Several Letterkenny Athletic Club runners ran in Saturday’s Milford AC 5K. The earlier rain had gone when the race started, leaving excellent conditions for runners. Liam Doherty was the 1st LAC finisher, coming home in 17.25, which gave him 3rd place. Kieran Crawford was 4 seconds behind, in 4th place.
Irene McFadden’s time of 19.21 gave her 1st place in the Senior Women’s category, with husband Sean McFadden recording an identical time. Pat McKenna was first in the W40 category. Rachel McKenna showed that the future of the club is in good hands; she was the 1st Junior Woman in 24.12.
Finn Valley’s Mark McPaul was the race winner, with his time of 15.56 leaving him 85 seconds clear of the second finisher. Like all races organised under the auspices of Milford AC, the 5K was very well organised and the results were made available speedily and efficiently by Brendan McDaid and his helpers.
On Saturday morning, Paul Toner became the latest LAC runner to taste victory in the Letterkenny parkrun. Paul’s time was 21.05. Paul Lee, running his 12th parkrun, was 3rd, and 1st in the M45-49 category, in 21.30. James McBride’s time of 23.27 saw him gain a top 10 finish and emerge as 2nd in the M60-64 age group. Parkrun regular, Peter McLean, came home in 26.35 and was 2nd in the M55-59 category. This was Peter’s 44th time running the Letterkenny parkrun, meaning he has missed only 10 since its inception; in most of those 10, he has volunteered his services as a steward.
Noel Lynch was one of several hundred runners who ran in the ‘Alan Patterson Trust Raphoe 5K’ on a wet Sunday morning. Noel came home in 24.19 and the race winner was Finn Valley’s Shane Gallagher in 17.29.
In-form Matthew Johnston set a new PB in winning the Under 19 race at Athlone IT in the indoor 1500m. His time was 4.15. The race was a combined Junior/Senior event and Matthew was 2nd overall.
Earlier in the week, the St Eunan’s team won the Ulster schools cross country championship, with 75% of the scoring team comprising LAC runners, Donal Farren, Eoin Hughes and Rayan Maguella. Performances like these, in track and cross country, show that there can be great optimism for the future of Letterkenny Athletic Club.
Several LAC runners, including Siobhan Gallagher, Jason Black, Niamh McDaid, Cathal Roarty, Sharon Black, Catherine McKinley, Fionnuala Larkin and Adrian Callaghan had excellent performances in Sunday’s Duathlon, which was organised from Aura Leisure Centre.
Hugh Gallagher.
Letterkenny AC PRO.
