Nakita Burke, Letterkenny Athletic Club, had an excellent run in the Telford 10K on Sunday. She ran a PB time of 34.07 in a very high quality race where she was representing Northern Ireland and Ulster.
She finished in a highly creditable 8th position in the senior women’s race. This was Nakita’s second 10K PB on consecutive weekends. She had run 34.32 just 8 days earlier in the Seeley Cup 10K in Belfast. To take a figure as large as 25 seconds off an already impressive PB is a marvellous achievement. The 10K was won by Adam Craig, of Scottish club Inverclyde AC, in a very fast time of 28.32.
The winning woman was Samantha Harrison, Notts AC, in 32.33.
There were some superb performances from Letterkenny Athletic Club runners in Saturday’s Rudolph 10K Run in Eskra, Co Tyrone. Just like last week, in the Seeley Cup in Belfast, Ann Marie McGlynn won the women’s race. She ran a fast time of 34.15. There were 2 other parallels with the previous Saturday. She had broken the course record in Belfast and did so again in Eskra. Also, like Belfast, in-form clubmate, Conor Gallagher, crossed the line in an identical time to Anne Marie.
Club Chairman, Aidan McKenna, finished in 44.51. Aidan is now in good form following a troublesome Achilles injury. Pat McKenna ran a good time of 24.41 in the 5K that was run in conjunction with the 10K.
Danny Sharkey had an excellent performance on Saturday in the M60 category at the Irish Masters’ Walking Championships in St Anne’s Park, Raheny, Dublin.
It was celebration time for the Letterkenny parkrun on Saturday, with a carnival atmosphere to mark the event reaching the 200 mark. The event started almost 4 years ago and has been a welcome addition to the Letterkenny running scene.
Teenager, Conor Farrell, was the first LAC runner home in a time of 20.22. He was 3rd overall. 4th, and the leading M40 runner, was Michael Harkin, in 20.35. It was Michael’s first Letterkenny parkrun and an excellent debut. Mark McFadden was the first M45 finisher in 21.39. Pat Brady was 1st in the M55 category in a time of 21.56. Seamus Morrison’s time of 22.49 gave him 1st place in the M50 category. Anthony Farren was 2nd in the same category in 23.34.
Dara Dunne was the first W50 runner in 24.56 and Theresa Wiseman was the leading W55 finisher in 25.07. M50s, Noel Lynch and Paul Lee, clocked 25.20. The leading M65 runner was James McBride in 26.01. Cathal Roarty and John Doherty ran in tandem, both clocking 27.09. It was the fastest of John’s 4 parkruns to date.
At the weekend, Teresa McDaid was with the Irish team in Portugal at the European Cross Country Championship, in a managerial capacity. The Irish women’s team put on an outstanding display. They took silver medals in the team race. The leading Irish counter was Fionnuala McCormack, who finished just outside the individual medals, in 4th place.
There was excellent news for LAC sprinter, Kathryn McDevitt, last week. She ran for the Irish W35 4 x 100m relay at the Masters’ Track and Field Championship team in Venice in September. It emerged last week that the time run by the team was a new Irish record for 4 × 100m.
