Pat makes the grade with big finish in trial
THE glamour of being an international athlete is usually far removed from the reality. It’s the early morning unseen miles of running round the muddy fields of Oldbridge Estate or the endless interval training in the Lourdes Stadium that enables him or her to make the top grade.
However, Pat O’Grady made all the aches and pains a top-class athlete has to endure worthwhile when he delivered the goods on Sunday afternoon.
Running in the trial race at the National Sports Centre in Abbotstown, O’Grady finished a magnificent second in his Men’s Over-55 race to Tommy Payne, one of the toughest competitors in Irish Athletics.
Right from the gun, O’Grady used every bit of his vast running experience to quickly settle into a good tempo and seek out the best running line on this notoriously tough course.
By the third lap O’Grady had worked his way up to second place and started to edge clear of his chasing rivals.
With muscles tiring and lungs burning, O’Grady pushed on one last time to cross the line tired but happy, certain in the knowledge that he’d secured the much sought-after Irish singlet.
O’Grady won’t be celebrating any time soon as he has to prepare for the Home Internationals race in Derry on November 18th.
Running in the same event at Abbotstown were Kieran McGrath, Brian Martin and Stephen Duggan and all three produced strong runs and delivered good performances.
In the Ladies 6,000m race run over four laps, Mary Leech, Yasmin Canning and Orla O’Connor gave it all they had in pursuit of one of the top four places that would guarantee them an Irish singlet.
These three ran their hearts out and were greatly encouraged by the large number of travelling supporters. Alas, it wasn’t to be on this occasion, with Leech and Canning, despite running very good races, both finishing in seventh place in their categories.
Such was the standard in these categories that the 2016 winner couldn’t make the top four.
Sam O’Neill, who’s developing into a fine athlete, delivered a strong run in the U-20 Men’s 6,000m and will have gained some insight into how the top guys race.
Last weekend’s BHAA Teachers Cross-Country Race, held in Castleknock, saw Stephen Kelly run his last race before he takes on the challenge of this year’s Dublin City Marathon.
Kelly, who’s looking very lean these days, is in terrific form at the moment and it certainly shows that he’s put the work in over the last few months. Running in the Men’s 4-mile event, Kelly produced a strong display of running to finish fourth overall and first in his category in 22:31 against a field which contained some fine athletes.
Clubmate Conor Cooney continued his return to racing after an injury by taking a third-in-category prize in the same race.
Nuala Reilly won a third-in-category prize with her run of 17:18 in the Women’s 2-mile race.
Meanwhile, congratulations are due to the ‘nifty nine’, Drogheda & District AC members who travelled to Portugal for the Lisbon Half-Marathon. Conditions on the day were warm and the tough climb near the finish was to make things difficult.
D&D’s first finishers, who crossed the line together after 13 miles of tough running, were Ged Kenny and Alison Brown who ran the course in 2:23:29. Not far behind was Jonathan Byrne who ran 2:35:04, a mere one second ahead of Ciara Byrne, while also running were Carmel Bergin, Donna Carolan, Valerie Campbell, Geraldine Reilly and Siobhan Redmond.
Closer to home, at the Raheny Winter Series 2 mile road race, Gerard Fay ran 15:18 for this tough course which is mostly run on a concrete surface. A few days later Fay ran the Longwood 10k in 52:18.
Only a few miles down the road at the ALSAA Winter Track League, Christy Duffy was churning out the laps as he ran the one-mile race in 6:52.
The recent stormy weather caused last Saturday’s Oldbridge Parkrun to be cancelled, but four D&D members made the short journey to Navan to take part in their weekly event.
Martin Russell certainly made the trip worthwhile as he raced round this three-lap course in a fast 20:16 when finishing third overall. Tony Corcoran cmae home 15th in a time of 22:48, David Thornton was 21st in 23:50 and Audrey Corcoran 104th in 38:38.
D&D’s Christmas Couch to 5k is back, starting on November 2nd, and registration is on tonight (Tuesday) and Thursday from 8.15 to 9pm.
This year’s target race is D&D’s own Christmas 5k on December 17th which starts and finishes in the Lourdes Stadium.