On Sun 29th Aug, Shane McCarthy ran in the Longford Marathon while Gareth Fereday ran in the Longford half Marathon. Shane McCarthy made a fine return to marathon running as he clocked a brilliant 3 hrs 29 mins 18 secs for the daunting distance. This outstanding performance placed Shane 30th overall but comes as no surprise as Shane has been in superb form over the longer distances of 10kms (in Straffan and Spar Great Ireland run) and the half marathon (in Kildare) this year. Gareth Fereday completed a week of excellent performances as he raced to an magnificent 14th place overall in the Longford Half marathon event. Gareth completed the 13.1 mile distance in a fantastic 1 hr 20 mins 24secs, building on his brilliant personal best run in Omagh earlier in the year.
On Sun 29th Aug, Stephen Rynne placed a fine second in his category at the Spar Dessies 10 km road race in Derry. Stephen Rynne & Vinny Murtagh made the long trip north at the weekend and it proved a worthwhile one. Stephen had an outstanding run finishing 2nd in his category in an excellent 42 minutes. This was Stephen's third podium finish of the year so far in what is proving a great season for Stephen. Vinny with a heavy cold in tow, made light of the ailment as he race to a super time of 44 mins 43 secs building on his fine run on the track just 3 days earlier. Vinny continues to show terrific form on both the track and roads since his return to action. Well done lads.
On Sat 28th Aug, Shane McCarthy ran in the Warriors Run 15 km road & hill race at Strandhill, Co Sligo. Shane commenced a hectic weekend with a 62nd place finish in the extremely torturous Warriors Run. Shane flew up the testing climb in the middle of the race to the summit of Knocknarea as he produced an impressive time. of 1hr 12 mins 55 seconds. The attached link contains a romantic description of this race. Description.
On Wed 25th Aug, our athletes supported the BHAA Zurich 2 mile track race at Tallaght Stadium. Bernie Stapleton finished 1st and Gareth Fereday was 3rd in a great night's racing by our athletes Bernie Stapleton completed a busy week's racing when she finished 1st lady and 9th overall in her race in a magnificent time of 13 mins 45 secs. In the same race the ever consistent Eithne Richardson was 5th lady having too completed a busy week with an impressive 14 mins 23 secs clocking. Gareth Fereday continued his excellent track season when he finished 3rd overall in a terrific time 10 mins 26 secs. In the same race Derry McVeigh was 10th overall from a large field of 20 in a fantastic 11 mins 16 secs. In the standards 11-13 race Gerry Byrne snr was an excellent 5th in a very swift 11 mins 33 secs with Vinny Murtagh continuing his fine comeback with another impressive run when he completed the 2 mile course in 12 mins 24 secs. In standards 14-16 Stephen Rynne produced another impressive run coming home in a fantatic time of 12 mins 45 secs. In the same race Gerard Moloney, too, continued a fine season on the track when he produced an excellent 13 mins 25 secs for the 8 laps of the track. Well done to all. Results.
On Tue 24th Aug, Freda Comiskey and Stephen Byrne took the honours at the Club Championship Race in Griffeen Park. In a highly competitive ladies race, Freda Comiskey came out on top in the two lap race of two miles. Freda ran a brilliant race finishing very strongly in a great time of 13 mins 17 secs. Pushing Freda closely all the way in second place we had Nicola Kavanagh who continued her excellent season with a 13 mins 27 secs clocking for the two laps. In third position Eithne Richardson produced a very quick time of 13 mins 29 secs building on her excellent form throughout the year. Throughout the race we had some very tight tussles Patricia Daly (16.34) and Ursula Murphy (16.37) pushing each other hard down the home straight while the fast finishing ladies - Anita O’Neill and Sharon Geraghty - couldn’t be separated at all with both clocking a time of 17 mins 55 secs. In the men’s race three lap 3 mile race Stephen Byrne and Brendan Maher pulled away early on and had a great battle with Stephen just finishing the stronger over the second lap in 18 mins 30 secs. Brendan Maher, having had a few injury free months showed us that he has trained hard over the summer as he raced to an excellent 19 mins 02 secs time. In third place our new member Patrick, produced a very strong third lap to complete the course in 19 mins 21 secs. In fourth was Colm O’Connor (19.30), making an impressive return to competitive action after a long injury lay-off with the fast finishing Alan Cassells (19.33) pushing Colm all the way towards the end of the race. It was great to see Brian Brunton back out competing in his first race of the year and Brian produced a very good time of 20 mins 38 secs on his return. Well done to all. Results.
On Sun 22nd Aug, Joe Lynch secured his second National medal of the year as he finished 2nd in the National Half Ironman Championships in Groomsport, County Down.
Joe Lynch secured his second National medal of the year as finished 2nd in the National Half Ironman championships at the weekend. Joe made a fantastic start to the competition when he covered the 1.9km swim in a magnificent time of 26 mins 31 secs. Joe produced a slick first transition before heading out for a daunting sounding bike ride over 90 kms. Joe made light of the distance as he cycled to an outstanding time of 2 hrs 28 mins leaving him well placed as he headed out for the final phase of the race - a half marathon run (21.1kms). Joe produced an exceptional running performance as he completed the distance in 1 hr 24 mins 17 secs. This magnificent time is quicker than most can produce in a stand- alone half marathon race but coming on the back of an extremely challenging swim and cycle this running performance was outstanding. This performance gave Joe a total finishing time of 4hrs 19 mins 26 secs for the 113km combined distance. This silver medal is the second National medal won by Joe in 2010 following his brilliant gold medal in the National Duathlon Championships in April. Details.
On Sat 21st Aug, we had a big crowd running in the Adidas/LifeStyle Sports Frank Duffy 10 miler in the Phoenix Park, Lorraine Heffernan continued her magnificent season completing the 10 mile distance in 1 hr 18 mins 30 secs. Lorraine is obviously in top shape as she prepares to tackle the New York marathon as this time was more than 3 ½ minutes quicker than Lorraine’s time from 12 months ago. Claire Buckley was our second lady to finish as she completed the undulating 10 mile course in a very impressive time of 1 hr 21 mins 18 secs. Claire is busy preparing for her first Dublin marathon and we can expect an excellent debut no doubt as Claire has been in fine form all year. Eileen O’Brien shows no sign of easing up this year as she raced to yet another excellent performance as Eileen completed the 1o mile course in an excellent 1 hr 21 mins 55 secs which secured her 4th place in her category to build on her excellent placings all year. Deirdre Counihan continued her build-up to the Dublin marathon with an exceptional display as Deirdre crossed the finishing line in 1hr 23 mins 38 secs. Deirdre has already run a number of personal best times already this year so is obviously in top form in the run up to the marathon. One of our newer members, Sarah Barragry, produced an eye-catching display on the day with her noteworthy time of 1hr 24 mins 27 secs on the tough 10 mile course. Sarah, too, has been showing great versatility since joining club and indeed was the first Lucan lady home in our Tom Byrne race just two months ago. Emer McCarthy is once again looking to be in a fine vein of form as she prepares for her third Dublin marathon in a row. Emer produced a magnificent display coming home in a time of 1hr 27 mins 53 secs in Emer’s first race over 10 miles since 2005, we believe. Debbie Carroll was our next finisher as she produced an excellent display on the day covering the daunting distance in 1hr 28mins 38secs. This was a fantastic performance by a new member and doubt Debbie will continue to go from strength to strength over the remainder of the year. Helen Ryan built on her fine debut in this series over 5 miles on July 17 with another brilliant performance here. Helen raced to a super time of 1hr 31mins 55 secs as she continues to get quicker as the season progresses. We will no doubt see Helen continue this trend over the remainder of the season. Clare Oman, too, has been is a fine vein of form in this adidas series as she has impressed in both races so far. Clare clocked a superb time 41.34 for the 5 mile race in July and built on that with another excellent time of 1hr 35 mins 08 secs here. Sile McIntyre made a welcome return to action as she produced another brilliant performance over ten miles, completing the distance in 1 hour 44 mins 55 secs. This was Sile’s first race since March we believe, when she produced another great performance over 10 miles in Ballycotton. Josie Dignam, running her first 10 mile race since 2005 produced an eye-catching performance over distance as she crossed the finishing line in 2 hrs 00 mins 48 secs. Josie has had a very busy season, racing regularly and we have continued to see the benefits of these races over the summer months. James Nealon continued his superb season as he led our men home in a brilliant time of 1hr 06 mins 58 secs. This excellent run on a tough courses proves that James is in top form this year and James’ time was more than 6 minutes quicker than James’ time 12 months ago. Damien McDonald was the second Lucan male competing and continued his fine form in this adidas- Lifestyle sport series with another superb run, this time over the 10 mile distance which Damien completed 1 hr 19 mins 29 secs.
On Sat 21st Aug, Bernie Stapleton ran in the Claregalway 10km road race. Bernie contined her fine form this year with an excellent 10km run in Claregalway. Bernie clocked a time of 47 mins 32 secs as she finished a brilliant 8th in her category. Bernie looks back to her best once again following a number of noteworthy performances in recent weeks
On Wed 11th Aug, we had some very good runs at the Irish Life & Permanent 3km track race at Irishtown Stadium. Eithne Richardson is proving to be an excellent track runner as she had her second outstanding run on the surface when she clocked a superb time of 12 mins 45 secs for the challenging 3k distance. Eithne has seamlessly carried her road form onto the track as she continues to show great versatility. This performance ensured that Eithne finished 2nd lady in her race and 7th overall in the mixed race. Bernie Stapleton, meanwhile, looks to be hitting top form once again as she clocked a brilliant 13 mins secs for the 7.5 laps of the track. This was Bernie’s second outing on the track in recent weeks as she continues to show great fitness levels and has wasted little time in getting back to top racing shape after a short sabbatical. For the men, Gareth Fereday ran what we believe to be a personal best time, since his move to Ireland, of 9 mins 43 secs . This was the fourth quickest time of the night and the second quickest in his race. Gareth’s time nearly 20 seconds quicker than the time Gareth was running for the distance last season as Gareth’s season gets better and better. Gerry Byrne senior has proven an unstoppable force on the track over the last two years and Wednesday evening last was no exception as Gerry raced to a new 3,000 metre personal best of 10 mins 53 secs. Gerry was moved up to standard 11 as a result of his recent terrific form and so was giving away 15 seconds in the handicap to his arch rivals. Alan Cassells ran his first track race in Lucan colours and continued his excellent season with another outstanding run, this time on the track. Alan clocked a brilliant time of 11 mins 07 secs in the open race to add to his catalogue of fine performances on the road this summer. Vinny Murtagh is proving quite a tenacious competitor on the track and produced a second magnificent display in two weeks on this surface, this time over 3k as Vinny race to an excellent time of 11mins 23secs. Once again Vinny showed no fear over the last 400m as he put the boot down to finish very strongly once again securing 4th place overall in his race. Stephen Rynne, too, is quick to adapt to all surfaces as his second outing on the track this summer proved very worthwhile as Stephen produced another brilliant display in covering the seven and a half laps in 11mins 42 secs for 10th place. Stephen is proving an inspiration to us at the club with his great dedication and ability on the racing track. Gerard Moloney was back out competing on the track after his string of excellent performances over all distances from 800metres - 3000 metres in the Trinity track races. On this occasion Gerard produced another excellent display over 3,000 metres, running a very swift time of 12 mins 44 secs for the distance which was a season's best run from Gerard.
On Sun 8th Aug, Anne McGrane continued her outstanding triathlon season when she took part in the Pulse Clogherhead Triathlon in County Louth. Anne completed the course in 1hr 30mins 19secs and finished 8th in her category and 36th lady overall on the day. Anne made a very strong start to the competition when she completed the 750 metre swim in 19 mins 07secs. After a swift first transition, Anne headed out onto the roads for a 20km bike ride and produced an excellent time of 42 mins 50 secs. Following a second swift transition, Anne completed the course with a very impressive 5km run in a time of 25mins 28 secs to round off a superb performance..
On Sat 7th Aug, James Nealon made the long trip west for the Streets of Galway 8km road race. James had another excellent run completing the 8km course in 31 mins 01 sec. This time was very close to James' season's best of 29.58 from the Irish Runner adidas- Lifestyle Sports race just three weeks ago as James continues to turn out the performances on a regular basis.
On Fri 6th Aug, Freda Comiskey and Sinead Murphy ran in the Mitchelstown Galtee Runners 8 kilometres road race in Cork. Run on an undulating course, Freda had a superb run clocking an outstanding time of 36 mins 39 secs. This brilliant performance by Freda ensured she got among the prizes on the day as this run guaranteed Freda 6th place in the ladies category. Freda's time was also extremely close to her season's best of 36.12 from Raheny back in January and is even more remarkable considering the amount of training Freda has missed in the intervening months. Sinead Murphy too, made light of any hills on the course as she raced to a brilliant 50 mins 17 secs for the 5 mile distance. This was Sinead's first 5 mile race of the year for over 5 years, we believe, but this continues Sinead's excellent run of form in 2010 that has seen her impress over distances ranging from 5kms - 10 kms and also secured a top 10 finish in the Kilfinance road race earlier in the summer. Sinead has obviously continued to train hard over the summer as she finished the Mitchelstown race very strongly and had plenty of energy left at the finish.