The Munster Schools Cross-Country finals were held in Tramore Valley Park last Thursday 27th February, a return visit to the venue for the Carraig na bhFear AC athletes who had qualified from South Munster. The course was equally muddy and an increase in distance for Senior Boys to 6k made for a challenging afternoon. Carraig na bhFear AC had six athletes competing for their schools, all with a realistic chance of qualifying for the All-Ireland Schools finals in Tymon Park, Tallaght on 9th March but no guarantees as the standard of competition on the day was quite high. Robyn Maher was the 4th finisher for Loreto Fermoy who placed 2nd of 11 teams and will progress to the finals, well done Robyn! Faye O’Riordan was the first girl home for St. Angelas who won the silver team medal in the Intermediate girls race, Faye also placing 12th individually with a great run. Loreto Fermoy placed 3rd to take the team bronze with Caoimhe Gray-Walsh and Laura Moore 2nd and 4th respectively for the team who had the race winner in their ranks. Good luck to the four girls who will be in the mix for team placings with their schools in the finals.
Aidan Maher and Timmy Hawkins took their places in the Senior boys 6k race. Aidan paced the race well with a strong finish in 7th place, just 3 seconds behind St. Colmans Fermoy team-mate William Verling in 5th position. With all four St. Colmans scorers in the top ten finishers, they will have high hopes of a podium place in Tallaght. Timmy Hawkins finished in 13th place overall representing Bruce College and is safely through to Saturdays’ final. Aidan and Timmy are very experienced in this competition and will look forward to what will be a great occasion.
Other News; Ciaran Nugent had a season-opener over 400m indoors at Day 8 of the Track and Field Live series lining up against 800m specialist John Fitzsimon who is twice National 800m champion and a former U20 European bronze medallist. Ciaran had an excellent 2nd place, just .01s behind Fitzsimons, brilliant to see Ciaran rubbing shoulders with one of Irelands best!
Siobhan Walsh was representing Abbvie in the BHAA MTU 5k on Sunday morning, fine running from Siobhan to finish in a time of 20:47!
The first IMRA race in the ‘fog in the bog’ series, Mushera Boggeragh took place on Sunday 3rd March. No fog in evidence but plenty of bog, hail, snow, rain and sunshine during the 10.3km race with 458m elevation. No bother to the O’Riordans with Faye continuing her excellent form to claim the short course win. Dave finished 4th in category in 89 mins, brilliant running!
Parkrun: Richard Hawkins was among a large field of 328 runners at the Ballincollig parkrun on Saturday finishing in 21:14.
Look ahead: Good luck to the six athletes heading to the All-Ireland schools cross-country next weekend. Also, best of luck to Darragh O’Keeffe who will take on the Barcelona marathon next Sunday, moderate temperatures and clear skies currently forecast so perfect conditions for the race, enjoy!
Report by Richard Hawkins
Featured Image: Carraig na bhFear AC's Richard Hawkins in action at the Ballincollig Parkrun.