Limerick’s Sorcha Nic Domhnaill places second in Dublin  Marathon

Dublin City Marathon

The flagship event of the weekend, akin to Christmas in the running community, was of course the 45th staging of the Dublin Marathon.

It was very nearly a two in a row for Limerick in the National Championship as Sorcha Nic Domhnaill aimed to follow in the footsteps of last year’s winner Ava Crean.

It was looking good at half way as she held a significant lead but in the end had to settle for second behind Derry’s Judith Storm. Her time of 2:35:55 was still a pb by two minutes and in gusty conditions, still represents a massive achievement.

Second Limerick woman and 21st overall was Olympian Carolyn Hayes in a time of 2:48:25 with Back 2 Boston’s Deirdre Cassidy impressive in 3:05:18.

Shane Eades of Limerick AC was first Limerick man in 20th place in 2:28:25, with Killian Lynch of West Limerick next in 27th place in 2:30:59 . Impressive also was ‘W.L.’ Clubmate Niall O’Riordan (2:36:31) and Cian Aherne of Limerick AC 2:42:30.

Munster Juvenile and Novice Cross Country

A large convoy of mostly young Limerick athletes made the trip to Two Mile Boris near Thurles in Tipperary for the provincial ‘finals’ . The Limerick AC duo of Crea Moore and Darragh Whelan (again!) were amongst the day’s highlights. Both dominated their events on their way to victory in the U14 Girls and U16 Boys respectively.

Clubmate Caoimhe Burke won Gold in the U10 Girls with Eoghan Collins of West Limerick making it a ‘Treaty County double’ with victory in the U10 Boys.

Eva McMahon was 10th for Dooneen in the U16 Girls. There was a superb performance from clubmate Ella Grace Osborne who was 4th from a total of 50 finishers in the Girls U18 race.

In the Novice race, traditionally one of the largest XC races in the country, Jonathan Oakey of Limerick AC was an excellent second, just four seconds behind the winner with ‘County Man’ Karl Lenihan of ‘WL’ 4th.

Bilboa’s Sean Quirke was 12th with Jack Downes of Limerick AC 27th. In the aftermath two storms and conditions which would not have been out of place at the ploughing championships it was a great day running for Limerick.

Tralee

Declan Guina was 2nd in the Tralee Half Marathon in ‘the Kingdom’ in a time of 1:14:41 .Rachel O’Connor followed up her recent Galway Bay Half Marathon with another here, finishing in 2:00:35.

Abroad

Dublin wasn’t the only big city marathon of the weekend. Kevin and Tracey Johnson travelled to Frankfurt am Main in Germany where Kevin ran the classic distance in a time of 2:52:37.

International

John Kinsella was added to the Irish Team for the pending ‘Home Countries’ Masters Cross Country International in Dublin.

Fixtures

The Limerick ‘Halloween’ Night Run takes place on Thursday 29 th October at 8pm from King John’s Castle. The Limerick County Cross Country Relays, Senior, Juvenile and Masters take place on Sunday 8 th

November in NCW

The Border Half Marathon, now operating on a new route, from Clonlara GAA grounds, takes place on Sunday 6th December. This year also features an additional 10K event. The Athletics Limerick St Stephens Day 10K, from Caherdavin Community Centre is now open for entries via Eventmaster.