Tallaght athletes were again
to the fore in the Adidas Dublin City Minithon and Marathon on the
recent bank holiday Monday, with Tallaght juveniles claiming Minithon
victories in both male and female categories, and some of our senior
competitors amongst the top 100 finishers in the grueling 26 mile
Marathon.
In the Minithon, which
started 30 minutes after the start of the Marathon, Tallaght had 35
juvenile contenders amongst the field of almost 500 competitors. Ranging
in age from 8 – 18yr olds, many of the younger competitors were
competing for fun, but a large group of the older teenagers were
seriously challenging for top honours in the 2.5k event.
From the start on Merrion
Square North, the Tallaght colours were prominient with Anthony Lieghio,
Peter Fitzsimons, Brian Connolly and Aisling Johnston amongst the
leading group. This group stayed in contention as the race wound up
Pearse Street, around Trinity College on to Nassau Street, Dawson
Street, Molesworth Street, Kildare Street, returning back onto Nassau
Street and finishing on Merrion Square West, where a number of our
runners claimed podium positions.
|
Jostling for position - Peter Fitzsimons,
Anthony Lieghio, Brian Connolly and Aisling Johnston |
Anthony Lieghio, after
finishing 4th in 2004 and denied victory by the slimmest of
margins in 2005 he had a point to prove, and he proved it in emphatic
style, coming home a clearcut winner ahead of clubmate Peter Fitzsimons,
who had a brilliant run in 2nd, with Brian Connolly coming in
5th and Colm Oman an excellent 9th.
|
Anthony Liehio on his way to
victory |
Peter Fitzsimons a clear silver
medal winner |
In the Female Category,
Aisling Johnston was out to retain her crown. After winning the event in
2005 and 2003, and filling the runner up spot behind older clubmate
Tracey Williams in 2004, she duly obliged with a clear cut victory to
claim her third title, ahead of Amy Cooke from Rathfarnham.
|
Aisling Johnston, mixing it with the boy’s,
before going on to record a treble Minithon success |
Amongst the other Tallaght
competitors were National U12 cross country Championship qualifiers,
Conor Murray and John Daly, Jade Johnston, Sean Mc Cabe, Adam and Sarah
Clarke, Aoife Murray, Sean Fitzsimons, Zara Gaynor, Annmarie Mc Clean,
Robyn Reece, Emma and Adam Prior, Darren Hogan, and others, finishing
well up in the field.
|
Colm Oman – 9th in
his 1st Minithon |
Brian Connolly – 5th
overall |
|
Robert Behan on right with Jade
Johnston behind |
Sean Fitzsimons on his way to
the finish |
A little over an
hour after the last young athlete had completed the minithon the first
of the 10,000 Marathon runners started to cross the finishing line,
amongst them our own Niall Coppinger, an excellent 48th
place, in a time of 2.44.41, securing 3rd in the 0/45
category.
|
Gary Clarke |
Christy Reilly |
Less
than a minute further back Lisa Myles Danne (2.45.37) was our first lady
to cross the line, the 4th female finisher 0/35, with Colm
Barcoe next to complete the course in 98th overall in a time
of 2.52.30, followed by Gary Clarke (3.09.08), 5th 0/45, with
Gerry O’ Brien and Christy Reilly next in 3.14.43 also Irfan Qureshi
crossed the line with a time of 3.50.
|
Lisa Myles Danne |
Colm Barcoe |
Our other finishers were all
female, led by Deirdre Pitts in 3.26.19, with Anna King next in 3.30.35
and Jacqui Boyle crossing the line in 3.50.03. Unfortunately both Desie
Shorten and Denis Cahill had to retire during the race.
|
Deirdre Pitts |
Gerry O’ Brien |
Since the bank holiday events, our
juvenile athletes have engaged in the fourth and final meeting of the
Dublin Juvenile Cross Country League Series. Held at Marlay Park last
Sunday 5th November, the Tallaght competitors were determined to finish
amongst the trophy contenders in this final encounter, and many did just
that with some fine performances, securing no less than 6 titles and a
number of silver and bronze podium positions.
Jade Johnston was first up in the U11
800m contest and whilst trailing in mid-field at the half waypoint, she
made up relentless ground to finish a strong third place. Although
missing the 3rd race in the 4 race series, her total points
from the races run will secure one of the top six league trophies. In
the boy’s equivalent, Conor Murray again put in a fine performance,
finishing third, and his overall combined points will secure the runner
up trophy, a great result in his first cross country season.
In the U12 boy’s contest run over a
distance of 1,000m, John Daly was the first of our competitors to cross
the line in 5th, securing enough points to go 3rd
on the podium. Sean Mc Cabe and Killian Morris followed John home, with
their combined finishing positions on the day securing the team medals.
Zara Gaynor was our sole competitor in
the U14 girls 1200m contest and she ran an excellent race to finish 5th,
whilst Roisin O’ Hanlon ran out an easy winner in the U15 girls 1500m
contest. After her top placings in the previous 3 league encounters, the
win secured Roisin the overall winners trophy and her first league
title.
U16 level, Aisling Johnston, after
winning the first race and finishing 3rd in her second
encounter had to win this final race after dropping points when absent
from the 3rd race in Tymon Park, and she duly obliged, when
strolling out from start to finish in the 2,000m event to secure her 6th
league title, with Rebecca Game finishing 2nd to finish 3rd
overall in the 4 race league series, whilst Eoghan Hennessey’s 2nd
placing in the boy’s 3,000m placed him top of the podium for his first
league title.
Aoibheann Tierney took maximum
advantage of the absence of a number of the league contenders from some
of the other clubs, when she secured maximum points in the U17 girls 2k
event to claim her first cross country league series title, with Peter
Fitzsimons doing likewise in the boy’s 3k contest to also take his first
league title.
Although absent for this final race,
Brian Connolly secured enough points with his high placings in the
previous routings to take third overall trophy in the U16 boy’s
category, with Anthony Lieghio winning the overall trophy at U18 degree
and Luke Colema taking the runner up prize, whilst David Somerville
secured the U19 title.
Next up for our athletes is the Dublin
Juvenile uneven age cross country Championships at Santry Demesne on
Sunday next, where more than 26 of our athletes will be competing for
individual medals and a place on the County and Regional teams for the
National finals to be held in Dundalk
in December.
Photos – Courtesy of Alan Cowzer –
Irish
Athletics Photo Album