Drogheda athletes deliver
SOME of Drogheda & District AC’s finest track athletes did a double of sorts last weekend as they raced in the National Masters Track Championships on Saturday and then competed in the final of the National Track League 24 hours later in Tullamore.
Running against the best Masters athletes that Ireland has to offer seemed to inspire the team - and perhaps none more so than Roisin Coade who was running in her favoured 400m.
The mark of a good athlete is doing it when it counts and Coade had a terrific run to record a new PB time of 1:05:71 when getting the silver medal against some quality opposition.
Going one better were the D&D trio of Mary Leech, Kieran McGrath and Pat O’Grady who all won National gold medals in their events.
Leech, running in the 3,000m event, delivered a strong run over the last 1,000m to come home the winner in a fine 10:41, while O’Grady’s run of 17:27 was good enough to get him another gold in this event.
McGrath, who was running the shorter 800m event, ran a lively 2:01 which was good going as only a few hours previously he has run a new PB time of 53:65 when finishing third in the 400m.
Mary Flanagan was rewarded for her hard work in training with a bronze medal in her W6 100m where she ran 20:02, while Gerry O’Connor and Paul Stuart both finished sixth in their 400m events, with Stuart running a new PB time of 57:75.
Also running well was Fintan Maher who ran a lively 4:27 when finishing sixth in his 1500m race.
The following day at the National League Final, Mary Leech ran a quality 1500m race to finish third in a very useful 4:47, picking up some very valuable points for her county along the way.
Roisin Coade’s time of 1:06 for her 400m event was a decent run by her against some top-class opposition and things are looking good for the rest of her season.
Among the D&D men, Lee McGuinness finished fourth in his 200m race in an eye-opening 22:90sec, while Andrew Kelly ran well when finishing fourth in the 400m in 53:10.
In the 800m, Kieran McGrath used his immense strength to take second place in a quality field, with his run of 2:01:50 showing just how good his form is with the World Masters Championships taking place next month.
Shane Larkin also scored some points when finishing fourth in his 5,000m race in 17:53, which was nice running as he’d raced the previous Friday in Rathkenny and was a late replacement on the team.
Friday’s Rathkenny AC 5K road race turned out to be a bit of a test for some of the D&D athletes, with some tricky hills to be overcome and the swirling wind not helping matters.
Nevertheless, Stephen Kelly did what he does best when powering his way to a second-place finish in 16:42, followed by training partner Paul Smith who ran well to claim fourth spot in a lively 16:51.
With Shane Larkin not far behind when finishing fifth in 17:12 and Jackser Reilly 63rd in 21:54, these four combined well to finish second in the Men’s team section behind a strong team from Bohermeen AC.
In the Women’s race, Michelle Hughes made a welcome return to racing when finishing second in category in a useful 21:16, followed by Nuala Reilly who won her category with her run of 23:41.
Other prize-winners were Paul Smith and Conor Cooney who both finished second in category.
Just a few hours after his Rathkenny run, Stephen Kelly was back in action at the Oldbridge Parkrun and he covered the ground easily to win in 18:42.
Kelly is starting to up his mileage as the Dublin Marathon grows near and he should go well this year.
SHOLAH TAKES GOLD
Tony Corcoran was D&D’s second finisher in 15th place in 22:17, followed by David Thornton who was 32nd in 24:13, with Linda Bowe 57th in 28:40.
At the mid-week Castlepollard 5K in Westmeath, Nuala Reilly took home a first-in-category prize thanks to her run of 23:07. Also running was Conor Cooney who placed 80th in 21:45.
Meanwhile, over in Raheny at the Lord Mayor’s 2 Mile Summer Series, Gerard Fay ran 15:30 for the one-lap race.
Prolific racers Nuala Reilly and Conor Cooney were also in action in Sunday’s Kilcock 10 Mile Road Race hosted by St Coca’s AC. Reilly won her category with her run of 1:19:28, while Cooney completed the course in 1:22:35.