National 10km & Leinster 10 Mile
By ORLA COX
Great Ireland Run – National 10K
It seems like the National 10k always attracts bad weather and this year’s race was no different. It was a blustery, cold morning. Not ideal conditions for racing…and spare a thought for those of us spectating!!
There was some relief in the form of a new route. The old route was a killer, with 3 nasty climbs in the second half of the race. The route this year was a bit more forgiving. Just a bit of a climb out of the furry glen (the easier end!) and then the steep turn by Mary’s hospital up onto Acres road. It was a tough day to be running across the fifteen acres though, with very little shelter from the wind. Racers looked to be working hard as they came to the Phoenix monument!
Despite the conditions there were some fantastic results from club members. Top honours went to Paul Cowhie whose time of 35:02 placed him first in his age category. Well done to Paul. Belated congratulations also to Paul on his performance in the recent World Masters Championships in Poland, where he was silver medallist in the 10k road race. Amazing result on the world stage.
Paul also led our men’s 050 team to a silver medal in the National Championships. Sean Ryan (39:32) and Andy Davies (39:45) were the other scorers on the team. Well done to the gents! Nick Devery also ran a great race, narrowly missed a team place with his time of 41:24.
Other results on the day were Gareth Horgan (37:41), Keith Farrell (41:51 – PB!), Mark Carroll (43:13), Tom Walsh (44:54), Eamon Prunty (45:15), Dermot Grogan (45:18), Maurice Kennelly (45:44), Brian Boland (45:47 – PB!), John Meagher (47:30), Sally-Ann Lynch (48:58) and Emma Sides (58:32 – PB!).
Battle of Clontarf – Leinster 10 Mile Championships
This has been a target race for us ladies for what feels like about two years. It can be tough to get people out racing on a bank holiday Monday but on the day five of us lined up to race – myself, Ann, Brid, Siobhan and Susan. It was a beautiful morning as we made our way along the coast road out to St Anne’s park. The route was a bit of a mystery – we just knew we had a few laps to do. Took us a while to find the start line too, but after answering the call of nature we were lined up and ready to go at 10 bells.
It was a fast start up and down the main avenue. After that we were through the trees and then onto the trails running alongside the coast road. Bit of a breeze here which helped to keep the temperature down. The course was definitely more challenging than Mallow a few weeks ago. There were a few sharp corners and hairpin turns which broke your rhythm a bit. On the plus side we could get a sneaky look at where the other club runners where. There didn’t seem to be too many around to threaten us and we could also see that Siobhan was well up the field.
There was great support from the club on the few occasions we hit the main avenue – it really makes a difference in these longer races so thanks so much to all of the supporters. In the second half of the race Brid pulled away, while myself and Ann played cat and mouse for a while. Despite my best efforts there was no reeling Brid in and once we got onto the home straight there was no way I had the speed to catch her!
Got to the finish line to hear that Siobhan had placed third and was only narrowly pipped for second place in the last 100m. Great running as usual from Siobhan. The team consisting of Siobhan, Brid and myself were second team overall. We also picked up a few age category prizes for our troubles!
And finally…..
A quick note of congratulations to Noel Ryan on successfully completing the Boston marathon. Lots of tough training over the winter months, but he managed to raise over €2000 for charity. Well done Noel!