Royal Canal Run
A busy weekend of action which saw Saturday’s Royal Canal Run held in cool, damp conditions on our local canal loop. A number of club members took in either the 10k or half marathon with plenty of good results and personal bests recorded – well done to all.
There were some podium places achieved with Fiona Gettings running a fantastic 36:38 to claim victory in the 10k with Ashley Ryan, a recent new member to the club, finishing soon after to complete a brilliant Longford one-two. Barry Sheil and Adrian Wrobel placed second and third in the men’s race with Adrian’s race report at Longford Runner-s well worth a read.
Despite a busy day involved with the organising of the Schools Relays on Friday, club coach Donal Mulligan ran strongly in the half marathon for third with 1:20. Edel Mooney also achieved a podium finish as second place lady in an excellent 1:29. Many thanks to Brendan, Madeline and all the team involved with the staging of another great Royal Canal Run event.
London Marathon
It was to the streets of London on Sunday with John Scott and Philip Bannister among the 40,000+ at the London Marathon. A prolific marathoner, this was John’s first appearance at one of the World Marathon Majors and he recorded a major personal best crossing the line in a superb 2:49. Great going also by Philip, one of our Little Athletics coaches, as he also paced the distance to perfection coming home in just under 4 hours with an excellent run. Enjoy the celebrations – rehydration is key!
USA
Stateside, Yemi Talabi continued her Collegiate season in Texas at a weekend track meet. A season’s best 24.12 seconds clocking in the 200m and a third place in the 4 x 100m relay (with her UTA teammates) the highlights.
Nelvin Appiah was competing in New Mexico setting good results in the 100m, 200m and long jump in advance of appearing at the NJCAA Championships in May. Earlier this month, Nelvin set a score of 6697 points following the ten events of the Decathlon to ensure qualification and this places him 16th in the all-time Irish rankings list.
