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Hamilton Scores at the Mary Peters |
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bob_mullan_motors_5k_series_2006.htm
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Pajo Hamilton was the leading City of Derry performer at the Northern Ireland Team Trophy (Part One) at the Mary Peters Track. The former Oakgrove student scorched to an emphatic victory in the 400 metres with an excellent 50.26 seconds clocking. City of Derry were also in the medals in both Northern Ireland 4 x 100 metres championship races at the meeting with both men’s and women’s quartets taking third place. Shelagh Murray followed up her success in the Bob Mullan 5K in midweek by setting a new personal best of ten minutes 56 seconds for 3000 metres. Eoghan Furey also set a new personal mark over the same distance with a 9:34 clocking. The Buncrana man went even better the following day when he lifted his first Donegal Senior title winning the 800 metres at Finn Valley’s track in Stranorlar with a 2:02.8 timing. Paul Brizzel made a low-key start to the season with a victory in the 100 metres. The Ballymena athlete who is Irish record-holder for both sprint distances cruised though the century untroubled in a modest 10.85 seconds. Brizzel who is Irish record-holder for both sprint distances cruised though the century untroubled in a modest 10.85 seconds. Doubles were the order of the day for Paddy Hamilton and Paul Curran. NI 10 kilometre road champion Hamilton showed he is equally adept at the shorter distances winning the 800 metres in one minute 58.98 seconds before running away with the 3000 metres in 8:25.51. Runner-up in the 800 metres and perhaps illustrating the current state of local track and field was 43-year-old Mark Kirk who posted an excellent 1:59.91. North Down all-rounder Paul Curran took the 110 metres hurdles in 17.56 seconds and later added the long jump with a best effort of 6.25 metres. There was a welcome return in the women’s long jump for Mary Devlin who claimed victory with a leap of 5.37 metres after being absent from competition for several years. Devlin also helped Abbey to the NI women’s 4 x 100 metres title as she led off impressively before handing over to Elaine McCafferty, Donna Lennon and Leigh Whiteside to complete the business in a fast 48.11 seconds. Lisburn men were not that much quicker taking the men’s in 46.81 seconds after seeing off the challenges of North Down and City of Derry. Meanwhile last year’s winner Paul Rowan notched up another success in the Les Jones 10K at Upper Malone. Rowan, a Willowfield Harrier, had 19 seconds to spare over Ballymena Road Runner Gregory Walsh after clocking 32 minutes 56 seconds for the 6.2 mile distance. Third place went to North Belfast Harrier David Morwood who crossed the line in 33:13 while North Belfast also supplied the winner of the women’s race in Sharon Trimble. The new recruit to the old gold and chocolate colours was timed at 39:14 with Lagan Valley’s Julie Murphy occupying the runner-up spot in 40:49. Finn Valley’s Kieran Carlin was the winner of the Ballyshannon 5k in a respectable 15 minutes 10 seconds. Former Irish Schools’ cross country international Martin O'Halloran who only returned to the sport last year after playing rugby for over a decade took second in 15:30 with Letterkenny's Ivan Toner(15:33) back in third. Local woman, Teresa McGloin of Finn Valley won the women's race from Letterkenny's Helena Crossan with Donna Evans from the Monaghan Phoenix club back in third. On the international scene, World and Olympic champion Justin Gatlin set a new World 100 metres record at the IAAF Super Tour meeting in Doha. The 24-year-old native New Yorker clocked 9.76 seconds to break Asafa Powell's mark by one-hundredth of a second. Gatlin had opened the season impressively, winning in Osaka the previous weekend with a world-leading 2006 mark of 9.95secs. He now joins compatriots Carl Lewis and Maurice Greene as well as Canadian Donovan Bailey as the only male runners to win Olympic and World Championship gold medals and set a world record at 100 metres.
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