Irish international Stephen Scullion had a busy weekend, winning both the Omagh Half Marathon and the TQ 10k, while elsewhere there was a lot of good running on the roads, trails and indoors.

In Omagh on Saturday (April 7), Scullion, who will compete in the London Marathon later this month, proved the class of the field, winning in a leisurely 67 mins 1 sec. Declan Reed of City of Derry Spartans was second and first master in 67:55.

First woman and tenth overall was Ann Marie McGlynn of Letterkenny in a course record 74 mins 28 secs. Nakita Burke, also Letterkenny AC, was the second woman running 81:17 in her debut over the distance.

Leading them all home was wheelchair athlete Paul Hanna in 63 mins 47 secs.

A day later, Scullion was in Belfast for the TQ10k where again he was the clear winner in 30 mins 29 secs. Almost a minute behind in second with a time of 31:28 was Chris Madden of City of Lisburn AC.

After finishing third in 2016 and second last year, it was third time lucky for Laura Graham of Mourne Runners who was first of the women in 35:27.

Second was Gladys Ganiel O’Neill of North Belfast Harriers in a time of 36:51, while third, in a personal best 36:58, was the fast finishing Rachel Gibson of North Down. Results can be found here.

In County Cork, Hiko Tonosa of Dundrum South Dublin out-sprinted Sergiu Ciobanu of Clonliffe for victory in the Duhallow 10 Mile, with both men breaking 50 minutes for the classic distance.

Tonosa, aged 22 and originally from Ethiopia, but a resident in Ireland, finished in 49 mins 10 seconds, with Ciobanu three seconds adrift for second.

Third was Alan O’Shea of Bantry AC in 53.17. Grace Lynch of Iveragh AC was first woman in 59:36. Results can be found here.

At the Greater Manchester Marathon, Rathfarnham WSAF’s Mark Ryan ran superbly to finish third in a time of 2:25:39 in his debut over the distance.

Ryan, who won the European Masters mountain running title in 2014, will be 40 next November. You can read a full report from here.

On Saturday, over 400 turned out for the new look Dublin City Council 10km in St Anne’s Park Raheny, held under Business Houses Athletic Association rules. Winners were Joseph O’Donoghue in 33 mins 10 secs and Mary Leech in 39:02. Results can be found here.

Trail running

Tom Hogan of Sliabh Buidhe Rovers AC in Ferns, Co Wexford, and Mari Troeng from Newcastle AC were the winners of the ultra race at the annual Maurice Mullins Wicklow Way Ultra/Trail on Saturday (April 7).

The recent wet weather meant underfoot conditions at the 51.5km race, that runs from Glenmalure to Ballinastoe in Co Wicklow and back, were slow and no records were broken.

In the men’s race, Mark Doyle of Clonliffe Harriers and Hogan were together at halfway, with only 25 seconds in it at the end.

Hogan’s time was 4 hrs 13 mins 55 secs, with Doyle second in 4:14.20. Third was Gavin Scott Byrne in 4:23.30.

Troeng, who comes from a Swedish orienteering family, was the clear winner of the women’s race in 5:20.50. Second was Eilis Connery of Rathfarnham WSAF in 5:30 and third Rachel Nolan of Ballina AC in 5:36.3.

Trail race winners were Scotland-based Eoin Lennon of Carnathy HC, who clocked 1 hrs 45 mins for the 26km distance and Martsje Hell of Enniskillen RC who was the first woman in 2:12.50.

Taking place on Sunday at Slievenamon in Co Tipperary was the trial for the European Mountain Running Championships; no results as yet.

Indoors

The highlight of the re-scheduled day one of the National Juvenile Indoors in Athlone on Saturday (April 7) was new U19 girls’ pole vault record of 3.35m for Ciara hickey of Blarney/Inniscarra AC.

Closest competition of the day was the U18 boys’ high which went to count-back before Darragh Courtney of St Brenda’s Kerry was declared winner ahead of Nelvin Appiah from Longford AC and Lucas Moylan of Naas AC. All three athletes cleared 1.90m.

Ciaran Connolly of Le Cheile AC went highest of all the jumpers with a clearance of 1.95m for victory in the U19 boys’ age group.

In the shot putt, a 16.03m effort gave James Kelly of Finn Valley AC a big victory in the U19 boys’ competition.

On the track, Leevale AC won U17, U18 and U19 boys’ 4×200m titles, as well as the U13 girls 4×100m. relay. Tallaght AC won the U17
4×200m girls’ title.