Tadhg shows his talent by taking bronze
TADHG Donnelly underlined what a talent and prospect he is by winning bronze in the 3000m when representing Leinster Schools at the Tailteann Games at Morton Stadium last Saturday and going sub nine minutes with a time of 8.58.5 in a close race from start to finish!
Donnelly is a real find for his club DDAC and one to watch out for in the future.
The club’s Midsummer 5K Road Race turned out to be a great success with 700 runners lining up for what has become one of the most popular races in the North East.
Indeed, this race has become so well known that the Turkish Ambassador to Ireland, Mr Levent Murat Burham graced the club with his presence and wearing number 1 ran well to finish in a decent time of 24:29.
Conditions on the night were perfect for racing with little or no wind, while the course was varied and more than fair.
The winner of the Men’s race was local man Simon Ryan who won with a bit to spare in 16:01, with Brian Martin second in a lively 17:03.
Colin Dyas put in a tremendous sprint finish to secure 4th place in 17:20 and Pat O’Grady raced well to finish 7th overall and 1st in category when running 17:35.
John Hough perhaps had the run of the evening when going sub 18 minutes for the first time on his way to finishing 11th overall and just holding off Aisling O’Connor from Edenderry AC who won the Women’s race in a fast 18:02.
Race sponsor Barney Flannery had a good run to pick up a 2nd in category prize when running 25:21 and Gerry Carroll got a 3rd in category prize for his run of 26:46.
In the Women’s race, first finisher was Maureen Conway Harbison in 84th place overall with a time of 21:34.
Aoife Harmon was third finisher in 107th place in 22:07 closely followed by Barbara Byrne who was 107th in 22:15.
Nuala Reilly won her category and Terri Durnin ran well to finish 2nd in category when finishing 134th in 22:57.
Junior athletes showed the way with Abigail Tegart who won the Junior Women’s category with her run of 22:05, while finishing 12th female overall.
Liam O’Grady ran a new PB time of 20:49 when finishing 8th in a very competitive Junior Men’s category.
Round 1 of the National League Track and Field Championships took place last Sunday at the Mary Peter’s track in Belfast.
Six DDAC members were selected for the County team and the competition at these events is quite intense with championship points at stake.
In the 200m, Lee McGuinness ran a good bend to finish 3rd in a fast 22.5 seconds, while Andrew Kelly was 5th in the 100m.
Orla O’Connor ran a solid 2:20:70 for her 800m race and a short while later training partner Mary Leech delivered a strong run to finish 4th in her 1500m with a lively 4:51:17.
Kieran McGrath used his immense strength on the run in to finish 4th in his 800m in 2:02:26.
In the last events of the day, the sprint relays, the ladies team were 4th in both the 4 x 100m and the 4 x 400m.
The men finished 4th in the 4 x 100m and 3rd in the 4 x 400m.
With so many of DDAC members running in the 5K, just eight of the most hardened road runners made the short trip to Dunshaughlin for last Saturday’s Michael Manning Memorial 10K Road Race.
This race has a long and deep history and it’s the one that every good club runner yearns to run.
Club coaches must be doing something right as this turned out to be a night of PB performances.
First home in the red vest was Ruaidhri Nolan who had a terrific run to finish 66th in 35:31 in a field of over 800 quality athletes.
Going Sub 40 minutes for the first time was Martin Russell who raced well to finish 187th in 39:27, with Paddy Murphy close behind in 190th spot in 39:40.
Des Feeley put in a good finish to cross the line in 193rd place in a solid 39:46 and he’s made a good comeback to racing.
Also running well were Stephen Geraghty who ran a PB time of 42:15 and Mike Staunton who ran 48:16.
For the ladies, first home was Nuala Reilly who duly won her category followed by Mary Ann Kinsella who ran very well on a warm evening to record a new PB time of 56:59.
The trio of Niamh Matthews (1:48:03), Stephen Gill (1:55:32) and Martina O’Connor Dyas (1:55:33) who ran in last week’s Thoroughbred Half Marathon in Kildare.
Meanwhile, at the midweek Raheny 2 Mile Summer Series Gerard Fay ran 15:03 for this popular event which is run over a two lap course.
Closer to home, at last Saturday’s Oldbridge Parkrun, Conor Cooney gave himself a nice birthday present by running well to finish 22nd overall in 23:46 and more importantly had a pain free run after some problems with injuries.
Not far behind was Ieva Ofmane who ran well to finish 23rd in 23:59 with Michele McCullough 45th in 27:35 and Janet McDonnchadha who finished 73rd in 1:00:49.
There were some good performances by members at last Sunday’s Irish Runner 5 Mile Race in the Phoenix Park.
Colm Reilly ran a useful 30:43 for the distance on a seriously warm day and was followed by Barry Sullivan who ran 34:16.
Also running were Gerard Fay who finished in 41:50 with Carol Keegan next in 44:13. Anna Ryan ran 53:43 while Jackie Kirwan finished in 59:19 and Anne Marie Kierans ran 1:06:50.