Letterkenny Athletic Club runners wasted no time getting into action to work off the effects of the Christmas Day turkey and trimmings.
On St Stephen’s Day, LAC runners were in action in 3 races in 3 different Counties and over 3 different distances. In perfect running conditions, Anne Marie McGlynn ran the rarely run road distance of 6K in Kilbeggan in Co Westmeath, adjacent to her native Co Offaly.
Anne Marie had a superlative run, with her time of 20.00 giving her 1st place in the women’s race and 4th place overall. Her margin of victory was over 2 minutes, with Pauline Curley, Tullamore Harriers, finishing in 22.08. The overall race winner was Tim Murphy, Mullingar Harriers AC, in 19.32.
Caitriona Jennings had an excellent run in the tough Greencastle 5 mile race in Co Tyrone. Caitriona was the 3rd woman home in a time of 29.42. The leading woman was Emma Mitchell, Team Nike, in 28.28 and the overall race winner was Mark McKinstry, of North Belfast Harriers, in 24.42.
A group of LAC runners made the shorter journey to Ballybofey, where they ran in the popular Finn Valley AC 5K. More than 500 runners took part. The first Letterkenny AC finisher was Conor Brennan, who clocked 16.46. Conor finished in a highly creditable 7th place.
Next was Sean McFadden. Sean is back on holiday after having spent the last few months living and working in the Middle East. His time was 17.17 and he was 2nd in the very competitive M40 category.
Kevin Kelly crossed the line in 17.21, Martin Gormley in 18.59, Ciaran Bannan in 20.04 and Naoise Enright in 23.39. There were good performances from 3 young runners. Noah Paratian clocked 25.35, Anya Duffy 29.24 and Fern Duffy 30.17.
Irene McFadden, having recently had knee surgery, cruised around in 32.15. Gerard Gallagher was the race winner in 15.43 and Teresa Doherty won the women’s race in 17.28.
The unseasonably good weather was still prevalent on Friday, for the Milford AC 3K Handicap Race, which covered the final 3K of the well known Milford 5K route.
Like all races organised under the auspices of Milford AC, the event was highly successful and benefitted from James Gibbons’ experience and organisational ability. In-form Milford AC runner, Hugh Coll, also helped make the race a success by efficiently undertaking the difficult role of Handicapper. 63 runners participated in what was the 4th staging of the event.
The overall fastest time of 9.37 was achieved by former Letterkenny AC stalwart, and multiple times National Half Marathon and Marathon Champion, Gary Crossan.
Nakita Burke’s time of 9.49 meant that she was the fastest woman; her time was a PB by 3 seconds. 2018 has been a phenomenal year for Nakita and there is every reason to expect that her excellent form will continue into 2019. Sean McFadden’s busy schedule during his holiday back in Donegal continued and his time was 9.46. Maria McCambridge, who, like husband Gary, contributed a lot to LAC, finished in 11.18. Denis Shields clocked 11.20 and Ciaran O’Donnell 11.38.
Kathryn McDevitt ended the year in style. She participated in the relatively new, but increasingly popular, North West Games, held at the excellent indoor track at the Athlone Institute of Technology.
The visit to the Midlands’ town was very profitable for Kathryn. Her superb jump of 3.79m gave her gold in the Women’s Masters’ Long Jump. She ran well in the Masters’ 200m and finished 3rd in a time of 30.59 seconds. Kathryn finished her exhausting day with the short, but very tough 60m Sprint. Despite a quad muscle problem, Kathryn finished 4th in a fast time of 9.23 seconds.
The event was also an opportunity for young LAC athletes to showcase their considerable talents. Ciaran Moore was 2nd in the Under 16 400m race in 53.5 secs. Ryan Canning ran well and clocked 56.56 secs before picking up a medal in the 800m. He was 3rd in the 800m, with a PB of 2.10.82.
Several Letterkenny AC runners took part in Saturday’s Letterkenny Parkrun. The 1st LAC runner home was Martin Gormley, who was 3rd in 19.41. He was also the leading M50 runner. Mark McFadden was 10th, and the 2nd M40 runner, in 21.54. Paul Lee clocked 22.21 and fellow LAC M50 runner, Noel Lynch, finished in 23.09.
Cathal Roarty ran his 51st Parkrun in 24.18. Peter McLean, now just 15 away from a Parkrun centenary, was the 2nd M55 runner in 28.55. Two young LAC runners performed well. Ciara Daly was the 1st JW10 in 32.11 and Eabha Daly was the 5th JW11-14 runner in 32.38. The 1st runner across the line was Michael Black, who finished in 17.46.
Letterkenny Athletic Club’s annual, and very popular, New Year Race, will take place on Sunday, January 6th. Registration starts at 10.30am and is at Aura Leisure Centre.
The race commences at 11.30am. There is chip timing and the course is conducive to fast times. There is a generous prize list, with the prize categories including Senior Women, Senior Men, M40, M50, M60, F40, F50 and F60.
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