A marathon effort from Drogheda AC
THE streets of Dublin were a sea of red vests as more than 80 Drogheda & District members took to the roads for the Rock ‘n’ Roll half-marathon.
Running 24 miles is no easy task and when you add in the four hills along this course there’s no hiding place for anyone who hasn’t prepared properly for the challenge ahead.
Conditions on the day were perfect and the early morning starting time suited many of the thousands of runners who took part in this year’s event.
First home in the red vest was Colm Reilly who raced round the course in an eye-opening 1.22.48.
Not far behind was Artur Kuwik who’s in terrific form at the moment, his time of 1.23.53 showing all is going well in training.
Stephen Floyd, who’s probably the most improved athlete in the club this year, had a great run to record 1.25.32 for his first half marathon.
Yasmin Canning produced the goods when it mattered and ran a solid 1.34.31 with no real distress and is now reaping the benefits of her marathon training.
Nuala Reilly ran a fine 1.38.07 and Laura Roche continues to impress after her 1.44.44 result.
Club Captain Jane Glynn ran 2.08 for the course, with Siobhan Redmond close behind in 2.12.57.
The promise of a flat fast course and some good quality opposition tempted some members to run last Friday evening’s Fr Murphy’s AC 5k road race held in Athboy.
Conditions on the night were perfect, with little or no wind, and talk of fast times filled the air as the clock counted down to the race start.
Colm Reilly, who’s getting stronger every week from his increased miles during his Dublin Marathon preparations, lost no time in making his way into the leading pack once the gun went.
The next three miles were all about hard, sustained running and as Reilly rounded the last turn he surged towards the line as the clock ticked down the all-important seconds.
Reilly was rewarded with a new PB time for his brave front-running as he crossed the line in 14th place overall in a fast 17.42.
Paddy Murphy was D&D’s next finisher in 34th and went so close to cracking the 19-minute mark when finishing in 19.06.
Barney Flannery had a solid run when finishing 145th in 25.10.
New member Pauline Coffey had a fine run to complete the course in 28.14, while Lisa Collier ran well to finish in 30.27.
With so many road races taking place over the weekend, just four members took part in last Saturday’s Oldbridge Parkrun.
Declan McMahon, who’s coming into good shape, was the club’s first finisher in 13th place in 22.42.
Also running were Tadgh Gogarty 26th in 25.09, Cillian Gogarty who was 36th in 26.30 and Adrian Gogarty 37th in 26.32.
In a field of more than 2,500 runners who took part in last Saturday’s Rock ‘n’ Roll 5k race in the Phoenix Park, Dublin, ‘pocket rocket’ Shane Larkin showed most of them a clean pair of heels as he raced round the course in 17.39 to finish sixth overall.
Larkin had the added bonus of finishing one place ahead of a visiting Canadian athlete, Natasha Wodak, who finished 16th in the Women’s 10,000 metres at the World Championships earlier in the week, in a very fast 31.55.
Martin Woods was D&D’s next man across the line in 287th place in 24.32, with Colin Cuffe not far behind in 24.46.
Brenda Kirwan was our first lady across the line in 32.51, with Jennifer Holmes next in 33.19.
Also running were Mary Reilly 33.20, Donal Branigan 33.25 and Deirdre Harmon 36.42.
Drogheda & District’s juvenile runners took part in Sunday’s Boyne AC Track and Field Sports Day, held in the Lourdes Stadium.
Sisters Hannah and Lauren Egan, Ciara O’Connor and Ciara Wall all competed well and gained valuable experience for their future running careers.
There were some fine performances from the boys too in Ben and Ryan Egan, Charlie Eccles, Cormac Russell and Jack McGinn, and the future of our club looks bright if these young athletes remain in athletics.