Aside from Paul McNamara's Edinburgh Marathon heroics last weekend there was plenty of club interest in the Clare Burren Marathon Challenge which was organised by the Ballyvaughan Fanore Walking Club. The programme of events on last Saturday comprised of a Mini Marathon, Half Marathon and Full Marathon all of which contained Athenry AC runners.

A touch of Hollywood magic was in evidence as the races were officially started by actor Brendan Gleeson. It depended on your vintage as to whether you recognised him primarily from his performances in either ‘The Field’ or ‘Harry Potter’. Either way, it was a unique way to start a day's running 'Into the West'. The weather seemed like it wasn't going to co-operate at the starting line with squalls of light rain but it improved throughout the event and ended up in bright sunshine.

The Mini Marathon was held over six tough miles of Clare road and hills and when the finish line was reached there were two maroon and white singlets to the front of the pack with Aileen McNamara finishing in second place and Maeve Noone in third. Both Aileen and Maeve have improved their fitness beyond all recognition in recent months and these high finishing positions are just rewards for their diligent training. With The Dublin Women's Mini-Marathon up next week both Athenry women seem in the form to run well at that event.

In the Half Marathon there was more success for Athenry runners with Owen Curran claiming the win and Derek Conerney in the bronze medal position. As far as we know this was Owen’s first outright race victory – congratulations from us all Owen. It must have made the pint taste sweeter as you watched Munster coast to another victory later that day in Cardiff.

Over the full marathon course there was yet more success for Athenry with Peter Delmer claiming second place. Peter is in superb running form at the moment recording PB’s at 5km and 10km seemingly week after week. Even with such a good recent record over the shorter distances, he was heading into the relative unknown in the marathon event. Undeterred by the tough course he went into an early lead which he maintained for many miles before taking a wrong turn at some point late in the race. Unfortunately stewards were thin on the ground at that point and Peter ran for well over a mile off-course before returning to the correct route. This error transformed a four minute lead over the second placed runner into a deficit of a couple of minutes. Despite making up that gap Peter couldn’t forge ahead again and had to settle for second place on this occasion.

Peter’s assessment of the race was that it was, “A fantastic course, off-road and on-road. There were tough climbs, green paths, and sea and mountain views. It was a test of stamina and navigation.”

Our congratulations go to all the Athenry runners on the day … you did us proud.