SILVER LINING FOR LEECH
A SOLID winter’s training, followed by some gruelling track sessions, paid off in spades for Mary Leech when she took home a silver medal from the European Masters Indoor Track Championships in Madrid last week.
Leech lined up for her W2 1500m event against a top-class field which was dominated by the best middle distance runners that host nation Spain had to offer.
After a perilous first bend as the runners jostled for a good position, Leech quickly settled into a good rhythm and kept a cool head as the runners lapped this tight track at an ever-quickening pace.
With the leading runner Elisa Hernandez away and clear, this race was all about the silver medal, and sensing that the big move was about to come Leech worked her way into third place with just over a lap of this 200m track left.
Going down the back straight for the last time, Leech pushed hard while maintaining her running form and was now up to second, closely followed by fellow Irish runner Catherine Diver.
Gritting her teeth coming into the home straight, Leech gave it one last effort to hold off her opponent and cross the line to secure the silver medal in a fast 4:54.26.
Tired but happy with her effort, Leech could finally relax, as medals at this level never come easy.
Earlier in the week, Leech had finished seventh in a top-quality field in her 3,000m race.
Meanwhile, in the Men’s 800m, Kieran McGrath kept all the Irish supporters on the edge of their seats as he powered his way across the line in his heat in a fast 2:01 - good enough to qualify for the final the following day.
The final itself turned out to be a real thriller, with only a second between the first and last finisher, and McGrath ran a great race to finish sixth in an eye-opening 2:00:89. Double World Masters champion Mark O’Shea unfortunately had to retire due to a hamstring injury.
Pat O’Grady deliver a strong run in his M5 3,000m to finish fifth in a solid 10:19 and then later in the week was well in the mix when finishing 12th in his 5K cross-country event.
Hugh Callan, running in the 200m, was fourth in his heat in 25:02 and gained good experience as to what championship racing is all about. Robbie Maher never quite got into the M4 1500m, which can happen, and finishing 11th in 4:37 was not part of the plan.
However, the mark of a good athlete is often how they cope with disappointment and Maher made up for it when he produced a top-class run to finish third scoring runner on the Irish team which took the bronze medals in the Men’s M4 cross-country race.
Training Partners Paul Smith and Stephen Kelly both toed the line in their cross-country event knowing that the medals were within their reach, but that they were going to have to work for them.
The next 17 minutes of their lives were spent trying to ignore the pain and suffering that athletes have to endure if they’re to deliver the goods and bring home the spoils of top-class racing.
Kelly had a very solid run to finish 16th overall, and with Smith 55th the Irish took silver team medals.
The future of Drogheda & District depends on its ability to recruit and develop the next generation of athletes and that future certainly looks bright given two remarkable performances by Tadgh Donnelly and James Nolan over the weekend.
Running in the U-17 800m at the National Junior Indoor Track Championships in Athlone, Donnelly went through the first 400m in an incredible 57 seconds and held on for dear life as he chased after the leading runner who won the race in 1:52 which is a worldclass time for someone of his age. Donnelly, who has natural strength in abundance, held good form and crossed the line to finish second in 2:02.
Only a few minutes later, young James Nolan was doing battle with the best Juniors that Ireland has to offer and finished seventh in his final in 2:00:25.
Nolan has been consistently running two minutes dead for the 800m event and will go sub two minutes given the right conditions and race set-up.
Meanwhile, more than 1,000 runners took to the start line for Sunday’s Dunboyne 4 Mile Road Race - among them over 40 of D&D’s finest - and between them they took home a prize in every category bar one.
Conditions on the day were dry and bright with very little wind, so fast times were on the cards.
Shane Larkin was D&D’s first finisher as he sped round the course in a fast 21:49 to place second in his M45 category and it took former Olympian Shane Healy to beat him.
Not far behind was Paddy Murphy who’s running very consistently these days, and he also took third in his M50 category with his run of 25:10.
Frank McCarthy was third in category with his run of 29:08 in his M60 race and Conor Cooney took first prize in the M65 race in a useful 27:55.
Among the ladies, Ciara O’Reilly took over 10 seconds off her PB time when running 25:47 - good enough to place her third in category. Barbara Byrne also ran well and placed 3rd in her W45 race and Nuala Reilly showed her opponents a clean pair of heels as she sped to a category win with her run of 28:46.
D&D’s ladies team of Ciara O’Reilly, Barbara Byrne, Nuala Reilly and Roisin Coade combined well to take second place in the Ladies team event.
Also running well was Colin Leonard - 59th overall in a solid 23:23.
Elsewhere, Yasmin Canning and Ruaidhri Nolan made a worthwhile journey to Dundalk last Saturday for the Friends of Saint Oliver’s Hospital 5K.
Nolan finished third in the Men’s race in a useful 17:49, while Canning was second in the Women’s race in 20:05. Club coach Jos Haak was 55th in 26:10 and Jenny Gregory ran the same time, with Alan Floyd a70th in 29:24.
Members of the youth section took part in last Saturday’s Oldbridge Parkrun and running a new PB of 23:12 when finishing 18th overall was Kate O’Reilly. Not far behind, and also running a PB, was Shaun Conroy - 25th in 23:43 - with Leva Ofmane 27th in 23:52.
Twins Peter and Daniel Aylward both ran well, Peter 43rd in 25:36 and Daniel 69th in 28:00.
Regular Parkrun competitor Tony Corcoran was D&D’s first finisher in 12th place in 22:19, but the highlight of the morning was when some of these young athletes got to meet former Olympian David Gillick who was in attendance.
At the mid-week ALSAA Winter League Christy Duffy ran 13:25 for the 3,000m, with Gerard Fay clocking 15:30, while Liam Farrell ran a solid 1:42:58 for the Larne Half-Marathon last Saturday.