Tallaght Athletic Club Well Represented In National Half Marathon Championships
(by Ray Fitzsimons)

Tallaght Athletic Club made their mark in the AAI National Half Marathon Championships which were held in Dungarvan County Waterford on Sunday.

This race was chosen by the Athletic Association of Ireland to select the Irish Team to compete in the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships which will be held in Vilamoura in Portugal on October. This ensured that the top athletes from all over Ireland would compete over what to prove a fast course in quite warm conditions.

The race was won by Cian Mc Loughlin of Clonliffe Harriers in 66.14. The first Tallaght Athlete home was Derek Quinn who finished in 64th place overall with a time of 78.56. Derek was competing in the Masters category and his team of Kevin O Donoughue who finished in 87th and timed at 81.51 and Garry Clarke who finished in 115th and timed at 84.33 won the Masters Silver medal which was a great achievement for the club.

Bill Murphy (85.14) and Jimmy Phibbs (86.53) ran personal best performances for the club while Colm Barcoe (88.19), Dennis Cahill (92.20), Terry Fayne (94.32), John Cullen (94.56), Vivian O Hanlon (96.07) and Tom Burgess ensured the red and yellow of Tallaght AC was prominent throughout the race.