Search Results for 'Ann Lennon'

Freddy Keron Sittuk from Kenya won the 21st Balla 10k in a time of 31:25, and in the process beat Sean Hehir's 2102 course record by seven seconds. The Balla 10k was the first race of the 2013 C&C Cellular Mayo AC Road League, and the spectators saw a brilliant demonstration of smooth front running by Dublin based Sittuk who trains with Raheny Shamrock AC. It was also his second victory in Mayo this month - he won the Achill Half Marathon. In the early stages he had Sligo native Alan Maguire and Max Ware (on holiday from UK) for company, but as the race progressed and a welcome cooling shower eased, he pulled clear to win decisively and enjoy the festive mood at the yellow arch finish line in Balla village. The women's race was less clear cut as Mayo AC masters trio Ann Lennon, Mary Gleeson, and Colette Tuohy traded places at the front. Ann Lennon has been in great form recently - the evidence was clear in her 5k series finish times when she got down to 18:40 at Ballyhaunis and showed how valuable this 'speedwork' preparation is for endurance racing. She pulled ahead in the final kilometres to win in her best 10k time for a few years 37:49, more than 30 seconds ahead of Mary Gleeson, who was more than a minute down on her 2012 time. Colette Tuohy looked strong and comfortable in third place and was well pleased with her finish time.

Mayo AC celebrated the end of another successful and enjoyable Summer 5k Series at Ballyhaunis on Tuesday evening with a grand after party courtesy of the facilities at Ballyhaunis rugby club. The local meet and train group led by Martin Fitzmaurice put on a well organised event, they also provided welcome sustenance with a tasty hot meal and the usual runner's popular post race delights.

Mayo AC's Michael McNeela took the long road to Norway to run in the Nordmarka Skogsmaraton set entirely in a forest just outside Oslo and finished in an excellent time 3:24:58, Michael ran 3:14:08 in Dublin 2012 and was the recent winner of the Inishbofin half marathon.

There was a brilliant turnout on a sunny but chilly Easter Saturday for the 4th Kilmovee 10k run and walk, excellently organised by Kilmovee Shamrocks GAA club and the local community in aid of Mayo/Roscommon Hospice. A good breeze cooled participants as the field turned towards the Roscommon border at Aghadiffen Bridge after 3k. Apart from a slight hill at 9k it was a relatively flat course. Con Marshall (M35) led out with John Mannion and Aidan Callaghan close behind. As the race progressed the Cork man, pushed ahead and established a 17 seconds winning gap at the tape. His finish time was two minutes outside Martin Conroy’s 2012 effort. Brendan Gill was the leading Mayo AC finisher in fourth, less than a minute behind Marshall and he was first M35. Mary Gleeson was first woman once again and was unchallenged all the way. However, she was a bit disappointed with her time – almost a minute slower than 2012. Paula Prendergast underlined her recent brilliant form at Tubbercurry with another PB, finishing second in 39:23 – nearly a minute faster.

Following their cross-country success last week in Derry, Mayo AC's versatile masters women, plus a couple of men, competed at the new track in Athlone AIT in the Woodie’s DIY Indoor Masters track and field championships on Saturday last. For two of the women, it was their debut in this annual indoors event. Newport based Pauline Moran has been winning all over the place since joining the club and it was another gold medal display – after her Derrygold last week. She ran in three races, winning silver in the 800 metres and gold in both the 1500 and 3,000. Another debutante was Swinford based Margaret Glavey, who also ran three races in the W60 category and won all three – golds in 800, 1500, and 3,000. Glavey has also been in fine form and medallist at a number of distances on the road in recent years. Ann Murray has been a regular medal winner at these championships and she won gold in the 400 and silver in the 800 metres in the w45 category. Jim Gaughan returned to training in the New Year and competed in the M60 1500 metres where he won silver behind Martin McEvilly (GCH). Also taking place last weekend were the Kilbride 10k in Roscommon and the Enniscorthy 10k in Wexford. In Roscommon, Gerry Galvin was the first Mayo AC runner home finishing in ninth place in a time of 39.27, with Patrick Walsh taking first place in the M40 section in a time of 39.51. Ann Lennon came home in second place overall in the women’s race in a time of 41.04. In Enniscorthy, TJ McHugh in a time of 34.32 was the first Mayo AC runner over the line and finished in 19th place while Catherine Conway finished the women’s race in third place in a time of 36.14.

There was a blustery breeze around the 8k course as more than 100 runners lined up at the start outside Caulfield's shop in Ballyhaunis on Saturday afternoon for the fifth annual 8k run west race. It was also the seventh race in 2012 Mayo AC C&C Cellular Road League. The road was dry as they raced down main street and turned out Clare road. The pace dropped for many as they came on a tough hill section as they approached Gorteen after the 4k mark . By then Con Doherty (Westport) who led out from the start had a few seconds lead over Matt Bidwell (GCH).

There were great scenes of celebration at Athenry on Sunday as Mayo AC's National Half Marathon team had huge success winning medals in three team categories and eight individual medals. The club brought a record 31 runners to the race and 13 of them came home with medals - a great result. For once AAI came up with the results on the day and a delighted Michael McGrath was able to present most of the booty at the team's HQ.

The Achill Half Marathon took place in breezy conditions with more than 1,000 finishers. The excitement was tangible and Keel was awash with colour and crowds last Saturday. Congratulations go to Michael Shannon, who set a new course record at 1 hour, 11 minutes, 56 seconds in breezy conditions. The first woman to cross the finish line, and this was not her first win in Achill, was Fionnuala Doherty in 1 hour, 29 minutes, 43 seconds.

Over 150 take part in Ballyhaunis 5k

Lough Key Forest Park was the setting for another great performance by Mayo AC at Woodie’s DIY AAI Masters Cross Country Championships on Sunday. A mild misty day is usually welcomed by athletes, but many struggled in the tough conditions over hill and hollow.