Castlegar Open Cross Country and the Clew Bay Half Marathon were the two big athletics events in Connacht at the weekend. September 16/17.
Saturday's Castlegar Open Cross Country races served as the 1st leg of 2023 Connacht Senior Masters League which was held at the Ballybrit racecourse.
Women, u18 boys/girls, and o60 men ran 4k.
Well done to four Mayo AC masters women who competed. These were their finishing places and times:
14 ColetteTuohy 17:58
18 Angela O’Connor
35 Gillian Hanrahan 22:05
39 Breege Staunton 23:36
Connacht Leg 2 is at Westport October 22, Leg 3 at Sligo November 5
The Mayo Seniors and Masters Cross Country competition will be held on October 1 in Westport.
Seven Mayo AC Finishers in Clew Bay Half Marathon
And also on Saturday there was more good running by seven Mayo AC finishers in the Clew Bay Half Marathon at Louisburgh.
5th David Browne 1:28.52, 3rd M40
Brendan Murphy 1:33.00, 1st M50
Damien Finnegan 1:37.01
Dee Finnegan 1:48.01
Ann McDonnell 1:52.40
John Nyland 1.56.23
Karla Regan 1:58.04
Race Winners: David Tiernan East Mayo 1:19.05; Karina O’Malley 1:32
World Masters Mountain Running Championships
On Friday (September 15) the World Masters Mountain Running Championships women’s race took place in Calheta, Portugal.
The course was described as uphill 9.2k +800m/-50m.
In context, only eleven countries – all European- took part in the women’s World Masters Championships with Ireland making up 17 of a total of 54 competitors.
In the 35-50 results there were 48 competitors with 10 Irish in the lineup. Paula Donnellan Mayo AC was the 7th Irish finisher in 26th place in 1:10.07. The overall race winner and first W40 was Charlotte Cotton (BEL) in 52:42.
Within the 35-50 race there were 15 competitors in the women’s W40 event with Paula Donnellan third of three Irish finishers coming home in 10th place 1:10.07.
Teams from just two countries had the required 3 finishers and Ireland with 21 points (2,9,10) beat Italy (26 points) to win team gold.
Well done to Paula Donnellan and the Irish team.
ADRIAN McNAMARA COMPETES IN 24-Hour ULTRA
Congratulations to Mayo AC ultra runner Adrian McNamara who competed in a 24 hour race in Italy September 16/17.
It was a Silver Label IAU competition. The race took place over a 1.526k lap course at Stadio Adolfo Consolini in Verona. The 24hr race started at 10.00am on Saturday morning.
The Ballindine runner completed 77 laps in 11hrs 53min. He had run 117.5k, at which point he pulled up– in the results. In the final results he was 4th M40. A great achievement.
Race leader when Adrian stopped was Silva Vittorio (Atletica Franciacorta). He continued to lead and won the event completing 141 laps = approx 215.2k.
Results show that about a quarter of the 100+ starters completed the full 24hrs.
Lithuania’s Aleksander Sorokin set a new 24-hour world record of 319.614 kilometers/198.599 miles at the 2022 IAU 24-Hour European Championships in Verona, Italy, on September 17 and 18. That’s 7:15 per mile or 4:30 per k for 24 straight hours.
Adrian McNamara was part of the Irish team who competed in the Anglo Celtic Plate 100k last April. They won team bronze with Adrian finishing in 7hr 57. The event also incorporated the Athletics Ireland 100k Championships as part of an Open Race.
In 2021 he was the first finisher in the Connemara 100 in 15hrs 56.51.
He joined Mayo AC last November.
Well done Adrian!
SINÉAD DIVER 8TH IN SYDNEY MARATHON
It’s just under eleven months until the women’s marathon in the Paris 2024 Olympics on August 11.
Sinéad Diver already has the qualifying mark for her second Olympic campaign from the Valencia Marathon in 2022 where she ran her pb 2:21.34.
Sinéad’s training in early 2023 was disrupted following her 69:29 Half Marathon in Japan last February. She had bone stress and hip injuries, but she’s now back on track.
Last year she ran the Blackmores Sydney Half Marathon with crossing over the finish line in a course record time of 01:13:07.
As part of her preparation for Paris she ran the Blackmores Sydney Marathon on Sunday.
The Sydney Marathon course offers participants the unique experience to take in a number of spectacular Sydney sights including running traffic free over the Sydney Harbour Bridge, through the Royal Botanic Garden, Darling Harbour, The Rocks and finishing at the Sydney Opera House.
Sinead ran the first 10k in 35:00 – back in June Mayo AC's Norah Newcombe Pieterse ran her 10k pb in Dunshaughlin in 35:29.
She reached Sydney half way in 1:14:55. And although her average 5ks in the early ks/3:30 moved up a few seconds she maintained a steady pace throughout reaching 30k in 1:47.02/3:34 and finished with a 3:35 average overall, crossing the finish line at the Opera House in an excellent 2:31.25, and 8th woman.
Well done Sinéad!
Former Kenyan and now USA runner Betsy Saina secured the win in the women’s race, clocking in at 2:26:47, ahead of Rahma Chota (2:26:53) and Gladys Kiptegai (2:28:41) of Ethiopia and Kenya, respectively.
Sinéad Diver: race details, splits etc and other results from the weekend are at www.mayoac.com.
