We were greeted by a glorious evening in Loughrea yesterday, which saw the third race of this six race event. Numbers were down from last week with 661 athletes 83 of whom were from Athenry AC taking on this leg of the Galway 5km series. For those of us who had run this course previous, there was talk about "the hill". To put it in perspective the minimum elevation was 73m climbing to a max elevation of 106m that's 33m or 108ft! A tough climb! After the race I overhear someone say they didn't remember it "being that bad"! The hill is in 2 parts which makes it deceiving. You reach what you think is the top only to discover you are about half way there! The last km is a welcome sight, all down hill allowing some recovery before crossing the finish line. To date - no PB's reported! It was great to see so many local out supporting the event while enjoying the fine weather. Having finished second in the previous two races Owen Byrne was first across the line. Equally consistent was Regina Casey with 2 victories in as many races. GCH finished very strong overall claiming 3 of the 6 podium places. Men Owen Byrne, GCH 16:45 Philip Niland, Celbridge 16:54 Damien Larkin, Craughwell 17:03 Women Regina Casey, GCH 17:55 Jane Ann Meehan, Athenry AC 18:07 Grainne Ni Uallachain, GCH 19:21 Wheelchair Shauna Bocquet Craughwell AC 18:04 For the second week in a row Dave Meehan was first Athenry AC man home 18:04 also finishing 11th overall. And just behind was Athenry's first woman Jane Ann Meehan 18:07 making her first appearance of the series by taking second place. Kieran Guiney on the sideline this week was kept busy taking photos! These are available on our FB page. And next week we are off to Tuam. See you all there! Results http://www.redtagtiming.com/results/Galway5km2016_3_Loughrea.pdf Report: Anne Lyng