Limerick Athletics - Weekly News Update

IT WAS a busy weekend for Limerick athletes both at home and abroad.

National Indoor Championships

There was strong performances by Limerick athletes at the 38th edition of the 123.ie National Senior Indoor Championships at the National Indoor Arena on the Sport Ireland Campus in Dublin.

Sarah Lavin (Emerald AC) claimed her eighth national indoor 60m hurdles title, finishing ahead of World silver medalist Kate O’Connor (Dundalk St Gerards), winning in a time of 8.07. Lavin's Limerick AC clubmate Ciara Neville (7.27) returned to the top step of the podium in the women’s 60m, securing her third national indoor title.

Elsewhere, Dooneen’s Leagh Moloney was eighth in the Senior Women’s Triple Jump clearing 10.83m. Clubmate Alan McCutcheon was 11th in the Senior 3000m in 9:11.01.

There were two West Limerick Athletes taking part, Sorcha Nic Domhanill ran in the Women's 3000m final and finished sixth  in a time of 9.32.27. Aaron Lynch ran in the Men's 3000m B Final in a time of 9.18.19.

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Emerald AC, featuring Jamie Mitchel, Josh Devlin, Lorcan O’Connor and Conal Watson, were fifth in the 4x200m final in 1:35.48.

Munster 4 Mile Road Championships

A LARGE convoy of Limerick Athletes made the trip to Castleisland, Co Kerry for this significant event on the Munster running calendar. Amongst the highlights was a second-place finish by Limerick ACs Natasha Kelly in the Senior Women’s race in in a time of 24:11.

Grace O’Donnell, of West Limerick AC, was 16th in 26:49 with Dooneen’s Liz Wilmot 24 th in 27:45. Clubmate Ann MacPhail was second O55 female and 25 th overall in a time of 25 th 27:50. Gillian O’Regan 29:35 and Carmel MacDomhnaill 39:24, both West Limerick.

In the Senior Men’s race West Limerick AC were the second placed Club behind Ennis Track. They achieved this impressive feat through Killian Lynch 10th in 21.10, Padraig O’Donnell, second in 21.59, Karl Lenihan 23rd in 22.03 and Mike Sheehy 27th in 22.21.

Other Limerick results included Clubmates John Paul O'Connell 24.04, Caleb Morris 26.11 and Kevin O'Donoghue 28.30. Derek Kiely finished in 22:48 for Limerick AC with Ian Jennings home in 25:23 for Dooneen.

Abroad

Dooneen’s Marcella McGrath ran the Tokyo Marathon, her fourth ‘Marathon Major’ in a time of 3:34:03.

Although 9000km from home she had company from several other Limerick competitors and their results included the Bilboa fivesome of Michael ‘Mick’ McCarthy 3:28:24, Kevin Broughton 3:57, sisters Kathleen Blackwell 5:49 and Marie Wright 3:58:48, and also Helen Meehan 3:45:2. Ben Murphy (Kifinane) 4:18 and Willie O’Gorman (Dooneen) 4:23:03 were others flying the Limerick flag.

It was a special day for Mick McCarthy and Marie Wright who completed their 6 Star Medal having now finished all six major marathons: Tokyo, Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago and New York.

Mick previously completed Chicago in 3:14, Berlin in 3:14, London 3:22, New York 3:34 and Boston in 3:29. Marie finished Berlin and Chicago in 3:43, London and Boston in 3:46 and New York in 4:02. Well done to everyone

Around the Country

Dooneen ACs JP Lawlor was seventh in the Naas Half Marathon in a time of 1:20:07. Dooneen’s Anthony Harty was 18th in the Shannon 5 Mile in an excellent time of 32:49.

Other times included Patrick Nelligan 39.05, Gerard Hannon 40.57 and Paul Crotty 43.45 - all West Limerick.

Dooneen’s Tanya Cox ran the latest edition of the BHAI 5K Series in Cork City in a time of 20:36.

Fixtures

The Dooneen AC hosted Michal Rejmer 10 Mile takes place on Sunday, March 29 at 11am from Limerick Racecourse. T-Shirts for first 250 entries only. Volunteers are urgently sought on the day. If you are available to help, contact the club, enter via Eventmaster.

The Limerick County 4 Mile Road Championships and Limerick Runs Series 4 Mile takes place on Sunday, March 15 from 9am in Castleconnell.

Training Tip

“Practice your gel and hydration strategy before race day, never try anything new in the marathon itself” - Karen Raine