"O! For a horse with wings!"..........William Shakespeare.
On Saturday morning last February 19th the ALSAA Sports Grounds bore witness to a true test of grit and determination in the flooded, muddy environs of Dublin Airport. A location synonymous with grounded flights over the Christmas colluded with Mother Nature to ground the athletes who trudged through the muckfest with difficulty. Indeed, lofty ambition was needed in abundance as the underfoot conditions mirrored the suffocating Everglades, seeping the energy at every turn from tiring legs. Not a test of speed or agility, this one was quite simply a bloody war of Spartan proportions. Fitting that some of the most torturous parts of the course ran parallel to Dardistown Cemetery. On one side of the ditch the dead were interned, on the other the living were dying on their feet. Men and Women simply ran on a wing and a prayer.
Amid all the toil and trouble Jason Miley ran a terrific race for AGS. Shades settled nicely into a rhythm in about 25th or so and his strength came to the fore in the second half of the battle. There was no "accelerated stall" as he solidly cut through the field on each lap with radar efficiency, picking off runners, finishing a credible 15th in 31:23. Ronseal Grogan clinched 76th place in a sprint finish, clocking 36:49, with the ever improving Ian Redican coming home in 37:10 for 80th overall. Snaps taxied for long sections of the race before striking for home with half a mile to go. Declan Monaghan proved his PB in the Raheny 5 was no fluke posting 37:44 for 90th position, while Elbows Gannon toiled home in 37:57 to claim 92nd place. Brian Brunton ran a superb final lap, gaining 38:29 and just popped under the tonne in 99th. Mick Ferry who turns 65 next month put us all to shame skipping through the sticky conditions, for 103rd in 38:57. Michael Tynan making his debut, was greeted by a baptism of fire of sorts. Micheal placed 106th in 39:17. Great to see new faces donning the jersey. Best finish of the day was undoubtedly that of Tom Power, the Bullet lived up to his billing when propelling himself to the front out of a thrilling 4 man sprint to the line. Tom claimed 116th in a time of 40:01. Hugh Reddy finished 175th in 50:13. Bridget Buckley continued to fly the flag in the ladies race where she finished well ahead of some of her nemeses. Bucks flew home in 14:40 and is certainly our most consistent performer with another top ten finish. She claimed seventh in the two mile slog.
In the team event Shades, Ronseal and Snaps took silver in Category B, showing Dublin City Council the departure gate back in 3rd, while in Category C, Declan, Damian and Brian stole the bronze from Revenue.
GARDA ATHLETICS | sitemap | log in
