Danny Mooney had a very busy and a highly successful weekend on both the road and track. On Friday evening, he stormed to victory in the Tir Chonaill AC Ballyshannon 5K and, in the process, set a new course record.
Danny’s time of 14.40 saw him finish 74 seconds clear of the 2nd runner, Sligo AC’s Martin Brennan. Raymond Birch was 3rd in 16.23. Gerard McGranaghan was 3rd in the very competitive M40 category in 16.39.
Ciaran O’Donnell had a fine run and crossed the line in 19.49. Richard Raymond, one of Donegal’s most consistent M60 runners, won the category in 21.55. Niamh McDaid’s time was 23.43.
2 days later, Danny Mooney won the 3000m at the Donegal Senior Track & Field Championships at the Finn Valley Centre. Danny ran 8.44.31 to finish clear of City of Derry Spartans’ Declan Reed. Eoin Hughes achieved a PB of 9.06.41, which was a 6 seconds improvement on his existing time.
Eoin was followed by a new recruit, Conor Gallagher, in 9.16.79. Raymond Birch also had a good, sub 10 minute time of 9.55.25.
Eoin Kelly was an impressive winner of the 400m in 55.5s. David Smith’s excellent time of 4.14.36 in the 1500m represented a PB of 11 seconds.
On Sunday, several LAC runners made the short journey to run in the Strabane Lifford Half Marathon. The first LAC runner across the line was Patrick Brennan, in a time of 1.22.13, which gave him a highly creditable 6th place in the Male Open section.
Liam Ferry’s massive improvement continued and he was the next LAC runner. His time of 1.27.19 gave him 7th place in the very competitive M40 category. Barry Mackey is a man who has been no stranger to PBs over the past 12 months.
The hard-working athlete gained another PB, with a time of 1.27.26. This represented an excellent improvement of 3 minutes on his previous best half marathon time.
Mark Nee had a good performance, coming home in 1.28.55. Peter Hamilton finished in 1.33.26. Marie Boyle was 7th in the Female Open category in 1.36.17.
Regular racer, Noel Lynch, clocked 1.39.31. Gary Kearns’ time was 1.40.21. Gary Price notched a PB, when he finished in 1.45.05. Mary Gallagher’s time was 1.59.13.
The winner of the race, which had 922 finishers, was Foyle Valley AC’s Martin Gallagher in 1.15.49. Claire McGuigan, of host club Lifford Strabane AC, was first woman in 1.18.33.
On Monday afternoon, Hugh Gallagher ran 25.11 in the Calry AC 5K (Co Sligo). The race was the 3rd of 6 in the Sligo Road Race League and was won by JP Carty, of Sligo AC, in 15.28.
Tuesday evening’s Kilmacrennan National School was organised by club member, Noreen McGettigan. LAC’s Monica McGranaghan was the winner of the women’s race and 4th overall, in 19.30.
M50 runner, Frank Pinder, had an excellent time of 20.34 on the undulating course. Just behind was local man and another M50, Paul Lee, in 21.10.
Young Gemma McFadden was the leading Female Junior in 21.51. Young Frankie Pinder clocked 25.14. Muireann Ready’s time was 36.31.
The race winner was Peter O’Donnell, Milford AC, in 16.45.
Wednesday evening’s Colaiste Ailigh 5K was also organised by a LAC runner, Frances Judge. The race featured a very fast, downhill start.
The first LAC runner was Paul Toner, who was a top 10 finisher and first in the M40 category. Paul’s time was 18.21. He was followed by Male Junior, Eoghan Farren, who was 2nd in his category in 19.19.
Peter Gallagher clocked 19.42 and Stephen Shiels 19.59. Eimear Gormley was the 2nd woman in 20.22; Finn Valley AC’s Natasha Kelly won in 17.53.
Noel Lynch was the winner of the M50 category in 20.53. Jack Bond finished in 22.12. Dara Dunne was the leading M50 runner in 23.01.
Hugh Gallagher won the M60 category in 23.40. Max Gallagher finished in 23.45, Sophie Doherty in 29.19 and Noah du Plessis in 39.40. Ex LAC runner, Liam Doherty, now of Milford AC, was the race winner in 16.40.
Barry Meehan’s time of 20.16 was the fastest of the LAC times in Saturday’s Letterkenny Parkrun. Barry was 3rd. Cathal Roarty was the 2nd M50 runner in 23.10.
This was Cathal’s 63rd Parkrun and his best time since setting his fastest time of 22.37 on March 18th 2017. Philip O’Hare was the winner in 19.09.
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