On Saturday the nearest action was in lovely Leitrim for the 2nd running of the Fontenoy's 5 mile road race and with almost 80 starters it was a considerably bigger field than last year. The weather was much cooler than last year too but the action at the front was decidedly hotter with Newcastle's Eoghan Totten throwing down the gauntlet to East Down's Brendan Teer as soon as special guest Ciara Mageean set the runners off. He kept up the blistering pace until well over half way and was 10 metres clear at mile 3. But Teer has few peers on the roads over this distance and terrain and as the short, steep hills appeared with frightening regularity he closed the gap and was gone, taking over 30 seconds out of the brave Eoghan to post a time of 25.51 and set a mark which will take some beating in future years. Both were well clear of David O'Flaherty and Luke McMullan who had their own battle for 3rd and 4th places, while Julie Turley from the Dromore club knocked almost 9 minutes of last year's winning time, posting a formidable 28.58. East Down's other runners were Barrie Atkinson, a splendid 32.58 and Peter Morgan 34.54, testimony of their improving levels of fitness.
I didn't think it possible but the ladies who did the catering actually surpassed their efforts of last year with a veritable feast of food which catered for all tastes. Yes, I know I wasn't running but I was asked to sample the fare to ensure it was OK for the participants and I felt obliged to help out. So take a bow the ladies and accept a big Thank You from everyone.
PRETTY LITTLE GIRL IN OMAGH
Further afield the more adventurous were in Omagh for the annual Half Marathon, this year awarded Northern Ireland Championships status. A quartet of our runners made their way to the Tyrone venue for what is a testing examination of fitness ahead of the Belfast marathon. Some said that it started for Tracey McDowell when she clocked a personal best in Jimmy's Ten a few weeks ago, knocking almost 3 minutes off her previous mark, so she went to Omagh as the in-form runner. In actual fact it started long ago in the depths of Winter when she undertook a programme of more intensive training with plenty of intervals aimed at improving her speed endurance. So she became an “overnight success” with a 1.41 time for the 13.1 miles, an incredible 7 minute improvement. Well done to her, surely an inspirational example to follow. Betty McCartan also ran creditably, her 1.54 timing, well inside the 2 hour target which is a serious challenge in Omagh, with the ubiquitous (it's perfectly legal) Michael McKeown 1.28, improving last week's Larne time by over 1 minute and Francis Tumelty 1.30 improving his by over 4 minutes – what a difference a week can make.
WENT FAR TO GO FAR
However furthest travelled of all was John and Wendy Findlay who went to Connemara and completed the tough ultra marathon (39 miles) in a splendid time of 6 hour 40 minutes. Actually 6 hours 40 each but as they ran together it was the same 6.40. The lengths some people will go to to save money on petrol! A splendid effort
WHAT'S ON
And with Easter approaching there are loads of races on offer with Ballygalget GAC staging it's first ever 10K and Fun Run on Easter Sunday and the Born2Run Half marathon and 10K in Castleward on 14th April. Add to that the Hill and Dale Series beginning on 12 April and runners literally won't have a leg to stand on if they do all of these. As if that's not enough, the Mainstay Down Residential Project are staging a 5 Mile Family Fun Run and Walk on Sunday 29 April at 12 noon from Down Leisure Centre to raise much need funds towards their massive building project. The route chosen is flat and scenic and it is hoped that a big turnout of local runners will support this worthy cause.
Joe Quinn
1 April 2012
