By international race reporter Maria Jones
It’s Tuesday after yet another bank holiday. My feet have barely landed on the runway in sunny Lisbon when my phone beeps. It’s Eoin O’Brien. There’s only one thing he can want. Race Report. So here we go!!
Race report inspiration
June Bank Holiday Monday has arrived.. It can only mean one thing….40,000 women taking to the streets of Dublin to showcase once again this amazing annual event in our capital city where woman of every age come out to run, walk, support charities and just take part.
This is traditionally a big day out for the ladies in my family and it is our fifth year in a row to take part in this wonderful event.
Our charity of choice is “Fighting Blindness” which is close to our hearts. Myself, my mam and my sisters gathered early on Monday morning just off Baggot St .I managed to steal Sinead for the day too +got her to swap the red & white of Sportsworld for the bright orange “Fighting Blindness” singlet. After all this is really what this day is all about supporting all the wonderful charities + raising awareness!
Race reporter maria in center
Come 1pm it was time to get going. Sinead and I headed off to meet up with the other Sportsworld girls togging out for the 10km race. This being my first year doing it as part of Sportsworld made it extra nice to have friendly faces in the starting area.
It was also my first year getting in as an elite entry and my god is it very different up there. We practically had our own portaloos and so much space to warm up. Emily would have been proud of the strides being done by her Sportsworld girls.
The race took off at 2pm sharp…here we go again. This year was the 35th anniversary of the Women’s Mini Marathon and to mark this anniversary they decided to run the route in reverse so it was all new territory for everyone involved.
This race is always a tough one. It can get very lonely out on that Stillorgan dual-carriageway but the support is always brilliant and there is always a great buzz along the way. We all managed to get around in one piece.
First home for the club was Sinead Tangney right up there in the mix coming in in 15th position with a time of 37.51…almost 5minutes faster than her time in this race last year.
Next up was Kate Kelly with a time of 41.49. I think everyone will be delighted to see Kate back in top form after a hard 6months in and out of injury. This is Kate’s first race back and she proved what a talent she is with her performance on Monday. Great to have you back Kate.
Next up was Lucy D’Arcy running in her 29th consecutive Women’s Mini-Marathon and still showing the rest of us how it’s done with a time of 43.25. Myself and Anna were up next, having run a lot of the race together. It was great to have Anna’s company to get around the course. We were followed quickly behind by Katie, Val, Sandra, Bronwyn and Orla.
We all gathered at the end to see how everyone did and managed to attract a few newspaper photographers for some club photos.
Straight to change out of the singlets and round to Bruxelles for a few “quiet” beverages.
I think everyone enjoyed the day. It was great to have so much support around the course from other club members. And of course Emily at the 600m mark to give us that extra kick to get us to the line.
Val is already on a mission to get as many Sportsworld ladies as possible to take part next year. It’s also being charged to the Sunday so if you’re interested in a fun day out with lovely ladies keep your diary free for the June bank holiday 2018!
Sportsworld results (Apologies if anyones missed – the results can’t be searched by club!)
15th Sinead Tangney 00:37:51
46th Kate Kelly 00:41:49
78th Lucy DArcy 00:43:25
80 Maria Jones 00:43:28
91 Anna Delaney 00:43:48
247 Katie Nugent 00:47:43
357 Valerie Lacy Power 00:49:16
459 Sandra Kelly 00:50:32
582 Bronwyn Murphy White Dublin 00:51:53
900 Orla Greaves 00:53:55
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