Dublin Novice XC and more....
By ORLA COX
Full marathons, half marathons, three quarter marathons, 5Ks and XC….from the Phoenix Park to Berlin….club members have been taking on all sorts over the past couple of weeks.
Dublin Novice XC
Cross country season kicked off in earnest with the Dublin Novice Cross Country Championships which took place in our backyard last Sunday afternoon. Unfortunately we’d no women’s team this year but 6 men from the club lined up to take on 3 and a bit laps of the Garda course. A bit of rain during the week meant that conditions were nice and soft under foot.
First over the line for the club, and very narrowly missing out on a top 20 finish, was Jason Reilly who finished in 22nd place. Well done Jason. Next was Andrew Moore in 88th, followed by Tony Garvin in 101st, John Meagher (103), Tom Walsh (107) and Marius Crisan (109). Well done to everyone racing.
Longwood ¾ Marathon
It was the final test for Dublin marathon runners last weekend with the ¾ marathon race in Longwood Co. Meath. It’s a 3 lap course which lets marathoners test out their race pace ahead of the big day. Patrick O’Reilly had a great run finishing 18th overall in a time of 2:05:13. Another solid run also for Eoin Condron who finished in 2:13:24. Next was Brian Boland who finished in 2:27:30. Well done Brian. Brian was followed by Andrew Davies in 2:35:47, Paul Foran in 2:37:42, Ann Foran in 2:43:28 and Hannah Snowe in 3:13:45. Well done everyone.
Time to wrap yourselves in cotton wool between now and the big one!
Galway Half Marathon
A trio of club members headed out west over the weekend to take on the Galway Half Marathon. Conditions could have been better, but the lads battled the wind and race to get some great times. Ed Murphy was first home in a time of 1:41, with Owen McFeely not far behind in 1:42:04. Next was Paul Pugh in 1:51:06. Well done lads!
Rathfarnham 5K
A couple of Sundays we had nice and speedy Rathfarnham 5K. Grainne Butler continues on the comeback trail, finishing in 19:49 and first in her age category. Well done Grainne! Next was Vincent O’Neill finishing in 20:13 and narrowly missing out on an age prize. Vincent was followed by Finola Fitzsimons in 21:56. Well done to all.
Berlin Marathon
And finally we had a couple of runners taking on the prestigious Berlin Marathon last week. Well done to Brendan Healy and Ronan Ward who finished in 3:10:55 and 3:13:36 respectively.