Leinster Novice & Master race – 26th October 2008
The 26th October saw the annual meeting of the Leinster Novice & Master races in Avondale, Rathdrum Co. Wicklow & gave the chance for the up & coming sportsworld stars a chance to shine. The race was held in the scene grounds of Avondale house in weather of all seasons & there were some fantastic performances put in by all of sportsworld runners especially Crona Brady & Ronan Merrick.
First race of interest to sportsworld was the novice Women of Crona Brady, Stephanie, Ciara Foster, Susan McDonnell & Claire O’ Reilly. The girls ran particularly well & were unlucky to miss out on the medals by 3 points. Susan, Ciara & Stephanie were together through out most of the 3K course & worked great as a team to finish 14th, 26th & 28th overall. However Crona stole the show to claim 5th place & based on this performance it will not be long till she will be running along side her sister in future races to come.
Next up the Novice Men were given there chance to shine. The race was 3 laps of a 2km course incorporating in what can only be described as a very steep hill that seem to go on forever. This hill will give me nightmare of years to come & most who saw it were left speechless by its length & steepness. However Ronan Merrick marked his come back to form with an outstanding 11th place. Ronan went to the front of the race early on & held his place with the leaders for one lap before dropping back a few places. Michael Cunningham also ran well & marched on to claim 21st spot overall. Michael is also coming back from injury & was delighted with his placing. Other notable performances were Paul Mitchell & James Shanahan who finished 44th & 45th respectively. Sportsworld claimed 6th overall in the team competition.
The masters women was the last race of interest to sportsworld. The girls ran really well & claimed 2nd spot with 22 points overall. Rachel Morgan ran a steady race to claim 5th place not to far behind Pauline Curley who won the race for Tullamore Harriers. Helen White & Kathleen O’ Callaghan completed the team & finished 7th & 10th overall. Well done to all who ran 🙂
Race report by Paul Duffy.
