22 September 2007
McGETTIGAN TAKES
RUNNER-UPS SPOT AT WORLD ATHLETICS FINAL
Wicklow’s Roisin
McGettigan ended the best summer of her athletics career in spectacular
fashion when she finished runner-up in the 3000m steeplechase at the World
Athletics final in Stuttgart.
McGettigan had already
set a new Irish record this season as well as making the final of the
event at the World Championships in Osaka, Japan.
The Sli Cualainn athlete
was content to sit in the pack before joining a group of three that
slipped away from the main field late in the race.
At the bell she was
third but finished strongly to take second in nine minutes 35.86 seconds,
just 0.083 seconds behind Kenya’s Commonwealth record holder Eunice
Jepkorir.
Romania’s Cristina
Casandra was third after being passed by the Irish athlete in the final 30
metres.
'That's got to be my
best performance ever by a long way at this level of competition, and I've
got to tell you it feels great,” said the 27-year-old former Providence
College student.
'I've set myself goals
all year and making the final in Osaka was one from which I learned a
great deal.
'I did come here today
hoping to get a place in the top three. I always felt comfortable and to
run so well and grab second is just great.'
McGettigan whose
paternal grandfather hails from Letterkenny will take home a prize of
$20,000 for her efforts.
Paul Hession was eighth
in the 200 metres where the US favourite Wallace Spearmon was surprisingly
beaten by Jaysuma Saidy Ndure who set a Norwegian record of 20.89 seconds.
Hession only received an
invitation to the race last week when Britain’s Marlon Devonish decided to
opt for the 100 metres.
Drawn in the unfavorable
lane one, the Irish record holder was off the pace by the time the field
rounded the bend but kept his form well down the stretch.
His time of 20.58 was
outside his national record (20.30) but improved on the 20.79 clockings he
achieved in Brussels and Berlin last weekend.
Alistair Cragg who was
the third Irish athlete invited to the traditional curtain-closer to the
season declined to take his place in the 3000 metres.
HOLIAN WINS DONEGAL 5K CHAMPS
Kevin Holian used his
superior finishing speed to see him home in the Donegal 5K Road
Championship in Letterkenny yesterday.
The Finn
Valley athlete crossed the finish line in 15 minutes 22
seconds, just five seconds clear of Pauric McKinney from the host club.
Thomas Navickas who made
the journey from Mullingar for the event was rewarded with the bronze
medal in a time of 16:06.
Kieran Carlin of Finn
Valley, in fourth with time of 16:07, was the first veteran over 35 to finish.
The over 50 prize went to
Inishowen’s Paddy Doherty (18:21) who edged out John Cannon from the Tirchonnaill club a
mere second.
Letterkenny’s Kevin Toner
was the leading Over 60 in 31st place overall with an excellent
time of 19:06.
Catriona McGranaghan was
a comfortable winner of women’s race with a time of 17:50 with second
place going to her Finn
Valley clubmate Teresa McGloin a further 35 seconds back.
Helena Crossan (18:38)
showing no after-affects from her efforts in the World 100K Championship
two weeks earlier took third place.
In total 75 runners
completed the relatively flat course around the suburbs of Letterkenny.
ANNE PAUL TOP WOMAN IN
SPRINGWELL RUN
Anne Paul pulled off her
second win in eight days when she led the women’s field home in the Bell’s
Pegasus 10K Trail Run in Springwell
Forest near Limavady.
After taking the honours
at the Dungannon 10K the previous weekend, the City of Derry athlete
scored another convincing victory on the tough Springwell course.
The University of
Ulster Leisure Centre
manager recorded 39 minutes 13 seconds to give herself a winning margin of
over two and a half minutes.
Sperrin’s Karen Alexander
(41:49) took second with the bronze medal placing going to Gillian Wasson
(42:13) of Ballymena Runners Club.
Another Ballymena Runner
Neil Douglas was the winner of the men’s race in 34:50 to give him a ten
second advantage over Ballymena & Antrim’s Matt Wray.
Nicholas Rooks (36:18), a
clubmate of Douglas, took third ahead of the first M45, City of Derry’s
Declan McCarthy
(36:50).
Larne’s Stephen Harkens
(36:57) and Colin Loughrey (37:19) from the Springwell club made up the
top six.
City of Derry’s Oran
McBride (39:58) was the first over 40 in 13th overall.
19 September
2007
HELENA TO MAKE QUICK
RETURN
Carndonagh
woman Helena Crossan plans a quick return to competition despite feeling
"drained" after her epic run in the IAAF World 100Km (62.2
miles) Championships in Holland.
In an
incredible debut at the distance Crossan finished tenth in the race which
was won in World record time by Japan’s Normi Sahurai.
Her time of
seven hours 52 minutes and 45 seconds was a new Irish record and gained
her the bronze medal in the women's over 40 category.
It was the
first time an athlete from Ireland had ever achieved a podium place in the
event.
"I'm
delighted and I'm feeling grand - no aches or pains - but naturally I'm
drained," said Crossan.
"I've been
out walking this week and I'll take another week off from running before
starting back in training again. I've already booked and paid for the
Amsterdam Marathon next month and it would be a shame to miss it."
Prior to
last weekend Crossan, recently turned 40, had already packed a lifetime of
achievement into her athletics career.
The previous highlights came in 1999 when she represented Ireland at the
World Cross-Country Championships in
Belfast
and was National Half-Marathon champion the following year.
More
recently after moving up in distance she had six marathons setting Donegal
records for the distance in
Dublin (2005) and
Boston
(2006).
Crossan is
also a familiar face in local road races and is a past winner of the
Waterside half Marathon and Dessie’s Run.
But what
why after years of success at shorter distances did she want to race
over 60-odd miles?
"I’d been
thinking about it for a couple of years. I could always go for a run and
get lost and I noticed too that I could keep up the pace no matter how
long the distance.
"I ran my
first over distance race this year when I ran and won the Connemara Ultra
Marathon over 39 miles but this race only came up about six weeks ago and
although I had already entered and paid for Amsterdam it was too good a
chance to miss," said Crossan.
However,
the part-time careworker had her eyes opened when she arrived in
Winschoten for the championship.
"I couldn't
get over the interest and support there was for the race. I brought over
my daughter Karen to act as my assistant but some of the other runners had
physios and coaches and full backup teams.
"We ran 10
laps of 10Km and I was advised to run them at about 55 minutes per lap.
But I came through the first time in 47 minutes and I stayed around that
all day.
"It was
particularly pleasing to pass one of the English women on the last lap to
make the top ten especially as I’d already passed two of their men.
"I had run
40 miles in training three times but the extra distance was really hard"
The
Inishowen athlete plans to return do the race again next year and may even
tackle the World 24 hour championships as well.
"I just
love to run," she explained.
15 SEPTEMBER 2007
ANNE PAUL
IN WINNING FORM
City of
Derry’s Anne Paul was a comfortable winner of the women’s race at the
Felix McCullough Memorial 10K in Dungannon.
The former
NI cross-country champion who showed no sign of fatigue from her third
place in the Waterside Half Marathon the previous week, crossed the line
in 38 minutes 20 seconds.
Alison
Rankin (42:26) and Helen Stockdale (42:33) occupied the minor positions.
In the
men’s race Paul Rowan picked up his second victory in four days when he
trotted up well clear of the field.
The
Willowfield Temperance Harrier had carved out a hard-fought win in the
Veterans’ Association 5 Miles during the week but had a more comfortable
time in Dungannon.
Rowan’s
time of 31 minutes 47 seconds was excellent for a 41-year-old and good
enough to see him home almost two minutes clear of Eirinn McDaid (33:38).
The former
Ulster Schools cross-country champion had just nine seconds to spare over
prolific racer Delfim Pimentel in third.
Details
Felix
McCullough 10K (Dungannon) – 1 P Rowan (Willowfield) (M40) 31:47, 2 E
McDaid (Dungannon) 33:38, 3 D Pimentel (Sperrin) (M35) 33:47, 4 M Donnelly
(Armagh) 35:24, 5 J Gregg (Newry) (M35) 36:46, 6 S Seaton (N Down) 36:47,
7 N Glenn (Larne) (M35) 36:52, 8 F Silva (Sperrin) 37:20, 9 P Finnegan
(Armagh) 37:21, 10 D Mathers (Tandragee) (M35) 37:24;
Ladies: 1 A
Paul (City of Derry) (F40) 38:20, 2 A Rankin (Springwell) 42:26, 3 H
Stockdale (Omagh) (F35) 42:33, 4 F Ross (Dungannon) (F19) 42:40;
15 SEPTEMBER 2007
CROSSAN
ENDS HOLIAN REIGN
Gary
Crossan put an end to Kevin Holian’s dominancy in the Donegal Road Race
Grand Prix Series when he was a convincing winner of the Ballyare 10K.
Holian had
been a prolific winner of races all over the county during the summer but
found the former national marathon champion a different class from his
normal opposition
Crossan’s
winning time of 33 minutes one second reflected the severity of the course
with the Finn Valley athlete crossing the line 17 seconds back.
Third place
went to James McIntyre (33:20) who was back in his native county from his
Tulla, County Clare home.
Maria
McCambridge who is married to Crossan made it a family double when she
romped home by almost four minutes in the women’s race.
The Irish
Olympian finished 9th overall in 36:15 with evergreen Kay Byrne
taking second in 39:59 and Monaghan visitor Helen McCrystal (45:30) in
third.
Details:
Ballyare
(Co. Donegal) 10K: 1 G Crossan (Letterkenny) (M35) 33:01, 2 K Holian (Finn
Valley) 33:18, 3 J McIntyre (Tulla) 33:20, 4 I Toner (L’kenny) 34:35, 5 P
Hegarty (Finn V) (M45) 34:40, 6 S Ward (Finn V) 34:55, 7 B Harron (Finn V)
35:41, 8 S McFadden (L’kenny) 35:53, 9 M O’Halloran Finn V) (M35) 36:30,
10 M Gormley (L’kenny) (M40) 36:34;
Ladies: 1 M
McCambridge (DSD) 36:15, 2 K Byrne (Finn V) (F40) 39:59, 3 H McCrystal
(Monaghan P) (F35) 45:30, 4 V Haughey (Tirchonnaill) (F45) 46:31.
8 September 2007
McALISTER IN CHARGE AT HALF-MARATHON
Joe McAlister put six months of disappointment behind him
to score a resounding victory in the Waterside Half Marathon.
At the head of the field from the first mile the St.
Malachy’s athlete turned in a virtuoso performance to come home a massive
six minutes clear of the field of almost 600 finishers.
McAllister’s time of 68 minutes four seconds will now go
down as the record for the new course following a change of route for the
race after last year’s cancellation.
It augurs well for a successful winter campaign for the
talented Glengormley man who has annexed championship titles on all four
surfaces.
McAlister had a below par performance in his debut over the
distance at the London Marathon. The race obviously took its toll and he
did not impress over the summer in shorter road races nor in the national
track 10K.
Last month the hot and humid conditions in Bangkok put paid
to his hopes in the World University Games where he finished outside 74
minutes for the half-marathon.
Dungannon-based Portuguese Delfim Pimentel (74:04) took
second with North Belfast’s Jim Benson (74:24) making a late run for
third.
Kieran Hurley was the first local finisher in fourth place
despite only deciding to enter at the last minute.
The City of Derry held down third place for most of the
trip being overhauled late in the race by the stronger Benson.
Hurley’s time of 74:57 was a personal best and saw him hold
on to fourth place despite pressure from another North Belfast man, Gareth
Grew, over the final miles.
Declan Reed ran a very consistent race for sixth in 75:58
and laid the foundations for a team victory by his Foyle Valley club.
James Crampsey (78:39) in 10th and Gerry Duddy
(78:43) in 11th completed the scoring for the jubilant purple
vests.
Duddy had a double reason for celebration with him picking
up the award for first in the M45 category.
Pauline Curley who was only beaten in the last few strides
for the Irish Marathon title last year by Jill Shannon, was equally
impressive in the women’s race finishing seventh overall in 77:18.
However, the Tullamore Harrier but may not return to Dublin
next month following the decision to let the elite woman’s field start 30
minutes earlier than the main race.
Second place went to 48-year-old Lucy Brennan (80:12) from
Sligo with another former winner Anne Paul (83:42) in the bronze medal
spot.
Paul’s City of Derry clubmate Aileen Morrison (89:45) took
fourth ahead of Sperrin’s Karen Alexander (89:56) with Gillian Wasson
(91:25) of Springwell making up the top half dozen.
Jim Corbett (64:57) was the winner of an exciting
wheelchair race from Torque Racing colleague Paul Hannan (69:47) with
Karol Doherty (73:10) from Carndonagh third.
The Spring Bucks led off by South African Gary Mackey took
the honours in the relay race.
2007 Waterside Half Marathon
Results
8 September 2007
