The sky was blue, the air was crisp and the sun was shining gloriously in Raheny this afternoon for one of the most enjoyable fixtures on the racing calendar, the national road relays. No running distance, or field event for that matter, has the history, the appeal, the “magic” of the Mile. The Mile, like the 100 meters and the marathon is a classic distance to test one’s fitness against.
Today the club had 3 teams entered, a Senior Women, Senior Men and Masters Men. The teams had great support on the day from club members.

First up were the 3 masters men at 2.30. Paul O’Connell (1 mile), Damien Kelly (2 mile) and Eanna Cunane (1 mile) each ran strong legs to bring the team home 21:07. Our 3 ladies took off at 3PM Ciara Foster (1 mile), Mary Finn (2 mile) and Shona Keane (1 mile). The team finished in 24:01. To close out the afternoon the senior men Paul Duffy (2 mile), Gareth Murran (1 mile), Gavin Finley (3 mile) and newcomer Adam French (1 mile). The team came home in 41:51.

With a strong wind on one side of the course all teams did well amd gave 100% to finish strongly. Although the event isn’t chip timed rough times are available on the AAI website. For anyone who has yet to run a mile race I would advise you to give it a go over the summer at one of the Dublin graded events. When you want to succeed as bad as you want to breath then you’ll be successful, that’s how the mile is ran.

Thanks to Shona for the photos.