A large crowd of runners and walkers attended the popular Loughside Community 5km fun run/jog/walk last Thursday night.
The event, run in conjunction with the Woodland NS and Cashelshanaghan NS, raised much needed funds for both schools and the Loughside Community text alert scheme.
The race was won on the night by Letterkenny AC athlete Liam Doherty in time of 17:22. A spectacular time on a tough course. Second and third senior males home were Barry Meehan from Letterkenny AC and Declan McBride from Cranford AC respectively. Eilish McClafferty came back to defend her title as first senior woman home in an improved time of 22:53 followed closely by Danielle McNamee and Kim Bradley.
First and second home in the junior male race were local Loughside athletes Ben Carr and Donnehadh Parkinson with very impressive times of 18:07 and 19:29 respectively.
The junior female prize winners were the same pair as last year with Loughside residents Tiegan Smith and Clodagh Sweeney taking the honours. The first 40+ male home was 24/7 triathlon club member Martin Donnelly winning his first ever race (since the egg and spoon race he won in 3rd class at school). He was closely followed by Martin Irwin. Sharon Black of Letterkenny AC pipped Nancy McNamee to the honours in the 40+ female section. First Boy and Girl home from the Woodland NS were Billy Black and Tiegan Smith.
Adam Carr and Heather McLaughlin retained their titles as the first boy and girl home from the Cashelshanaghan NS respectively.
Brian Sweeney, chairperson of the Loughside Community said, “We were delighted with the numbers this year again”. “We were very lucky with the weather”. “We had one small shower towards the end of the race”. “There were Grannies, Granddads, Mammies, Daddies and lots of boys and girls taking part; it was a great family night for the whole community”.
“We are extremely grateful of the support from the local community”. Reports on the night were that the event was very well organised and the course was challenging but very safe for children, starting and finishing at the Woodland NS. Brian said “there was great work done by the parents committees from both schools and members of the Loughside Community”.
“There was a great buzz on the night and a real sense of community spirit, which is what we wanted to achieve”.
John Russell from the Letterkenny Activity Centre, Mark Doherty from Century Cinemas and Kieran Barron from the Value Centre all sponsored prizes on the night. Martin Keeney kindly provided the music and entertainment on the night.
