Danny Mooney put on an outstanding performance in Wednesday evening’s Queen’s Round the River 5K. Danny finished in second place in a time of 14.44. He was just 4 seconds behind race winner, Conor Bradley of City of Derry Spartans AC. Niamh McDaid also had a fine run and came home in 22.23. The race was high quality, with over 20 runners finishing in sub16 minutes.
3 Letterkenny AC runners took part in Saturday’s Omagh half marathon. Liam Doherty was 3rd in a highly competitive M40 category. His time of 1.19.46 represented a PB of 2 minutes. Speaking afterwards, Liam declared himself “very happy to break 80 minutes.”
Adrian Callaghan got round the 13.1 mile course in 1.33.48 and Catherine McKinley’s time was 1.39.39. The race winner was Stephen Duncan of local club, Omagh Harriers, whose time of 1.10.05 saw him finish almost 3 minutes clear of his nearest challenger.
Raymond Birch travelled a bit further for a half marathon at the weekend. He ran in the Berlin half marathon on Sunday and achieved an excellent time of 1.17.22. Raymond’s time gave him 21st place out of the 4761 runners in the M35 category. That gave Raymond a place inside the top 0.5% of his category. As in previous years, there was a large Irish contingent in the race. A total of 171 Irish runners made the journey, with ex Dublin Marathon winner, Sean Hehir of Rathfarnham AC being the first Irish runner over the line 1.05.39. Kenyan, Gilbert Masai, was the race winner in an excellent time of 59.57.
John Hughes stormed to a podium finish in Saturday’s ‘Pieta House and Lough Barra Fund’ 5K in Doochary. John’s time of 20.18 gave him second place, behind race winner Shaun McShane, whose time was 19.48.
Peter McLean had an excellent start to what could be a new career as a Duathlete. In Rathmullen, he completed his first ever Duathlon in a time of 55m 55s. Sinead Peoples, along with Brian Peoples, competed as a team; they were the second duo and clocked 44.28. Fionnuala Larkin finished in 54.18. First across the line after the 5K run, 10K cycle and another 5K run was Milford AC’s Michael McHugh.
There were excellent performances from Siobhan Gallagher and Niamh McDaid in Sunday’s National Series Duathlon in Omagh. Siobhan finished in 58.22 and Niamh in 1.10.53.
Paul Toner took 2nd place in Saturday’s Letterkenny parkrun. His time of 19.37 was the fastest he has done in the 4 parkruns that he has done to date. Paul was first in the M40-44 category. Paul Lee’s time of 20.34 gave him 5th place overall and first place in the M45-49 age group. Richard Raymond was 7th and first in the M60-64 category in a time of 23.00. Parkrun regular, Cathal Roarty, ran his 15th parkrun in 23.28. Marian Kerr ran the event for the first time and it was a highly successful initiation with Marian being the first woman in 23.43. James McBride’s time of 24.43 meant that he was the 2nd M60-64 finisher.
In a parkrun further west, Brian Gallagher was the first M65-69 finisher in Falcarragh in a time of 24.25.
LAC runners were dominant in the Donegal Women’s 5K in Ballybofey on Sunday. First across the line was Fionnuala Diver, no stranger to first place finishes in Donegal races. Fionnuala’s time of 18.55 saw her eclipse Sligo AC’s Zola Flynn by 1 second. Monica McGranaghan was 3rd in 19.46. Saoirse Callaghan came home in 24.21 and Linda Cronin in 26.15. The race proceeds went to a good cause- the Brid Carr Fund for Ovariann
Cancer Research.
Peter Gallagher was a top 10 finisher in Sunday’s Autism Awareness Lk 5K. Peter’s time of 21.08 also gave him 2nd place in the M40 category. Alicia Gallagher clocked 29.36 and Lucinda Gorman 29.37. The race winner was Charlie O’Donnell of Rosses AC in 18.12.
Letterkenny AC will be organising an Easter Sunday event. The annual 3K/5K Fun Run and Walk will take place on Sunday April 16th. The course is fast, flat and accurate. Entry fee is €8 and the event starts at 11.15am. Registration is from 10.00am at the Letterkenny Community Centre, Pearse Road. The club is grateful to ‘Harte Insurance’ for the generous sponsorship of the event.
Hugh Gallagher.
Letterkenny AC PRO.
