WEEKEND RUNAROUND
Coming up next weekend
Cross Country ( Report from Sally Drennan)
The County Intermediate Cross Country Championships took place today in Conna. Midleton AC had a small, but hardy crew out to run on a very testing course. The ground was rough and there were plenty of hills, but luckily it stayed dry. Sally Drennan was the only Midleton athlete in the women's race. She was happy with her race which she used as a good training run. That was followed immediately by the men. Barry O'Shea led the Midleton athletes home with an outstanding run, finishing in 5th place. Unfortunately David Moynihan had to pull out injured quite early on. This was very bad luck for Dave who is running really well at the moment. Hopefully he won't be out for long. Ger O'Regan continued his solid cross country season and had another very good run in a strong field. As usual, if Neilus isn't running, he is there to support. Thanks Neilus, it makes all the difference! It was one of the few cross country races I have ever been to without Danny in attendance, because of his supporter role in Dublin!
Frankfurt Marathon
Another brilliant result for Midleton AC with Kevin Smith doing 3.00.10 in Frankfurt. One never realizes what difference a few seconds can make until one does a marathon. Well done Kevin we are all super proud of you.
Dublin Marathon
Some really fantastic running out there today by our crew and fantastic support from the support crews also. Derek Aherne was our first man home in a great time of 3.10.09 almost exactly to the second of what he said he hoped to do giving him an incredible PB of 25 min. Helen Gilroy was our first lady home in 3.24.17 having an absolutely brilliant run and getting a PB by over 5 mins. Club Captain Claire Fitzgerald had a great run in 3.38.56. All our runners seemed to have great runs with one or two hiccups for a few. Meeting up tomorrow Monday night in The Maple to discuss the details. All welcome.
Former winner of our own Midleton 5 Mile Race Lizzie Lee finished 3rd overall and also won the National Title in 2.35.02 earning herself 6000e for 3rd overall and 3.500e for 1st in the National plus a time bonus of 3500e making it a total of 13.000e. Well done Lizzie Midleton AC is proud and delighted for you. Danny
This sign was being carried by a supporter ( not Midleton AC of course) today.
Captain Claire with her proud supporters
Job done and dusted.The smiles say it all.
The Three Amigos ready to start
Derek at 11.5 miles in flying form
Helen even takes time to salute
800M to go and still smiling
Claire and her support crew.
Keep up to speed on the day with the live stream and tracking courtesy of the SSE Airtricity Dublin Marathon.
Our ladies in the "Hall Of Fame" at the Expo.
Don McDonald doing his first marathon decided to bring his own support Crew. Don't worry Don there will be lots more Midleton AC out there supporting you and the rest of the crew. Danny
Dublin City Marathon ( Message from Capt. Claire Fitzgerald)
This weekend marks the 39th birthday of Dublin
City Marathon (DCM) and like many, the party wouldn’t go off without Midleton
athletes arriving to celebrate. DCM is a firm favourite with MAC members.
This year 13 lucky MAC members made the entry 5 months
before it sold out.
Derek Ahern, Declan O Callaghan, Mick Murphy, Helen Gilroy,
Dan Twohig, Don Mc Donald, Amanda Cooney, Claire Fitzgerald, Mags Mulcahy,
Helen Sheehan, Paula O Sullivan.
As par for the course, there were casualties over the last
two weeks, our 13 green bottles, became 12 and then 11. Mark O Reilly just
couldn’t shake off a niggle and after his last 22 miler, he had to make the
hard decision to withdraw. Kevin Moran, likewise withdrew this week. It’s a
tough call, but we all know its the right one.
These two gentleman had remarkable performances in the
Charleville half, Dungarvan Greenway half and Cork 2 Cobh, so their base is
very good once they rest and nurse themselves back into action.
Runners talk about the high on race day, but for most of us
the high comes from all the training with the club mates, those doing the
marathon and those supporting through the long runs.
Throughout the summer we’ve been through grads, hurling
& camogie finals, weddings, summer holidays, house building, family
occasions, all on our runs. These are the memories with the marathon being the
bonus.
Thank you to ALL
our Saturday runner beans. You got us all this far.
Like any good celebration, they’ll always be the rowdy bunch
arriving for the afters. MAC supporters are unequalled in DCM. This year is no
different with MAC support locations being dotted all over the 26.2miles.
Thank you to all those who are part of our marathon too.
Special mention to Kevin Smith who will be running the
Frankfurt marathon at the same time.
Cross Country
The Intermediate Cross Country Championships take place in Conna on Monday next starting at 12pm with the Ladies followed by the men.. We have a fine crew entered David Moynihan , Ger O'Regan, Barry O'Shea and our ladies Sally Drennan and Siobhan O'Leary. We wish them all well.
Frankfurt Marathon
We have one member in the Frankfurt Marathon also on Sunday. Kevin Smith who has been training really well and hopefully will reap the results. Other local runners going there are Brian Crowley, Mike Dolphin and John Hennessy. Well known local runner Kevin O'Leary will be making his marathon debut and great things are expected from him. Again we wish them all well and if they do half as well as Midleton AC did the last time we went to Frankfurt they will come home very happy.
Dublin Marathon preview
National glory at stake in the capital
It is set to be another exciting battle for national honours as a record field hit the streets at the SSE Airtricity Dublin Marathon this Sunday (October 28).
Gary O’Hanlon (Clonliffe Harriers) will be bidding to retain his national title while there is set to be a new name written on the women’s national scroll of honour.
The close working and positive relationship between Athletics Ireland and the Dublin marathon organising committee headed by race director Jim Aughney provides a brilliant platform for the national championships along with giving it extra exposure.
Laura Graham (Mourne Runners) won’t be in contention to retain her title due to injury which sees Leevale AC’s Lizzie Lee and Letterkenny’s Caitriona Jennings in contention for domestic bragging rights.
It isn’t outside the realms of possibility that they could break the winning tape at the head of the women’s field. Remalda Kergyte of Lithuania, Caroline Jepchirchir of Kenya, and Ethiopian duo Motu Gedefa and Mesera Dubiso are the leading international entrants.
Lee and Jennings both have an Olympic Games on their CV – Lee competed in Rio in 2016 while Jennings competed in London in 2012. Jennings finished second in last year’s national championships.
Other contenders include Galway City Harriers’ Jane Ann Meehan and Calry AC’s Zola Flynn.
Clohisey aiming to win on his debut
The men’s race looks like it will be a much closer affair with Mick Clohisey (Raheny Shamrock), making his debut appearance in Dublin, arguably the favourite.
Clohisey has competed in all the major championships in the marathon and boasts a personal best of 2:14:55 set in Seville last February. He is also coached by Dick Hooper – the inaugural winner of the Dublin marathon in 1980 who went on to win the event three times in total.
Gary O’Hanlon will be hoping to guide Clonliffe Harriers to the team title alongside vying for podium position. The 44-year-old will be joined by Sergiu Ciobanu and David Flynn – both who will have individual aspirations and have trained together at altitude.
Other contenders include Tallaght AC’s Tomas Fitzpatrick, Thomas Frazer of St Malachy’s AC, Eoin Callaghan of Star of the Sea AC, Rathfarnham AC’s Louis McCarthy and Raheny pair Mark Kirwan and Cillian O’Leary.
Kenya’s Vincent Tonui, Eric Koech and Joel Kiptoo are all likely to be top 10 finishers, while Asefa Bekele of Ethiopia who finished third in 2017 and 2015 should also be in the mix.
In the wheelchair race, Patrick Monahan (Le Cheile) will be aiming for his fifth title.
Keep up to speed on the day with the live stream and tracking courtesy of the SSE Airtricity Dublin Marathon.
Claire will have her article on our own club runners tomorrow Danny
This is always a great night and we have moved to a larger venue due to the great crowd we had last year. All reports say the food is fantastic there so be sure and save the date and more details will follow shortly. Danny
