On the bank Monday last
Sean Connolly won the National Marathon Title after he was the first
Irish runner to cross the finish line in the National Lottery Dublin
City Marathon.
Although his target on the day was the qualifying standard for next
years Olympics in London, he was well pleased with winning the title in
a time of 2.18.52, with a clear margin over last years winner Sergiu
Ciobanu of Clonliffe Harriers.
It certainly was a delightful and proud moment for the club when he came
around that final bend at the bottom of Grafton Street to complete the
final 500 or 600m before claiming a well deserved victory, and
undoubtedly there will be louder cheering and greater celebrations when
he gets the mark next year.
Of the other 25 Tallaght runners Niall Coppiinger did best after he
finished in 2.49.48, taking 3rd in the O/50 category and he was followed
next by Paddy Lyons ( 3.01.36), Brendan Ryan (3.06.52), Gerry O’ Brien
(3.07), Desie Shorten (3.10.31), Gerry Woods (4.14.12), Gerry Dore
(3,17.50), John Stokes (3.23.52) and Viv O Hanlon (3.23.38).
Jacqui Boyle was our first woman to cross the finish line in 3.25.25
with Sharon Tighe next in 3.34.19, followed by Gary Clarke (3.38.45),
Anna King (3.38.52), Dave Meehan (3.39.54), Gary Williams (3.42.20),
Marissa mc Millan (3.43.35), Deidre Pitts (3.45.30), Irfan Qureshi
(3.47.05), Shay Murphy (3.58.03), Pat Kelly (4.02.29), Tracy Powel
(4.15.41) and Domhnall Sheridan (4.22.36).
But unfortunately for Dave Byrne, Eoin Brennan and Jenny Jones the day
didn’t go to plan as they were unable to finish due to injuries but
hopefully they will all make a speedy recovery and soon be back in
action.
Elsewhere, the previous week in the Phoenix Park many of our juvenile
athletes were competing in the 4th and final cross country league race
with many hoping to pick up awards for finishing amongst the top six
overall points scorers, and 24 of our youngsters did just that, after
some sound performances.
After finishing second in the first league in September Moses Ikpefua’s
stamina came into play as the distances increased and over the next 3
races in the series he recorded 3 straight wins to take the U9 title.
Christopher Duffy was another winner after he strung together one win
and 3 third placings at U12 degree to prevail over club colleague Seamus
Noone who took 2nd place after his two seconds and two fourth placed
finishes, whilst Mustaffe Nasir recorded 4 straight wins to take the U14
title in his first cross country season.
Jade Johnston was another title winner after she topped the U16 division
and Yanaengus Geraghty (U10) , Kevin Lahiffe (U11) , Cathal Dervan
(U13), Conor Murray (U16), Sean Mc Cabe (U17) and Karen Fagan (U17) all
finished 2nd overall after they put in some very good performances.
Faye Dervan (U10), Grace Dervan (U12), Liam Cahill (U17) and Philip
Murray (U18) all finished in 3rd place overall whilst John Lyons (U10)
and his brother Joseph (U15) both took the 4th placed honours., and
there were 5th placed awards for Aimee Kenna (U9) and Dylan O’ Brien in
the U11 division whilst Eve Keegan, Sadiq Nasir, Kayleigh Clarke and
John Daly all won awards after they finished 6th overall in the U11,
U13, U14 and U17 divisions respectively.