Marathon effort from Drogheda runners
WHILE many people were enjoying their Saturday morning breakfast, a large number of Drogheda & District members were finishing their warm-up and heading to the start line for this year’s Dublin Half-Marathon in Phoenix Park.
Although the morning was quite chilly, calm conditions were to make for some fine performances from some Dublin City Marathon hopefuls.
Pride of place must surely go to Brian Martin who delivered a superb run to finish seventh overall - and first in category - in a remarkable time of 1:13:36.
Martin, who’s quiet by nature but has the heart of a lion when it comes to running, knew he was in good form after his 1:15 time over the half-marathon distance in Ratoath two weeks previously and he attacked the course right from the gun.
His strong running saw him look comfortable among some talented athletes at the head of the field as he continuously churned out the miles at close to 5:37 mile pace - great running given the hilly nature of the course - and he should go well in the full marathon in late October.
D&D’s second finisher was Ruaidhri Nolan who opened a few eyes with his 1:18:42 time when finishing 47th overall, followed by Colin Leonard who was 88th in 1:20:48.
Training partners John Reilly and John Cooper were rewarded for their efforts in training when both recorded new PB times of 1:23:59 and 1:26:25 respectively.
Stephen Floyd has obviously recovered well from a nasty injury as his time of 1:23:50 - setting a new PB - would please most decent club runners.
Also running well was Johnny O’Brien, who’s really applied himself to the hard graft required to make the grade as a quality runner. His time of 1:30:23 gave a glimpse of his emerging talent over the longer distances.
Among the D&D ladies, Rachel McCormack was first across the line in a sparkling time of 1:34:35, reaping the rewards of her group training sessions.
Barbara Byrne was the club’s next finisher in 1:49:02, closely followed by Niamh Matthews in 1:49:39.
The running equivalent of Cycling’s Alp D’Huez was how one runner described the notoriously hilly course used for Star of the Sea AC’s annual cross-country race held in Stamullen on Sunday.
First up in the Women’s 3K, which was run over two laps, was Yasmin Canning who’s in good form at the moment, and she used every bit of her experience to get herself well up the field into ninth place over the first lap and then began to turn the screw on her opponents.
Pushing hard over the next mile paid off in spades as she was now up to fifth, led by three juniors and one senior category athlete.
Despite the pressure coming on over the closing stretch, Canning kept the pace up and was rewarded with a first-in-category placing and a top-notch performance under her belt.
Backed up by prolific racer Nuala Reilly, who was second in her category, and with Mary McDonnell running well, this trio made up the D&D women’s team who finished second in the team event.
In the Men’s 6K, which was run over four laps, Drogheda & District’s team of Stephen Kelly, Paul Smith and Pat O’Grady also took second place in the team competition.
Individually, Kelly had a decent run to finish seventh overall and first in his category, while O’Grady was second in his category to Tom O’Connor who’s a quality athlete. Smith had a solid run to pick up a third-in-category prize and looks to be getting stronger with every race.
Also running was Roger Tegart who finished further down the field.
Elsewhere, D&D’s Mary Leech was the overall winner of the Ardgillan Parkrun last Saturday.
This notoriously hilly course isn’t for the faint-hearted. but nevertheless Leech delivered a quality run to win in 19:58.
And at the Blackrock 4-Mile Road Race which was held on Saturday evening, Donal Branigan was D&D’s sole participant and finished 294th in 39:57.