The Irish marathon champion storms to victory in Longford, Clonliffe Harriers and St Abban’s win national league titles, while masters athletes impress in Tullamore.

National marathon champion Gary O’Hanlon of Clonliffe Harriers was the runaway winner at the Longford Marathon on Sunday (August 19).

O’Hanlon’s time of 2:21:00 saw him finish with over 21 minutes to spare over Raheny Shamrock’s Freddy Sittuk who finished in 2:42:52. In third place was was Peter Mooney in 2:49:27. First woman in 2:58:40 was Adrianna Melia who was also 10th overall.

Paddy O’Toole won the half marathon in 74:07 with Adele Walsh of St Senan’s first woman in 84:54.

Winning the ultra race was Keith Whyte in 4:24:54. Thomas Maguire was second in 4:34:58 was second and Dawn Shanaghy first woman in 6:42:02.

Thomas Hayes of Kilkenny City Harriers and Jane Bandila of Dunboyne AC were the winners of the St Coca’s 10-mile race in Kilcock, Co Kildare, on Sunday (August 19). Hayes finished in 51:05 and Bandila in 62:40.

Clonliff Harriers and St Abban’s successfully retained their premier division National League titles at Tullamore on Sunday (August 19).

In the men’s competition, Clonliffe amassed 127 points with wins for Leo Morgan in the 100m, Jayme Rossiter steeplechase, Colm Rooney 1500m, Keith Marks long jump, Niall Counihan triple jump, Simon Galligan hammer, Stephen Rice javelin and the 4x100m squad anchored by Morgan.

The club was winning its ninth title in eleven years.

Finishing second were Galway City Harriers on 98 points, with their winners including Cillin Green 200m and Sean Breathnach shot and weight for distance. Third team was Kildare County. Breathnach also won the deferred national weight for height competition.

In the women’s competition, just ten points separated the top three, with wins for Ruby Millett 100m and 200m, Nicole Kehoe Dowling shot and discus, Saragh Buggy triple and long jumps, Daena Kealy high jump, Maisy O’Sullivan 800m, and Cheryl Nolan 1500m, helping St Abban’s to a total of 111 points.

Second on 105 points was Galway County while third on 101 were previous champions DSD, who were missing a few club stalwarts.

Race of the day was the men’s division 1 100m, won by Trevane Morrison of Kerry County in 10.62, with Marcus Lawler of St Laurence O’Toole’s AC second in 10.68. Victory in the 4x400m – the final race on the programme – gave Nenagh Olympic overall victory with 107 points. Just two points adrift were Kerry County with 105 points; St Laurence O’Toole’s were third with 100.5 points.

Winning women’s division one in an Ulster clean sweep were Monaghan County on 101 points followed by City of Derry Spartans on 89 points and City of Lisburn 88 points.

National Masters Track and Field Championships

Many times national shot putt champion Sean Breathnach of Galway City Harriers was the big winner at the National Masters Track and Field Championships held in Tullamore on Saturday (August 19).

Breathnach won his specialist shot with 15.43m, the discus with 45.51m, and the weight for distance with 8.03m, also finishing third in the hammer with 35.34m.

Niamh O’Sullivan of An Riocht AC was first W55 in the 3000m with a time of 11:02.43. Dominating the 5000m to finish in 15:03.41 was Niall Shanahan of An Bru AC.

In the sprints, Snezana Bechtina of Clonliffe Harriers retained her W35 100m and 200m titles in times of 12.80 and 26.03. Second behind her in the 100m was Avril Dillon of Dundrum South Dublin, who set the day’s only record in the 100m hurdles. Her time of 16.17 secs knocked over a second off Dannea Herron’s 1998 record.

Winning the men’s M35 100m in 11.51 was Riocht’s Jer O’ Donoghue, while in the M50 age group, David Hayde of St Laurence O’Toole’s AC won the 100m and 200m and was second in the 400m.

Joe Gough of West Waterford AC powered away from the field to win the M65 800m; his time of 2:21.50 would also have won the M55 and M60 titles. Gough was one of a number of competitors using the championships as a final test before next month’s World Masters Championships in Malaga, Spain.

Winning the W35 800m in 2:20.12 and later proving best in the 1500m was Martina Kiely of St Finbarr’s AC. An impressive winner of the W50 800m was Anne Gilshinan of Slaney Olympic AC in 2:22.32.

Oldest competitor in action was 92-year old Sean Cowler of Donore Harriers, who was making a comeback to competitive athletics after a 20 year absence and was cheered all the way to the line in the 100m.

For the first time ever, a women’s weight for distance competition was held and lashing the 28 lb eight out to 6.16m for the biggest throw of the day was Eileen O’Riordan of Gneeveguilla AC who was the W45 winner.

Winning the W70 title was Clonliffe’s Frances Mansfield, who also won the W70 discus.

parkrun

Under-17 athlete Conall McClean ran the fastest time at parkrun across the island of Ireland this weekend with a 16:25 run at the Waterworks in Belfast.

Deirdre Byrne was the quickest woman on Saturday running 17:27 at the St Anne’s event in Dublin. The top 10 times at Irish parkruns can be found here.

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