The 34th Dublin City Marathon takes place this Bank Holiday Monday. Once again Mayo AC has a strong team entered, 26 in total - 17 men and nine women.
Mayo AC has done well over the years in this race which serves as the National Championship. This year's team has experienced runners and newcomers. Many have come through the Fit4Life programmes at Ballinrobe, Claremorris, Ballyhaunis, and Castlebar.
Back in 2002, Ann Lennon ran 2:46:18 to win, a time not bettered since by Connacht women. And as winner of the 2013 Road League she is still showing the way home as top woman in Mayo this year. John Byrne has some great times in his log, and has peppered the 2.32 mark over the years in Dublin and elsewhere. He will be trying to get that elusive sub 2.30, and emulate Paddy Murray's best - 2:28. The club's senior men won silver in 2007 led by Byrne, TJ McHugh, and Anto Devaney. The senior women won bronze in 2008 with three Claremorris runners: Catherine Conway, Mary Gleeson, and Kathy Connolly, and 18 members were on the start line that year.
Mayo AC has also won numerous national medals for master's teams and individual categories over the years. This year again there will be a range of athletes from senior men and women, to the various masters categories including Christy O'Malley who will run his 49th marathon and Tom Waldron in the M70 age group. All 26 will be at the start on the morning of October 28. We wish them all the best of luck.
The Mayo AC team is John Byrne, Noel Gibbons, Brendan Gill, Sean Murphy, Paddy O'Toole, Patrick Walsh, Tom Charles, Frank Cloherty, Mark Fitzgerald, John Fitzgibbons, Ambrose Gaughan, Christy O'Malley, John Roddy, Val P Glynn, PJ Hall, Chris O'Connell, Tom Waldron, Aine Gallagher, Paula Prendergast, Ann Marie Staunton, Colette Sweeney, Sarah Syron, Mary Beston, Maggie Heneghan, Ann Mc Donnell, Mary Murphy.
