive for sponsoring the refreshments and for allowing his premises to be used as race headquarters.
Organisers wish to also thank the gardaí for their assistance and to Tim Grummel for the timing. Prizes were sponsored by Avondale Sports and Leisure and Kascelmed. Thanks also to the stewards who assisted on the day.
The next event on the Wicklow Hospice running calendar is the one day festival of running in Avondale on Sunday, October 14. Distances are five, 10, 15 and 20 miles and the full marathon distance.