Campbell calls the shots
TWO performances by Drogheda & District members deserve special mention following last Thursday’s Louth Track and Field Championships at a sun-drenched Lourdes Stadium.
In the Women’s shot putt competition Valerie Campbell rose to the occasion and her throw of 4.81m ensured that she won her category in some style.
Campbell’s win was made all the more remarkable as - truth be known - her training method consisted of practising with a rock that her coach Jos Haak had picked up while walking on the beach!
Given Campbell’s hidden talent for this event, a shiny new shot putt is on her wish list and the club won’t be found wanting.
Meanwhile, competing in the 1500m, young Liam Mulligan ran the race of his life to knock almost 20 seconds off his previous best time when running an eye opening 5:02.69 to finish fifth in a high-quality Junior Men’s race.
Mulligan, who’s relatively new to running, isn’t afraid of the hard work that’s needed in training and has the ability to tough it out when the pain comes on in the latter stages of a race.
There were some good medal-winning performances from Karl Carton, Frank Cruise and Andrew Kelly who all ran in the 100m and 200m. Club sprint coach Gerry O’Connor ran well when winning his 400m category in a lively 1:01.
In the 800m, run over two laps of the track, Hugh Callan won his M35 category with his run of 2:15, with clubmate David Campbell second in 2:20.
Young Tadgh Donnelly was second in his Junior Men’s 1500m in a solid 4:18, while Cormac Canning finished third in 4:23.
Danny Skeffington continues to impress and his run of 4:50 ensured that he won his M55 category in some style.
In the longest event of the evening, the 3,000m, Brian Martin won his M35 category in 9:55.
Other category prize-winners in this event were Christy Duffy (1st M65 in 14:52), Yasmin Canning (1st W45 in 11:32) and Elva Maree (2nd W40 in 13:22).
Meanwhile, round two of the National League took place on Sunday at Santry Stadium and running for their county and scoring valuable points were some of D&D’s premier track runners.
In the 200m, running against some good opposition, Lee McGuinness ran a good bend to finish third in a lively 22:74.
Andrew Kelly stepped up in distance to finish a fine fourth in his 400m race in 54:88.
Orla O’Connor, who’s running very consistently at the moment, raced well to finish third in her 800m in 2:17:60, and young Cormac Canning put the work in and was rewarded with a fourth-place finish in his 5,000m event in 17:50. Shane Larkin, running as a guest, ran a solid 17:30 for his 5,000m race.
Four members of the club’s Youth section travelled to the midlands to take part in the All Ireland B Championships which were held at the Tullamore track on one of the hottest days of the year.
Eamon Canning started the day well when he threw superbly to score a new shot putt PB of 7.90 and was unfortunate to finish just outside the medals, while Kate O’Reilly had a great competition when her PB throw of 7.64 scored her a silver in the same event.
In the long jump Anstasia Drakoulaki jumped really well on her way to a second-place finish and a silver medal.
Later in the day, Drakoulaki flew through her heat of the 80m to make the final and only missed out on bronze by .07 of a second with her 11.08 time.
Sophie Kinsella also ran a great heat in the 80m and was sixth in her final with 11.63, while in the afternoon Kinsella took to her main event - the 600m - and ran very well to finish fourth in her heat with a time of 2:00:22.
Kate O’Reilly also took part in the 800m and finished fourth with 2:46 at the end of a very long and hot day.
Joey Ryan was D&D’s first finisher in the St Kevin’s Community 5K which was held in Philipstown last Friday. Ryan finished 23rd in 21:42 on a seriously warm evening and was followed by Shaun Conroy who was 41st in 23:35.
Margaret McAuley was the club’s first woman across the line in 79th place with 28:10, with Ann Leonard 80th in 28:13.
Meanwhile, at the Clontarf Half-Marathon which was held last Saturday, the D&D trio of Dolores Newman, Michele McCullough and Caitriona Henry packed well to cross the line together in 2:20 on a very warm day for distance running. Their clubmate Ged Kenny was just behind when finishing in 2:22.
In the 5 mile race, which was run in conjunction with the Half-Marathon, Siobhan Redmond ran 45:36 for the course.
While the recent sunny weather has scorched the grass on the hilly slopes of the Oldbridge Parkrun, Stephen Kelly blazed a trail of his own when running an incredible 15:50 to set a new course record for this challenging 5K course.
Running a time that many a decent runner would be happy to achieve on a flat road surface, Kelly showed just how good his current form is and the sky’s the limit for him if he can keep clear of injury. Also running were Conor Cooney, who finished 28th in 23:38, with David Thornton 43rd in 25:30. Linda Bowe ran a new PB when finishing 53rd in 27:10, followed by Rose Dalton who was 84th in 33:27.