Letterkenny Athletic Club’s Olympian, Brendan Boyce, had a magnificent performance on Sunday at the AAI Indoor Games in the National Sports Arena. He notched a PB of 11.28 in the 3K to finish 2nd, behind his fellow Irish Olympian, Alex Wright. Brendan was delighted with his performance and, speaking afterwards, described it as a ‘great season opener’. It was an excellent day for the Boyce brothers. Brian was 2nd in his heat in the 400m in a time of 55.69 sec, just 0.6 sec behind winner, Kevin Lynch of Lios Tuathail AC. Annmarie McGlynn had a superb run in the 1500m and her time of 4.27.36 gave her 3rd place.
Matthew Johnston put in a couple of tremendous performances in Saturday’s Northern Ireland and Ulster Track and Field Championship at the Meadowbank Sports Arena in Magherafelt. Matthew clocked 2.06 in the Under 19s 800m to claim 2nd place. He also finished 2nd in the 1500m race in 4.23.
Several LAC runners made the short journey to Ballybofey for the Glenmore 10 Miler, a new race on the Donegal winter athletics calendar. Monica McGranaghan’s fine form continued and her tough training schedule was rewarded as her time of 69.38 gave her 1st place in the women’s race. The evergren Kevin Kiely also had a podium finish. He took 1st prize in the M60 category in 70.10.
The first LAC runner home was Liam Doherty who clocked 60.45. Next was Paul McFadden in 63.44, who was closely followed by Martin Devenney who crossed the line in 63.56. Adrian Callaghan’s time was 70.46 and Frank Pinder’s was 77.35. Margaret Shiels finished in 81.48 and, just behind her, was Saoirse Callaghan in 81.55. Eithne Cox came home in 91.52.
The race winner was Finn Valley AC’s Mark McPaul in a very fast time of 54.35.
Sean McFadden ran in the Letterkenny parkrun for the first time and it was a fruitful experience for the versatile LAC man. He was first across the line in a time of 18.21, which put him well over a minute clear of his nearest challenger. Barry Mackey, also competing for the first time, was 4th in 20.16 and was the first finisher in the M50-54 category. Barry will be hopeful of being among the prize winners in the Lifford Strabane AC 5K series; the final race will be the Lifford 5K on Sunday February 12th. Paul Lee, a parkrun regular, finished in 21.26 and was 1st in the M45-49 age group. Richard Raymond was the 1st M60-64 finisher in 22.41. Like Barry, Richard will be confident of being a prize winner in his age group in the Lifford Strabane AC 5K series. Jimmy McBride’s time of 23.36 gave him 2nd place in the M60-64 category. Fionnuala Larkin was the 1st W35-39 finisher in 25.58. Peter McLean, the most loyal parkrun devotee, came home in 27.08 and was 3rd in the M55-59 category.
All at Letterkenny AC were sad to hear of the death of Milford AC’s Hughie Gallagher. The 92 year old was one of the world’s most active nonagenarians and was the winner of multiple Masters’ awards in athletics. The club would like to offer condolences to Hughie’s family. R.I.P.
