Yared Derese of Carrick Aces took a fine win at the Bohermeen Half Marathon on Sunday (March 8) when he defied the cold and blustery conditions to finish in a time of 63 mins 54 secs. The only athlete attempting to stay with Derese was Kevin Dooney of Raheny Shamrock AC and he was rewarded with a fine time of 64 mins 26 secs.

A distant third in 69:25 secs was former international race walker Colin Griffin of Ballinamore AC. In a closely fought team battle, Trim AC, with Sean Murphy in 21st place their first counter, beat Carrick Aces on count-back. Raheny Shamrock finished third.

First woman in 77 mins 16 secs was Barbara Cleary of Donore Harriers who was also first W45. International mountain runner Sarah McMahon (nee Mulligan) of Dundrum South Dublin AC was second in 78:26 and Fiona Kehoe of Kilmore AC third in 80:05. Taking the team title was Brothers Pearse AC from Dublin, led by Sinead Tighe in 16th place. Raheny Shamrock AC was second and Trim AC third.

Surging over 10 miles

In Cork, at the Duhallow 10-Mile, also on Sunday (March 8) newly minted Irish citizen Hiko Tonosa of Dundrum South Dublin AC was a clear winner of the race in 50 mins 38 secs. Cillian O’Leary of Raheny Shamrock was second in 51:56 and Tom Lupton of Portlaoise AC third and first M40 in 54:35.

First woman was Linda Grogan of Dundrum AC in Co Tipperary with a time of 62:19. Niamh Cronin of St Finbarr’s AC was second in 65:46 with Sandra Manning of Eagle AC a close third in 65.57.

Letterkenny’s AnnMarie McGlynn was in fine form at the Walled City 10-mile in Derry on Saturday (March 7) where she finished first woman in 57 mins 15 secs. Race winner was Craig Simpson of Foyle Valley AC whose time of 52 mins 14 secs put him comfortably clear of the chasers led by Eoin Hughes of Acorns AC in 53:05.

Winners at the Kinvara 10km, also on Saturday, were Louis McCarthy in 433 mins 26 secs and Julie Kirwan in 39:07, while in the accompanying half marathon David Bohan ran 75:32 for victory ahead of Brian Furey, with Jane Ann Meehan first woman in 83:12.

Another Saturday race was the Simon 5-Mile in the Phoenix Park which had moved from its traditional autumn date and attracted over a thousand finishers. Leading them home was Tim Grummell of Sli Cualann AC in 27 mins 29 secs. Second and first woman was Laura Shaughnessy of Galway City Harriers in 27:33. while third was Robin Mooney in 27:41.

At Quest Kenmare on Saturday, winners of the elite 78km multi-sport race were Sebastian Giraud in 3 hrs 14 mins 10 secs and Ellen Vitting of Trim AC in 3:34.41. The athletes had to run, cycle and kayak their way along the near 50 mile route.

Photo: Lindie Naughton

Schools hat-trick for Morgan

Michael Morgan from Summerhill college in Sligo made it three in a row when he won the senior boys’ race at the All Ireland Schools Cross-Country Championships held in Santry in windy conditions on Saturday (March 7).

Morgan, who had won intermediate titles last year and the year before, played a waiting game when Daniel Stone of Belvedere broke away to lead the race by some distance early on, When he made his his move on the third of four laps, he soon caught and passed a tiring Stone.

In an absorbing battle for the minor placings, Conall McClean of DMC Titanic Quarter and Shay McEvoy of St Kieran’s Kilkenny had also passed Stone, while not far behind were Shane Coffey of Naas CBS, Louis O’Loughlin of Moyle Park and Oisin Spillane of Mercy Mount Hawk.

In the end, they finished in that order with Morgan finishing the clear winner in 18 mins 53 seconds, McClean six seconds behind for second and McEvoy just making it to the line in third place after staggering and falling within sight of the line.

For Stone in fourth place there was the consolation of leading Belvedere to a rare senior team victory, with St Malachy’s Belfast second and St Kieran’s Kilkenny third.

Tactical racing

Equally tactical was the girls senior race, which was over 3,500m compared to 2000m in the past, and proved a tough challenge. Lucy Holmes of Ard Scoil nas nDeise was the winner in 13 mins 56 secs, followed by Celine Gavin of St Dominic’s Cabra in 14 mins 4 secs, with Holly Brennan of Sacred Heart Drogheda third. Loreto Kilkenny was first team followed by St Angela’s Waterford and St Dominic’s Cabra.

Dominating the boy’s inter race was Abdel Laadjel of Kishogue Community College, who had a clear victory over Matthew Lavery from st Malachy’s and Dean Casey of St Flannan’s Ennis. St Flannan’s was first teams, followed by St Malachy’s and St Kieran’s Kilkenny.

In the girls inter race, Eimear Maher of Mount Anville in Dublin caught early leader Kirsti Foster of Down High School who had looked certain of victory in the later stages of the race and stromed home for the most dramatic victory of the day. Avril Mellerick of Midleton High School was third and Pobailscoil na Trionoide first team ahead of Loreto Mullingar and Down High School.

Junior winners were Lauren Madine of St Mary’s Downpatrick and Oliver Hopkins of St Declan’s CBS Cabra, while minor winners were Saoirse Fitzgerald of Lucan Community College and Luca O’Shea Breen of Temple Carrig in Greystones.

Doyle and Coscoran battle it out

At the Irish Universities Cross-Country, also on Saturday, at Curraheen, Cork, Cliona Murphy of Trinity College won the women’s title with a good win over Claire Fagan from DCU.

With Caron Ryan third, Sorcha McAllister eighth and Claire Rafter 15th, Trinity finished top team, beating perennial winners DCU by three points. Completing a Dublin clean sweep was UCD in third place.

DCU’s Cathal Doyle won a competitive men’s race from man of the moment Andrew Coscoran, also DCU, with just three seconds in it. Paul O’Donnell of UCD was third and Pierre Murchan of NUI Galway fourth. With four in the top six, DCU retained its stranglehold on the title. University of Limerick was a distant second and Trinity College third. Best college overall was DCU followed by Trinity and NUIG.

Photo: Lindie Naughton

Closing out the BHAA cross-country season was the AIB promotion in the tranquil setting of NUI Maynooth on Saturday (March 7) where Colm Turner of Garda was the winner of the men’s open 4-mile race in 21 mins 44 secs.

He was followed home by Thomas Sherlock from Bank of Ireland with Seoirse Comerford from Cairn Homes third and first M45. In th eteam categoriesBank of Ireland won grade A from Central Bank and Gardai; Teachers won B, Dublin Bus C and Revenue D.

Winner of the women’s 2-mile race was Helen Brouder of Teachers, with Sonya McConnon a close second and Niamh Corby of Revenue third.

The Health group, led by Grainne Butler in fourth place was first team, ahead of Retail and Revenue. In the open 4-mile, Rachel Yorke of VHI was first woman. Next up on the BHAA calendar is the RTE Indoor Mile in the NIA, Abbotstown on Wednesday April 1 (7.30)

Golden Gilshinan at indoors

Anne Gilshinan of Slaney Olympic AC underlined her status as the world’s best female master middle distance runner when she posted the fastest women’s 800m time of the day at the National Masters Indoor Championships in Athlone on Sunday.

Running in the W55 category, Gilshinan finished in 2 mins 20.10 secs which would have won her the title in any age group from W35 up.

Equally dominant in the men’s M65 400m was multiple world 800m and 1500m champion Gough of West Waterford AC, who only narrowly missed breaking the minute when he finished in 60.04 secs.

Winning both the W40 3000m and 1500m was former Irish senior international athlete Kelly Neely of City of Lisburn AC. She clocked 5:03.81 for 1500m and 9:50.54 for a 3000m race where the lap counting went somewhat awry for the later finishers.

Before that happened, Annette Kealy of Raheny Shamrock AC added the W50 title to her already impressive collection with a time of 10:20.43.

Taking the M50 800m title with a time of 2:04.31 was Shane Healy of Metro St Brigid’s AC who has been re-writing the record books for his age group over the past few weeks. He then finished third in the 400m with a time of 57.99 secs.

Middle distance race of the day was an M45 show-down between Mark O’Shea of Drogheda and District AC and Shane O’Neill of Rathfarnham WSAF AC. O’Shea just shaded it in 2:03.13 with O’Neill second in 2:03.90. O’Neill went on to win the 1500m in 4:16.66.

In the older age groups, Martin McEvilly of Galway City Harriers won both the M70 800m and 3000m in times of 2:53.45 and 11:55.18 respectively.

Cronin cruises it on the hills

A small piece of athletics history was made on Saturday (March 7) when Kate Cronin of Raheny Shamrock was the outright winner of the Howth hill race in Co Dublin. [It’s a fine way to celebrate International Women’s Day – ed.]

Cronin finished the new-look 9.6 km course in 45 mins 55 secs. Her fellow international athlete Killian Mooney of Dundrum South Dublin AC was second in 46:22 and orienteer Conor Short of CNOC third in 46:26.

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Mary Mulhare of Portlaoise AC added her name to the select list of women who have won a race outright with victory at the Sean Lowry Memorial 5km in Ballinree, Co Offaly on Sunday (March 1).

Mulhare finished in 17 mins 35 secs, with Michael Murray, the first man, second in 18:04, and Kevin Looby of Clara AC just a second behind for third. Second woman and first W50 was Niki Dunne of Birr AC in 18.49.

In Co Kildare, Sean Doran won the Naas 10-Mile in 52 mins 8 secs. Second and first M40 in 55:29 was Brian Leahy of Raheny Shamrock, with Andrew Brett of Sportsworld AC third in 56.23.

First woman in 63:25 was Edel Gaffney. Sinead Tighe of Brothers Pearse AC was second and first W40 in 69.39 and Siobhan Hanratty of Dunleer AC third and second W40 in 70:24.

Dr. O’Shea in good health

Also on Sunday, the winners of the CIT BHAA 5km in Cork were Alan O’Shea and Grainne O’Donnell.

O’Shea, a doctor at the Mercy Hospital finished in 15 mins 11 secs; over a minute clear of Shane Collins of Apple, with Eoghan McElhinney of Glenside third. O’Donnell of Kumon Douglas, who was first woman in 18 mins 50 secs, was chased hard by Jennifer Goggin Walsh of Novartis who finished second in 18:53 with Sharon Rynne of Kepak third.

UCC, led by Alfie Hale in sixth place, was first of the grade A men’s teams. CPO won grade B and Solarwinds grade C. Novartis was first of the grade A women’s team, with HSE winning B and CPO C. Next BHAA race is the AIB cross-country at NUI Maynooth on Saturday March 7 (11am).

Plenty of road running

In Longford, Patrick Sharkey of host club Longford AC won the Longford 10km also on Sunday in a time of 33 mins 23 secs. Sinead Whitelaw of Mullingar Harriers was first woman in 38:12. Winners of the 5km race were Andrew Nevin of Mullingar Harriers in 16:55 and Teresa O’Connor in 21:08.

Sean Doran of Clonliffe Harriers add another victory to his collection with a comfortable win at the Duleek and District Tribe 5km on Saturday (February 29) in a time of 15 mins 56 secs – a rare sporting event which took place despite Storm Jorge. Second in 17:03 was Paul Smyth of Drogheda and District AC who was also first M40. Tadhg Everitt Thompson of Drogheda and District was third and first junior in 17:25. With three in the top five, Drogheda and District was first team; Star of the Sea AC was second and Drogheda Tri Club third.

First woman was Laura Buckley of Dunboyne AC in 18:10. Laura Tuite of Clonliffe Harriers was second in 18:59 and Sabrina Keogh of Dunboyne AC third in 19:11. Dunboyne was the winning team ahead of Clonliffe Harriers and Drogheda and District.

The Dublin Track Club had a cracking weekend at the National Indoor Champs Photo: Andrew Coscoran

Staying indoors from Storm Jorge

Andrew Coscoran of Star of the Sea AC set a new championships best time of 3 mins 41.36 secs when winning the men’s 1500m at the National Indoor Championships held in Abbotstown over the weekend (February 29-March 1).

Coscoran’s training partner, Brian Fay of Raheny Shamrock AC, was second in 3:43.13 – also inside the old record of 3:44.12 set by James Nolan of UCD AC in 2006. Eoin Pierce of Clonliffe Harriers was third in 3:45.35, while junior athlete Cian McPhillips of Longford AC clocked 3:49.63 for fourth place.

In a tactical women’s 1500m, Louise Shanahan of Leevale AC outsprinted Ciara Everard of UCD AC for victory in 4:40.45. Everard finished just behind her in 4:40.78; Amy O’Donoghue of Emerald AC was third in 4:42.44.

Defending champion John Travers of Donore Harriers won a thrilling men’s 3000m, regaining the lead from Darragh McElhinney of UCD on the final lap and pulling away for victory in 8 mins 00.96 secs. Hiko Tonosa of Dundrum South Dublin AC was second in 8:03.55 and McElhinney third in 8:06.13.

Ciara Wilson of DMP had a runaway victory in the women’s 3,000m, crossing the line in 9:35.67. Niamh Allen of Crusaders AC and Niamh Kearney from Sli Cualann AC were second and third in 9:47.78 and 9:48.30 respectively.

Mark English of UCD was a comfortable winner of the men’s 800m biding his time before sprinting past front runner Zak Curran of DSD AC in the final lap to win in 1:49.09 . Curran was second in 1:50.19. Conor Duncan of Ratoath AC was third in 1:50.73.

Winning the women’s 800m in 2:06.25 was Nadia Power of Dublin City Harriers AC. Iseult O’Donnell of Raheny Shamrock Ac was second in 2:07.07 and Clare Mooney of UCD AC third in 2:08.06.

In the USA, Jack O’Leary of Mullingar Harriers and Iona ran 13:44.12 for 5000m in a Boston University meet on Friday (February 28).

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The post Mary Mulhare outright winner in Ballinree – Irish round-up appeared first on Fast Running.

Yared Derese of Carrick Aces was a comfortable winner of the Trim 10-Mile in Co Meath on Sunday (February 2). By halfway, which he reached in 23 mins 32 secs , Derese had built up a minute’s lead and he went on to win the race in 48 mins 1 sec, with Eric Keogh of Donore Harriers, the only other athlete to break 50 minutes, second in 49:29.

Hugh Armstrong of Ballina AC was third in 50:22 and former Olympic race walker Colin Griffin of Ballinamore AC fourth in 51:56.

First woman was Ciara Durkan of Skerries AC in 59:16. Isabel Oakes was second in 60:48 and Caroline Donnelly of Edenderry AC third and first W40 in 60:53.

In Co Waterford, Mick Clohisey of Raheny Shamrock AC was the winner of the John Treacy Dungarvan 10-Mile in 48 mins 16 secs.

Kevin Maunsell of Clonmel AC was second in 48:30 and Conor Duffy of Glaslough Harriers third in 50:07. Alan O’Shea of Bantry AC was fifth and first M40 in 51:02. Dublin visitors Crusaders AC were first of the 25 teams, beating East Cork AC and St Finbarr’s AC.

First woman in 54 mins 23 secs was Irish marathon champion Aoife Cooke of Eagle AC. Sarah McMahon of Dundrum South Dublin AC was second in 59:16 and Fiona Santry of East Cork AC third in 60:18. Fourth and first W45 was Angela McCann of Clonmel AC. Cooke’s aunt, the great Mary Sweeney of St Finbarr’s AC, finished third W55.

Eagle AC proved best of a massive women’s team entry of 43; Watergrasshill AC and Clonmel AC finished second and third.

Dublin Track Club in action.

Another sizzler from Coscoran

After his sub-four minute indoor mile a week earlier, Andrew Coscoran, of the Star of the Sea club in Co Meath, continued his recent streak of good form with a personal best 3:37.98 for 1500m at the Boston University Scarlet and White Invite on Saturday (February 1). Dublin Track Club athlete Coscoran finished third in the race, with Josh Thompson the winner in 3:37.21.

In Vienna on Saturday (February 1), Phil Healy of Bandon AC finished second in both the 200m and 400m in times of 23.46 and 52.65 secs.

Meanwhile in Melbourne a week earlier, Sean Tobin of Clonmel AC and Michelle Finn of Leevale AC won the 3000m races at the Box Hill Classic in times of 7 mins 59 secs and 9 mins 6 secs respectively.

Cross country

Sean Horan of Harrier Products was the winner of the Garda BHAA open four mile cross-country in Dublin’s Phoenix Park on Saturday (February 1).

Doran’s time of 22 mins 18 secs saw him finish ahead of George Snee from Fidelity Instruments in 22:24 and Ross Hurley in 22:28. In the graded team categories, Bank of Ireland won both A and B, and finished second in C behind ESB. Revenue teams finished first and second in grade D.

A clear winner of the women’s two-mile race in 12 mins 38 secs was Laura Buckley, with her Teachers team mate Eva McNelis second in 13:21 and Claire Ní Fhaircheallagh third and first W35 in 13:36. With Ashling Smith finishing ninth, the Teachers finished first team ahead of Health A and HSE. The race, part of the Lord Mayor Series, had a massive 332 finishers.

Some women opted for the longer distance race with Rachel Yorke of Deloitte the best of the bunch. Next BHAA race is the ALSAA cross-country at Dublin Airport on Saturday February 15.

At the first Irwin Speirs Memorial Cup cross-country held at MUSA, Cookstown on Saturday (February 1), host club Acorns AC dominated with Vincent McKenna not only wining the men’s 4-mile race, but leading Acorns AC to team victory.

Gemma Whitehouse made it an Acorns AC double when she won the women’s 3-mile race; team winners were Victoria Park and Coniston AC.

The races were held in memory of the late Irwin Speirs, a highly respected masters’ athlete and coach of Acorns AC who died suddenly last December.

Irish action in Scotland

Finishing third in the men’s long race at the BUCS Cross-Country Championships in Edinburgh’s Holyrood Park on Saturday (February 1) was Jayme Rossiter of Clonliffe Harriers representing Aston University.

In the women’s short race, Louise Shanahan of Leevale AC, a PhD student in physics at Cambridge University, finished fifth. Shanahan, a track specialist, competed at the European U23 Championships in Sweden last summer.

At the Fox Trail winter series in East Lothian it was Irish ultra runner Nicola Duncan who victorious over the half marathon distance event.  The muddy trail race saw Ian Logan of Linlithgow AC the men’s winner in 1:26:36 and Duncan ran 1:35:39, whilst training for her first ultra race of the season at the Madeira Ultra Trail. Follow the speedster’s preparation in the Fast10 blogs.

Montserrat Sky Race

In the mountains outside Barcelona, Spain, last year’s IMRA World Cup Winner was getting her season into action. Sarah McCormack won the women’s race with a strong performance and it was actually a Yorkshire 1-2-3 on the men’s podium. We’re exited to see how well McCormack runs again in 2020, seemingly going from strength to strength every year.

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The post Fast 10 milers the flavour of the week – Irish round-up appeared first on Fast Running.

Ciara Mageean got her 2020 season off to a good start when she improved on her own Irish 1500m indoor record at the World Athletics Indoor Tour in Boston on Saturday (January 25) .

In her first race after a block of altitude training in Albuqueque, Mageean ran a time of 4 mins 06.42 secs for third place after moving up from fifth in the final 100m. Race winner was the Australian Jessica Hull in 4:04.14 with Germany’s Konstanze Klosterhalfen second in 4:04.38.

Next up for Mageean is the Athlone International Grand Prix on Wednesday February 12, followed the World Athletics Indoor Tour in Madrid on February 21 and the National Track and Field Championships in Abbotstown at the end of February. With the Tokyo Olympics her top priority, she has no plans to run the World Indoors in China.

Andrew Coscoran of the Dublin Track Club joined the sub-4 minute mile club in Boston this weekend. The Irish youngster battled all the way to the line with American Craig Engels, a former Nike Oregon Project athlete, and Coscoran posted 3:56.85, the exact same time as the US World 1500m finalist at the 2020 BU John Thomas Terrier Classic.

It’s the first sub 4 minute mile under the Dublin Track Club project and just shows the exciting performances coming from the group. We look forward to seeing more action in the future from the DTC.

Photo: Lindie Naughton

Thrilling Raheny 5 once again

What a thriller the Raheny 5 mile on Sunday (January 26) proved to be with just 41 seconds separating the top ten men and Hiko Tonosa only winning in a sprint for the line.

Tonosa of Dundrum South Dublin AC finished in 22 mins 40 secs with Mayo man Hugh Armstrong just one second behind for second and Matt Bergin of DSD AC two seconds adrift again for third in 23:43.

Given the same time was Efrem Gidey of Clonliffe Harriers who finished fourth and first junior. Yared Derese of Carrick Aces was fifth and Kevin Dooney of host club Raheny Shamrock AC sixth. His clubmate Mick Clohisey, the defending champion, could only manage ninth place despite a very respectable time of 23:16.

Not quite as exciting was the women’s race although it still provided a battle to the line between Fionnuala McCormack of Kilcoole AC and defending champion Annemarie McGlynn from Letterkenny AC with McCormack taking the win in 25: 55 and McGlynn second in 26:00. Ciara Hickey of Brothers Pearse AC was third in 26:50.

Record numbered signed up for the team categories, with over 70 teams in both men and women’s senior, and over 50 in both over 40 age groups. Having a great outing was Dundrum South Dublin with three wins- senior men and women and over 40 women. Winning the men’s over 40 grade was North Belfast Harriers.

Photo: Keith McClure

McKinstry continues to impress

National champion Mark McKinstry of North Belfast Harriers continued his domination of masters cross-country in Ireland when he won the men’s masters race at the Northern Ireland and Ulster Intermediate and Masters’ Cross-Country Championships held in Gosford Forest Park on Saturday (January 25).

Eoin Mullan of Omagh Harriers was second and Patrick Brennan of Finn Valley AC third. Finn Valley was first team, beating Newcastle AC and North Belfast Harriers. McKinstry will defend his title at the All Ireland Masters Cross-Country Championships in Avondale Forest Park, Rathdrum Co Wicklow on Saturday February 8 – yes, the same day as the Republic’s general election.

Taking the M65 title was Terry Eakin of North Down AC; Martin Kerr of Milford AC was second and Paul Spick, unattached, third.

Claire McGuigan of Lifford Strabane AC proved best in the women’s masters race finishing ahead of Helen McCready of Rosses AC and Shalene McMurray of Newcastle AC. Top team was North Belfast Harriers, followed by Lagan Valley AC and Ballydrain Harriers.

Winner of the intermediate women’s title was Sarah Kelly of Inishowen AC. Natalie Hall of Armagh AC was second and Mari Troeng of Newcastle AC third. Finn Valley was first team ahead of Armagh AC and Lagan Valley AC.

Patrick McNiff of Newcastle AC won the men’s intermediate race from Eskander Turki of Annadale Striders and Russell White of Dromore AC. r Annadale Striders was first team followed by with Acorns AC in second place for a sixth consecutive year and Newcastle AC third.

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