Midleton AC Senior Section 9th July 2012
By Peter Gunning
Post-marathon blues have been blown away by short course fever with
several of our athletes competing in the top two events of the past
fortnight. First up was the second event
in the four-race Ballycotton 5 Summer Series in Shanagarry. Arguably the
toughest of the four courses with the winding hill from Garryvoe testing both
lung and limb, eighty-three Midleton AC members made it to the finish. Both
Darragh Canavan and Adam Duchnicz broke the 30minutes barrier finishing in 29:49
and 29:57 respectively. Kevin Smith paced his 6 minute-miles perfectly to clock
30:00. Close on his heels came Denis Kelleher, 30:25 and Marc Dalton 30:47 and
Tom Cody 31:07. Many of our athletes remain in contention for Top-50 overall
places with Emmett Ronan, Michael Dolphin, Kieran Mulcahy, Fergal O’Meara and
Morgan O’Regan well-poised. Our ladies too look set to dominate the overall
standings when the series ends in Ballycotton in August. Michelle Kenny, Sheila Buckley, Anna Doris, Helen
Gilroy , Margaret Jones, Marian Aherne and Susan Delaney all ran strongly on the
night. Those T-shirt fittings are just ten miles of racing away ladies!
A week later the East Cork, Corkbeg 4 was held in Whitegate. Fine
running here from Denis Kelleher and Tom Cody to finish ninth and tenth
respectively in 23:50 and 23:53. Emmett Ronan, 24:44, Don O’Callaghan 25:50,
Eugene McCarthy 26:19 and James Moore 26:57 all preformed well on the
night. Anna Doris, Sheila Buckley and
Michelle Kenny led our ladies home with great running too from Margaret Jones,
Breda Cahill, Mary O’Keeffe, Colette Barry and Anne-Marie Perry. It is
indicative of the growing strength of our club that this event which attracted
138 participants included 48 athletes wearing Midleton AC vests. This level of
participation in road-races is phenomenal and we can all justifiably and
collectively feel very proud.
Breaking all the road-racing rules in the book several of our
athletes completed the gruelling 180km Ring of Kerry Charity Cycle last Saturday. Heartiest congratulations
are extended to Trish Murphy, Denis Kelleher, Seán O’Sullivan, Noel O’Regan and
Peter Gunning. Now put away those toys for another year and get back to your
real sport!
For fixtures and news of upcoming events keep an eye on the blog.
Monday and Tuesday training continues as normal.
Until next time keep running.
