Orla rubs shoulders with Olympic star
THERE was a fantastic performance from Drogheda & District AC’s Orla O’Connor to qualify for her first National Senior track final in Santry after she placed third in Heat 3 of the 800m in a PB of 2:16.37.
Running against some of the best athletes in the country seemed to inspire O’Connor as running PB times in a championship race takes some doing given the pressure to perform well.
Facing her in Sunday’s final was, among others, Rio Olympian Ciara Mageean, but once more O’Connor stepped up to the plate to smash her PB again - this time by more than a second - as she finished a clear seventh in 2:14.69..
O’Connor’s clubmate Kieran McGrath also placed third in his heat in 1:59.08 which wasn’t quite quick enough to make the final.
Hugh Callan also made a big step up in competition when taking his place among the fastest onelap runners in the country and he ran well to place sixth in 54.06 in Heat 5 of the 400m.
Elsewhere, a warm and humid morning greeted the thousands of runners who took part in Sunday’s Fingal 10k road race which is part of the Dublin Marathon series.
This course has a reputation for being good for PB times and Brian Martin certainly didn’t disappoint as he sped run the course to finish 28th overall in a fast 34:41.
Colm Reilly was D&D’s next man across the line in 89th place in a swift 37:16. but perhaps the run of the day belonged to the aptly named Artur Kuwik who had a storming run to record 38:08. Kuwik’s PB shows that he’s recovered well from his efforts in the Cork City Marathon.
Enda Martin delivered a good run to finish strongly in 39:57 and Stephen Floyd continues to impress after his time of 38:58.
D&D’s first lady home was Yasmin Canning, who stuck to her pre-race plan, ran to a steady tempo and was rewarded with 16th place overall in the ladies race in 41:21.
The club’s next female finisher across the line, in 44:20, was Nuala Reilly who was first in her category.
Niamh Matthews ran well to finish in 49:26, just one second ahead of Linda Cruise, and also running were Joy Tegert (54:29), Michelle O’Brien (1:01:39) and Deirdre Harmon (1:09:46).
Cormac Canning has been selected for Athletics Ireland’s regional performance squad and there were some fine performances from D&D’s young athletes at the Dublin Athletics Board Graded Meeting held at Santry Stadium last Wednesday.
It was metric mile night and in wet and windy conditions Sam O’Neill didn’t disappoint as he won the 1500m B race in a fast 4.15. Cormac Canning finished third in a solid 4.23, with Cillian Dyas running a big PB when finishing ninth in 4.34.
Young James Nolan moved up in distance from 800m to finish ninth in his 1500m A race in 4.21. Robert Caffrey ran a clever race to finish third in his 1500m C race in 4.26 and Brian Pentony - running his first ever 1500m - ran a solid 4.44 and will go faster as he gains racing experience at this distance.
Mary Leech continued her great season with a new outdoor PB of 4.49. Running in the 1500m A1 race, Leech got stuck in and had to battle hard all the way against Niamy Corry of Raheny AC before being pipped by half a second.
Erin McHugh ran a solid race when finishing fifth in her 1500m in 5.07 and Ciara O’Reilly showed good form when coming third in her race and just missing out on second place by the narrowest of margins.
In the shortest event of the evening, the 200m, Frank Cruise ran 29.17 when finishing seventh against some good opposition.
The roads around Bettystown were turned into a sea of red as more than 40 D&D members took to the start line at last Tuesday’s Cilles AC 5-Mile Road Race.
Conditions were good for fast running, with little wind, but the heat was to make things difficult for the runners on the hilly middle section of the course.
Shane Larkin lost no time in making his way into the lead group and was rewarded for his aggressive running with a first-in-category prize, finishing ninth in 28:53. Not far behind in 12th place was Colm Reilly who ran a new PB of 29:39, with Artur Kuwik 23rd in 30:47.
Mags Nugent was the club’s first lady home in 54th place in 34:27, with Michelle Hughes 67th in 35:06 - good enough for a first-in-category prize.
Nuala Reilly won her category in 35:59 when finishing 77th overall and other category prize-winners were Barbara Byrne (1st) and John Carlo Orlandi, Sinead Weldon and Edel Victory (all 2nd). Niamh Matthews was 3rd in her category and ran 38:41 for the course.
Five D&D members took to the hilly fields of Oldbridge for last Saturday’s Parkrun and the club’s first and youngest finisher was Senan Gough who’s only 11. Senan was 27th overall in 25:14 and more importantly he finished two seconds ahead of his father David!
Running PB times were Martin Woods (31st in 25:23) and Aoife Harmon (33rd in 25:27) and also competing was Audrey Corcoran who was 82nd in 36:29.
And at the Ardgillan Parkrun, Shane Larkin was placed third.