Athletes master the course
TNEY say that what goes up must come down - unless it’s the hills at the Seamie Weldon 5K road race which was held in Ardee last Saturday!
This popular local race is held in honour of Seamie Weldon, who worked tirelessly for the good of Louth athletics and his own club Ardee & District AC and it’s run over a notoriously hilly course that takes no prisoners.
As this race also doubled as the County Masters Road Championships, many of the big guns were out in force in their quest for championship medals.
Among the Drogheda & District contenders, Paul Smith ran hard and fast right from the gun and was rewarded for his strong running with a fine fifth-place overall in a noteworthy 17:10 which placed him first in category.
D&D’s next finisher was Johnny Breen, a man who’s relatively new to racing, and he had a fine run to finish 12th in 18:12, with John Reilly close behind in 14th spot with his run of 18:18, placing him third in his category.
Backed up by the in-form Des Feeley, who was 22nd in 19:06, this quartet combined well to take second place in the team competition.
Taking first place in the County Championships were Paul Smith, Des Feeley and Gerry Carroll, while Johnny Breen, John Reilly and Donal Branigan took home silver medals.
There were some fine performances from the Drogheda & District ladies, with Ciara O’Reilly leading the club’s girls home when finishing 34th overall in a useful 20:13 which earned her a third-in-category prize.
Close behind in 37th spot was Yasmin Canning with 20:18, followed by Maureen Harbison who was 57th in 21:35.
Thanks to a strong run by D&D’s fourth finisher Ieva Ofmane, who ran 22:32, these four made up the winning women’s team, while Nuala Reilly also ran well to take a second-in-category prize.
In the County Championships, the gold medals went to Yasmin Canning and Margo Duffy for winning their categories, while Ieva Ofmane, Brenda Kirwan and Nuala Reilly took home silver and Ciara O’Reilly got a bronze in her category.
The following day at the Frank Duffy 10 Mile event, which was held over a new course in Swords, there were some good performances from some of D&D’s Dublin Marathon hopefuls, with Colin Reilly putting in a great run to finish 74th overall in a lively 1:02:26.
Also running well was Colm Reilly, who finished 128th in a solid 1:05:11, with Sean Corcoran the club’s next finisher in 1:20:39.
Nuala Reilly led the D&D ladies home when running 1:20:58 to win her category against some good opposition, followed by Niamh Matthews who ran well to record 1:23:32 for the classic distance. Also running were Linda Cruise (1:25:17) and Michael Aylward (1:26:42).
Closer to home, at Saturday’s Oldbridge Parkrun, Stephen Kelly once again blitzed around the course in an impressive 16:34 on his way to winning the event.
D&D’s next finisher in 10th spot was Yann Mahuet, who ran the course in 22:09, while Linda Bowe was the club’s first woman across the line in 38th place in 28:09.
Making a return to racing was Barney Flannery who was 56th in 35:39, followed by Tony Corcoran who was 61st in 42:10.
Elsewhere, at the midweek Lord Mayor’s 2 Mile Road Race hosted by Raheny AC, Gerard Fay ran 14:37 for the one-lap race.