Letterkenny Athletic Club organised its first event of 2017 on Sunday – the ‘Michael Murphy Sports and Leisure 3K and 5K Fun Run’.
LAC runners were to the fore in both events on a morning with near perfect running conditions.
Oisin Farren was first across the line in the 3K in a time of 10.48. 3rd placed Ciaran McBride was the next LAC runner in 11.20. Sinead Peoples was the 3rd woman home, clocking 12.21. Brian McBride’s time of 13.11 saw him finish in first place in the M60 category. Ruari McFadden’s time was 15.26 and Jack McDermot crossed the line in 16.11.
The 5K also saw a LAC winner, with Pauric Breslin getting his second win of 2017 in 16.26. He was followed by club mate Matthew Johnston, who came home in 16.48 and who was first in the Junior Men category. Paul McFadden finished in 17.50.
Martin Gormley followed up his triumph in Saturday’s Letterkenny parkrun by finishing 2nd in the M50 category, in a time of 18.45. Marcus McClintock finished in 19.30 and was closely followed by Barry Mackey and Irene McFadden. They finished in 19.33, with Irene taking first place in the women’s race. Kieran Coyle’s time was 19.41 and Michael Galvin’s was 19.59.
John Hughes’ time was 20.02 and Monica McGranaghan was the first F40 runner in 20.20. Stephen Shiels finished in 20.54 and Ben George in 21.13. Marie Boyle’s time of 21.46 gave her 2nd place in the Senior Women’s category.
Richard Raymond was the second M60 finisher in 22.07 and Jimmy McBride was third in 22.14. Kevin O’Malley finished between them in 22.12. Anthony Farren finished in 23.08 and hard working club coach, Dara Dunne, was the second F40 in 23.08. Shauna McGeehan’s time was 24.00, Rachel McKenna’s was 29.30 and Brian Ferry clocked 29.38.
The 2 races attracted almost 200 runners and the success of the event was aided by the hard work of many people, including Race Director, Brendan McDaid, and his hard working team, stewards, An Gardai Siochana and First Aid personnel.
Letterkenny AC is very grateful to Michael Murphy Sports and Leisure for the generous sponsorship of the event.
Martin Gormley chalked up his second Letterkenny parkrun victory. He had finished in 1st place on March 19th and his time of 19.57 on Saturday gave him another win. Cathal Roarty finished 5th in 23.41. Regular competitor, Peter McLean, ran the event 36 times last year and completed the first event of 2017 in 27.29.
Highy rated club coach, Teresa McDaid, was in Edinburgh at the weekend as part of the coaching staff for Team Europe at the Great Edinburgh Cross Country.
Teresa’s team emerged victorious in the women’s 6K race in the tripartite competition, with Great Britain and USA being the other teams. Irish athlete, Fionnuala McCormack, was 2nd in a time 20.57 and finished between 2 Turkish athletes. The European team had a 44 point winning margin.
