Galway City Harrier Nicola Duncan has been selected to compete for Ireland in the European Athletics Championships
Duncan will compete in the marathon at the European Athletics Championships which take place in Zurich in August.
It is a huge achievement by the Galway native, who has consistently improved over the past number of years. Duncan ran the fastest time by an Irish woman in 2013, with 2.36.44 in the Amsterdam Marathon last October, and last weekennd she completed the half marathon in Watford, running 74.44 in stormy conditions.
Domestically the 2014 AAI Indoor Games held in Athlone on Sunday produced some marvellous performances from Craughwell AC that saw three club records equalled or broken.
Katie O’Donoghue and Orla Ryan made a return to competitive action and joined Cathriona Farrell in the senior women’s high jump. Both O’Donoghue and Ryan jumped well in their first competition in almost a year with both clearing 1.50m, but exiting the competition at 1.55m, while Farrell continued to build on her strong recent performances (1.80 at the Galway indoors and 1.75 at the National u-23s ) to clear 1.80m on her first attempt. That leap now goes down as the AIT stadium record.
On the track Paul Joyce and Damien O’Boyle both tore up the club record with super runs in the senior men’s 800m. Joyce ran a fantastic time of 1.58.05 and in the process knocked more than a second off the club record set last year by Nicholas Sheehan. Damien O’Boyle finally cracked the sub two-minute barrier, running 1.59.11. John Cormican knocked more than a second off his PB when racing to a 2.02.04.
Peadar Harvey put in a blistering 4.05.53 to reclaim the club record with an impressive performance.
Maree AC 8km
Next up on the local calendar is the annual Maree 8k run which takes place on February 9 at 1pm. The circuit has been measured to AI standards, will be chip timed, and has been approved by the Galway County Board.
