Letterkenny Athletic Club organised a 10K in New Mills last Saturday morning. The advantage of the fairly flat course was negated by a very strong headwind during the first half of the race. Going towards Rockhill and as far as the turn at Newmills bridge, the wind was a major factor.
LAC’s Ivan Toner emerged as winner, in a time of 34.50, finishing ahead of Ciaran McGonagle. The first woman was also a LAC athlete, Irene McFadden running well to finish in 42.13, followed by her 2 club mates, Frances Judge (also 1st W45) and Noreen McGettigan.
LAC’s other sub 40 minute finishers were Kieran McBride, Raymond Birch, Sean McFadden and Paul Cosgrove. This was Paul’s second best ever 10K and he used all the strength garnered from his recent return to Cross Country, to stay under 40 in the tough conditions. There were also excellent runs from Niall Barry, Garvan Mulligan, Charlie O’Donnell (who made a welcome return to racing, having recovered from an injury earlier in the year), Kevin Greenan who was 1st M50, Ben George, Naoise Enright, Phil Boyle, Barry Mackey, Jason Black, Anthony Farren, Seamus Morrison, Richard Raymond (the big Kerryman claiming 1st M60 prize), John Hughes, Philip Connolly, Cathal Roarty and Kevin Blake. It’s good to see Philip Connolly back in action, having made a recent return to the racing scene in Donegal. Philip was a tremendous runner for LAC, in the 1980s. In September 1985, he set an excellent marathon best time of 2h26m. He has also recorded sub 31 minutes and sub 70 minutes for 10K and Half Marathon respectively.
Other women, apart from the top 3, running for Letterkenny AC were Sharon Black (1st W40), Dara Dunne, Margaret Shiels, Amanda McGrath and Ruth McCrudden.
On Sunday, in a windy Phoenix Park, the club had several runners in action in the high profile Gerry Farnan Memorial Cross Country races. Anne Marie McGlynn finished a highly creditable 4th woman in the 8K, which was won by world renowned Fionnuala Britton. Sinead Peoples had a good run in the 5K event. Peter Gibbons, Enda McBride and Stefan McCrossan all ran well in the Junior Mens’ 6K.
October 27th, Bank Holiday Monday, will see the running of the Dublin Marathon, on the streets and parks of the capital city. Over the years, many LAC athletes have participated in this prestigious event. This year, the club will be represented by Ciaran O’Donnell, Darren Beacroft, Marie Boyle, Pat McKenna and Darren Price. All the athletes have trained hard and conscientiously and should have every confidence that they’ll attain their targets. Best wishes from all at LAC go to our 5 runners.
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