Letterkenny AC runners were to the fore in Sunday’s Finn Valley AC Remembrance 10K.
Danny Mooney was 2nd in 33.17. Philip McHugh was the next runner across the line, in a time of 35.06. Ciaran Crawford ran well and finished in 38.00. Kevin Ferry has made a good recovery from the recent Dublin Marathon and clocked 38.13. Conor Gallagher’s time was 39.18. Liam Ferry has also shown excellent form since the Dublin Marathon and had a time of 40.17. Michael Harkin finished in 41.14. Husband and wife duo, Gary and Marie Kearns, crossed the line in 44.12 and 44.16 respectively. Paul Harris finished in 45.08. Ciaran Liddy and Naoise Enright clocked 48.40 and 48.48 respectively. Teresa Wiseman’s time was 51.12.
The very well supported event, which had more than 600 finishers, was won by Foyle Valley AC’s Chris McGuinness in 32.26.
Liam Ferry’s fine Letterkenny parkrun form continued on Saturday morning. He finished his 35th parkrun in 19.52 and was 3rd. Liam was also the leading M40 runner. Garvan Mulligan was 4th, and 2nd M40, in 20.22.
Paul Lee marked his 60th Parkrun by finishing first in the M50 category in 22.37. Noel Lynch showed that he has made a complete recovery from the exertions of the Dublin Marathon. His time of 22.38 was the fastest of all the 31 Parkruns he has done to date. He was the 2nd M50 finisher. Cathal Roarty was the leading M55 runner in 23.43.
Dara Dunne was the first W50 runner in a time of 24.24. Anthony Farren reached a quarter century of parkruns by finishing in 24.39. James McBride was the first M65 finisher in 26.09. Peter McLean, closing in on the 100 mark for parkrun participation, clocked 28.53. Conor Murray was first across the line, in 19.24.
A very well attended function, organised, jointly, by Letterkenny Athletic Club and Letterkenny 24/7 Triathlon Club, was held in ‘The Kitchen’ (Letterkenny Retail Park) on Friday evening.
The two clubs had raised in excess of €5000 in sponsorship thanks to the efforts of the Dublin Marathon runners and their generous sponsors. A cheque to the value of €5088 was presented to Conall Shiels and his family. Conall’s father, Ciaran, expressed his appreciation of the efforts of the 2 clubs.
There were 2 strands to the evening. The presentation of medals was made to runners who had been successful in the recent Dublin Marathon. This Marathon doubles up as the Irish Marathon Championship. Paddy Ward was presented with his gold medal for winning the M65 championship. Paddy’s athletic ability belies his 66 years; many runners half his age would be delighted to run the 3.05.38 that he ran in Dublin.
The women’s team were presented with the National Marathon medals they had won by being the first team. The team that achieved this excellent result comprised Ann-Marie McGlynn (2.32.54), Caitriona Jennings (2.37.57), Monica McGranaghan (3.10.04) and Marie Boyle (3.17.41).
Ann-Marie and Caitriona were also presented with their individual medals. Ann-Marie was 2nd in the Irish Championship and Caitriona won the F35 category.
There were excellent speeches on the night from Liam Tinney, representing Letterkenny 24/7 Triathlon Club, Mayor Councillor John O’Donnell who did the presentations, organiser of the night Ciaran O’Donnell, LAC club coach Teresa McDaid and LAC Chairperson, Aidan McKenna.
Letterkenny Athletic Club’s annual and very popular Turkey Trot will take place on Sunday December 1st, starting at 11.30am. The unique aspect of the race is that the winners of the 5K are not necessarily the fastest runners.
Turkeys will be won by the 10 runners who can match their finishing time with their pre race prediction.
Full details will be provided in next week’s notes.
