N-ice work from Larkin wins him category prize

WHILE most people were reaching for that extra slice of pie or another of their favourite chocolate biscuits, some Drogheda & District AC members were racing round the back roads of Meath at the Rita Brady and Robbie Byrne Memorial 5K road race last Wednesday.

There was a thick layer of frost covering the ground and some black ice in places on the shaded back section of the Navan course which caused the race start to be delayed by half an hour.

When the gun eventually went, Shane Larkin threw caution to the wind as he made his way into the leading pack. He ran hard and fast and was rewarded for his aggressive front-running with an 11th place finish in a fine 17:39 to win a second-in-category prize.

Paddy Murphy, who’s looking very lean these days, produced a fine run to finish 33rd in a creditable 19:20 when finishing second in his category, with clubmate Alan Macken next across the line in 43rd spot in a useful 19:45.

A rejuvenated Conor Cooney is reaping the benefits of his winter training in the gym and he put his strength to good use to take second prize in his Over-60 section with a run of 21:28 which kept him ahead of Jim Nolan who was D&D’s next finisher in 21:41.

Nuala Reilly is coming back into good racing form and she won her category with a run of 23:28 despite her time being slowed somewhat given the conditions.

Also running were Brian Guilfoyle who ran 22:25 for the course and Mike Staunton who ran 23:22.

Meanwhile, at the St Stephen’s Day 5K Kris Kindle in Dundalk, Ruaihri Nolan showed most a clean pair of heels as he raced round the tricky course in a fast 17:11 when finishing fifth overall against a decent quality field of runners.

Nolan, who’s an intelligent runner, had used the Mile trial the previous week to sharpen up for this event and knew that he was in good shape, having won the trial with a sub five-minute mile.

Erin McHugh, who’s running very well these days, delivered a strong performance when finishing 23rd in 19:13 which ensured that she took home one of the individual prizes in the Ladies race.

Gerard Fay, who’s better known as a Marathon man, ran 23:16 to finish 100th, with Mike Staunton 113th in 23:44, ahead of Christy Duffy who was 121st in 23:59.

Sharon Finn ran 26:18 for the course, with Geraldine Reilly ly D&D’s next finisher in 36:53.

This year’s Raheny AC 6-mile le event for the Joe Noonan Cup up saw Gerard Fay run 44:31 for a distance that would normally be his warm-up.

There were two Oldbridge Parkruns over the festive season and Mike Staunton, who raced three times over the holiday period, was 36th in 26:44 in the e first race, with Seamus Roe 41st st in 27:12 and Ruth Dunne 61st in 31:55. The following Saturday ay saw Stephen Kelly race round the he 5k course to win untroubled in a fine 17:36, with plenty to spare. e. Seamus Roe was D&D’s only other finisher in 30th place in 27:51.