Nakita Burke continued her superlative form during the week. She won the women’s race in a very competitive Queen’s 5K in Belfast on Wednesday.
Just 3 days after running an excellent time of 34.32 in a 10K in Belfast, she returned to the same city and stormed around the course in a highly creditable time of 16.50.
The overall winner of the 5K was Neil Johnston of Springwell Running Club in a time of 14.50.
A large contingent of Letterkenny AC runners travelled to Omagh for Saturday’s Half Marathon. The first LAC runner home was Philip McHugh who finished in an excellent time of 1.18, which gave him a top 20 finish.
Liam Ferry achieved a PB of 1.29.34. He was followed by 2 runners who were to the fore in a very competitive M55 category. Pat Brady was the 2nd M55 runner in 1.30 and was closely followed by Barry Mackey, who was 3rd in the M55 category in 1.30.26.
Stephen Shiels clocked 1.34.28, Paul McMonagle 1.36.06, Peter Hamilton 1.37.06, Ciaran O’Donnell 1.38.34, Johnny Duffy 1.41.17 and Mark McFadden 1.42.20. Eimear Wiseman had a fine run and her time of 1.42.48 gave her a top 30 finish in the Female Open category.
Gary Price crossed the line in a time of 1.45.25 and John Mullen just after him in 1.45.28. Ciaran Liddy’s time was 1.46.32 and Gerard Mullen’s was 1.48.40. Maura O’Grady had a strong run and was 5th in the M50 category in 1.47.56. Phil Boyle’s time was 1.49.20. The winner of the half marathon, which had 2295 finishers was Gary O’Hanlon, Clonliffe Harriers, in 1.07.40. All the LAC runners were comfortably inside the first 40% of the finishers.
Also on Saturday, Eoin Hughes and Donal Farren were in action in the Irish Universities Track and Field Championships in Athlone. Eoin ran 16.22 in the 5000m and represented LYIT. Unfortunately, Donal, representing TCD, pulled up in the same race.
A group of LAC runners travelled to Holland at the weekend to take part in the Rotterdam Marathon, one of the world’s iconic road races. Marathon specialist, Ciaran McGonagle, had another excellent time, 2.32.33. This gave Ciaran a place in the top 10 of a very competitive M40 category.
Another experienced marathoner, Caitriona Jennings also had a superb run. She was the 2nd F35 runner in a time of 2.38.42. Speaking afterwards, Caitriona expressed herself as being “delighted at running the fastest I’ve run since 2012.” She said that it “was extremely hot at the end.” Ann-marie McGlynn made her marathon debut in Rotterdam.
Her time was a very impressive 2.39.19; she was next in the F35 category. Kevin McGee had an excellent run. He was 18th in the M45 category in 2.49.32. Aidan McKenna ran well and finished in 3.18.18. Noel Lynch had a good run and crossed the line in 3.48.32. Patricia McKenna also put on a good performance and clocked 4.25.09.
In Rotterdam, there was another impressive performance from the ageless Termoneeny Running Club man, Tommy Hughes. For the 4th consecutive weekend, the 59 year old broke an Irish M55 record. His time of 2.30.15 eclipsed the existing Irish M55 marathon record by more than 7 minutes. The race winner was Kenyan, Marius Kipserem in a very fast time of 2.04.11.
While heroics were being performed in Holland, several LAC runners were in action in neighbouring Germany. A group took part in another of the world’s great road races, the Berlin Half Marathon. Raymond Birch’s tremendous form continued and he notched up another PB, 1.14.42. That superb time gave Raymond 14th place in an ultra competitive M40 category.
Gerard McGranaghan also gained a PB of 1.20.35, which represented an improvement of 4 minutes on his previous best. Gerard competed in the M40 category as well and had a top 50 place in the category. Gerard’s wife, Monica, had an excellent run. She was 12th in the F40 category in a time of 1.30.47. Kenyan, William Wanjiku, was the race winner in a very fast time of 1.01.00.
Closer to home, Eoghain McGinley had a phenomenal run in Sunday’s Convoy 10K. Eoghain won the race in 31.45, which was a new course record. He was more than 90 seconds clear of the race runner-up. Paul McFadden’s time of 35.23 gave him a top 10 finish.
Nakita Burke completed yet another suberb week by winning the women’s race in a time of 36.09. Nakita was 30 seconds clear of her closest challenger, Lifford/Strabane AC’s Claire McGuigan. There were also fine runs from Kevin Kelly, 37.07, Patrick Brennan, 37.34, and Martin Devenney, 37.43. John Hughes was 2nd in the M55 category in 42.15.
Marie Boyle was the 4th woman across the line in 42.37. The 3rd M55 runner was Frank Pinder, whose time was 42.51. Peter Gallagher’s time was 42.56. Serena McDaid won the F40 category in 45.16. Gary Kearns clocked 46.49 and Paul Crawford 51.49.
Peter McLean foresook his usual Saturday morning run in the Letterkenny parkrun for the warmer climes of Florida. While on holiday in Florida, he completed his first Triathlon of 2019, the Ocala Florida Triathlon.
Barry Meehan continued his comeback from injury on Saturday morning, when he was the first LAC runner home in the Letterkenny parkrun in a time of 20.16. Cathal Roarty completed his 60th parkrun in 23.23, which gave him 3rd place in the M50 category.
The next M50 runner was Anthony Farren in 23.35. Dara Dunne’s time of 23.36 was the fastest of her 8 parkruns to date. She was the 2nd woman and the leading runner in the F50 category. First across the line was Aaron Nepgen 19.47. It was Aaron’s 14th parkrun win in the 88 times he has taken part.
2 weekends ago, highly rated and hard working LAC coach, Teresa McDaid, was in Aahrus, Denmark, where she was a part of the management team for the Irish team at the World Cross Country Championship.
