Midleton AC Senior Section by PETER GUNNING Long distance running predominated over the past fortnight with our runners hitting and climbing walls in Kilnaboy, Rotterdam, Connemara and a little closer to home in Cobh. Sunday 10th April saw fourteen Midleton AC vests at the start line in Kilnaboy for the Sonny Murphy Ten Mile Road race, seven in Rotterdam for the AMRO Marathon and two more in Connemara for the marathon and the ultra mararthon In the beautiful Burren, Kevin Smith again led our male athletes home in a sub-60, with Stan Byczek following in a superb 64:17 and Kevin Cooney at 69:10. Mark Walsh and John Carey were also well placed as were Paul Kierans and Danny McCarthy. Club captain Sally Drennan led by example in 72:06 with other great runs by Bernie Twomey , Helen Gilroy, Susan Buckley, Marion Cotter, Mary Walsh and Sile Kierans. Apparently the bus took the scenic route home but tight lips kept the omerta that what goes on tour stays on tour. Similarly our Rotterdam marathoners returned home with talk only of running. On a blistering hot day in the Dutch second city Adam Duchnicz was the first of our seven athletes across the line in an excellent 3:13. Brilliantly paced running from Fergal O’Meara saw him earn a pb at 3:24 while performance of the day was arguably that of marathon virgin Brian Nolan who overcame spaghetti legs at 35km to clock an excellent debut time of 3:31. Peter Gunning cleared the wall to come home at 3:56. Unfortunately Donal Broderick who was on target for a three hour marathon was forced to withdraw through injury at 18miles and a similar fate struck both Adrian Williams and Kevin Morrison. All have vowed to build on the experience and return next year. In Connemara meanwhile, Denis Kelleher took on the ultimate challenge of the ultra-marathon. Denis ran the 39.3mile distance in 6 hours 18 mins. An outstanding achievement, Denis and one for which we all salute you. Mary Toher was also in Connemara where she added the 26.2 mile distance to her ever increasing marathon cv. The results from last Sunday’s Great Island Ten Mile Road race were not available before going to press. The club was however well represented with great running from amongst others, Kevin Cooney, Colm Egan, Sally Drennan, Breda Cahill, Peter Gunning, John Carey, Elaine Hennessy, Ann Savage. A more comprehensive report with times and results will be published in the next edition. The next event on our running calendar is the Ballintotis Four Mile Road Race which takes place this Wednesday night at 8pm. Parking arrangements will be as follows: There will 2 main car parks. 1 - a field just off the Main N25 Road - adjacent to the turn off for Ballintotis - this car park is approx 450 meters from the race HQ which is located in the Church Car Park) 2 - a field located just beyond the Race HQ and approx 200 meters from race start. There will also be a one way system from Car Park 2 in operation immediately after the race to prevent any traffic facing oncoming runners as they head for the finish line.. A marquee for changing will be erected in the Church Car Park on the green beside Loughaderra Lake. Entries will be taken at another marquee in Church Car Park from 6.15pm. Refreshments/prize giving will also be located in the Church Car Park. Finally any enquiries should be directed to 086-8778182 The next BHAA race is the Stride By The Tide on Tuesday 26th April at 8pm. This race is run on the beach in Rebarn with excellent changing facilities and refreshments provided in the nearby Quality Hotel and Leisure Centre where registration also takes place. So pack the buckets and spades as well as the running gear. There will be a meeting to discuss arrangements for our own race, the Joe Hourigan Memorial Five Mile Road Race, at O’Meara’s Bar, Ballinacurra at 9pm on Wednesday 27th April. The race this year takes place on Thursday 5th May at 8pm. More about that in the next edition. Training continues each Monday night at 6pm in Midleton College and on Tuesday night from the Community Centre. Keep on running....