Despite the searing heat on Tuesday evening, there was still a large number of impressive performances from Letterkenny AC runners in the Termon 5K. LAC’s first runner home was multiple Grand Prix winner, Ivan Toner. Ivan made light of the high temperatures and finished 2nd in an impressive time of 16.20. This was Ivan’s 5th race since he made a recent, welcome return to competitive action in a time of 17.25 in the Drumman (Ballyare) NS 5K. He then went on to record times of 16.35 in the Ramelton 5K, 16.28 in the Convoy 5K and 16.15 in the Glenswilly 5K.
Raymond Birch was the next LAC runner across the line. His time of 16.36 gave him 5th place. Sean McFadden was the 2nd M40 finisher in 17.02 and Gerard McGranaghan clocked 17.17. Barry Mackey’s rich vein of form continued and his time of 18.28 was only 1 second outside the new PB he had set just 7 days earlier in Glenswilly. Barry was the leading M55 runner. Aidan McKenna finished in 18.34.
In-form Monica McGranaghan was the winner of the women’s race in 18.47, with clubmate Shauna McGeehan 2nd in 19.29. Paul Toner clocked 18.54. John Hughes’ time of 19.52 gave him 2nd place in the M55 category. Peter Gallagher crossed the line in 20.22, Anthony Farren in 22.02, Richard Raymond in 22.11, Eimear Gormley in 22.49, Donal Farren in 26.33, Philip Connolly in 26.53, Andrea Killoran in 27.46 and Jack McDermott in 30.27. The race winner was Foyle Valley AC’s Darragh Crossan in 16.05.
By Friday evening, the hot temperatures of Tuesday had been surpassed and, in the Newell 10K in Coalisland, Co Tyrone, 4 Letterkenny AC runners had tremendous runs in the 30 degree temperature. All 4 had run in the Termon 5K which illustrated their immense powers of recovery.
Gerard McGranaghan had an excellent time of 37.32. Barry Mackey had another supreme performance and finished in 40.28. Barry was the 2nd M55 runner, with only former Irish Olympian, Tommy Hughes, ahead of him. Just as he had done in relation to his 5K PB in Termon, he was just 1 second away from equalling his 10K PB. When temperatures return to ‘normal’, a plethora of PBs will surely come Barry’s way. Monica McGranaghan had another outstanding run. She was 1st in the F40 category, in 40.32. The 4th of the LAC quartet was M55 athlete, John Hughes, whose fine run took him home in 42.49. The race winner was Stephen Scullion in 30.12, who was followed by Conor Bradley in 31.45.
Danny Mooney seemlessly transferred his fine track form to the road, when he was a convincing winner of the midweek ‘Craic in the Brack 5K’, Aughabrack, near Strabane. Danny’s time of 15.46 saw him finish almost 2 minutes clear of the 2nd finisher.
Endurance specialist, Sean McFadden, showed his versatility on Saturday morning in the Sheephaven Triathlon, which took place in the beautiful rural scenery of Downings. However, another feature of the event was the energy sapping heat. Sean ran 1.32.39 for the half marathon after swimming 1.9K then cycling 90K. Sean’s aggregate time of 4.40.16 gave him 3rd place overall and 2nd place in the M40 age category.
One of LAC’s brightest prospects, Niamh Kelly, had an excellent run at the Under 23 National Championships in Tullamore. Her superb time of 18.40 in the 5000m saw her take home a Silver Medal.
In Saturday morning’s Letterkenny parkrun, the leading LAC runner was Martin Gormley, whose time of 20.02 gave him 5th place overall and 1st place in the M50 category. Peter Gallagher, in his first outing, was the first M40 runner in 21.13 and Paul Lee, in his 40th Letterkenny parkrun, was the 2nd M50 finisher in 21.55. Richard Raymond’s time of 23.09 gave him 1st place in the M60 group.
Hugh Gallagher.
Letterkenny AC PRO.
