Raheny 5 & Kilbride 10k
Submitted by Tom Hunt
The 28th Annual AXA Raheny 5 road race promoted by Raheny Shamrock AC took place on Sunday with record numbers competing. Mark Christie (Mullingar Harriers) 23.29 and Linda Byrne (DSD) 26.23, were the winners. John Byrne finished 25th in 25.46, an excellent result and almost two minutes faster than his time in Ballyhaunis 8k last September. John ran 25.28 finishing 11th in this race in 2008, and was 8th in 2010 in 25.30, underlining both his consistent form in this event and the competitive element this year. TJ McHugh was pleased with 27.20 finish, given it is his only his second race in recent months since returning to training. Catherine Conway also returning to
racing finished a brilliant 6th place in 29.01. The Raheny 5 is a
regular annual event on the very full Christy O’Malley calendar and he
had a great race this year, finishing in 33.42, over a minute inside
his 2011 time.
Detailed AXA Raheny 5 results are at www.tds-live.com
Also on Sunday, the inaugural Kilbride 10K held in conjunction with
Roscommon Sports Partnership, attracted an excellent field of over 400
runners and walkers. Conditions were calm, but persistent rain
overnight carried on until race start. The one lap course had frequent
splash-through pools and roadside streams over the first 8k and then
two tough hills made it a demanding finish.
Mark Doyle (Runworx) was
the winner in 35.04. Performance of the day was by women’s race winner
Sarah Syron, whose gritty finish enabled her to win by 9 seconds in
40.56. Sarah smashed her 2011 Balla 10k personal best time by over two
minutes on a tough day. This is a great example of hard work paying
off and it surely won’t be long before she does a sub 40. Anto
Devanney was first Mayo AC man home in 6th place 37.21, followed in
9th by Dwayne Flynn, 38.44, who won the Fastest Footballer Challenge –
Dwayne plays his football for Parke. Category winners included Tom
Hunt M60 40.55, Billy Gallagher M55 41.50, and Pauline Moran F55
46.10. Other finishers included PJ Hall 46+, Chris O’Connell, and
Jimmy Donnelly (6k walk).
Results file will be added here when available.