From Martina Donnellan:
Full sunshine and near perfect running conditions greeted all participants on the last day of September as a field of 80 participants lined up for the rescheduled Colemanstown 10k. As customary, a big crew from Athenry AC were present with 21 members appearing at the start line. The majority of this group are targeting October marathons either in Dublin or Frankfurt which both take place on the 29th Oct. There was also good representation from GCH, Tuam, Corofin, Ballinasloe as well as Moy Valley in Ballina.
As it’s a peak high mileage week for marathon preparation, many members ran out from Athenry to double up the race with longer mileage. (Martin O Hara, Colin Duane, Patrick Forde to name but a few).
Colemanstown is renowned for its fast course and again this year many of Athenry AC group had impressive PB's. Ray Tracey and Donal Leahy were two of the lads delighted to beat their previous best 10k times by a good margin.
It was great to see Tony Killarney racing and also Tomas Ruane back on the racing circuit (even if he was wearing a blue singlet after changing clubs, we will forgive him!)
There were wins by two of the most consistent road racers in the county. Matt Bidwell stamped his authority on the race from the outset and was first home in 33:36 while Jane Ann Meehan, 5th overall, was first lady home in 37:09. There were also a host of other good times scattered throughout the field. James Maher, Templemore AC was 2nd in 35:22; Daire Comer, Tuam AC came 3rd in 37:09. Mens Category Prize winners were: O/40 Colemanstown lad: Gearoid Rohan, Athenry AC, who was 4th overall to a great applause in 36:35; O/50 Jim Vaughan, Galway Triathlon, 43:47; O/60 Tony Killarney, Athenry AC, 48:14; O/70 Philip Cribbin, Clare River Harriers, 52:31.
In the Senior ladies category, pre-race favourite Jane Ann Meehan, Athenry AC led home a host of other Athenry AC participants in 37:09, 5th overall and over 2 ½ mins clear of her nearest challenger, 2nd placed Sinead Brody of Galway City Harriers, 39:45. Yvonne Fehily, Athenry AC came 3rd in 42:47. Female category winners were: O/40 Female: Colemanstown lass Mary Mahon Rohan, Athenry, AC, 47:40; O/50 Mary Kealy, Athenry AC, 44:33 fresh from her recent exploits in the Berlin Marathon. Full results here.
Result is here.
The organising committee wish to thank Athenry AC for supporting their race permit application & to Sean O’Morain who assisted in rescheduling the race at short notice from its usual Easter date. We hope to be back to our Holy Saturday date again, next year, March 31st 2018.
The organisers wish to acknowledge the continuous support of Athenry AC down through the years.
