Ballina AC athlete, Hugh Armstrong, has been called up by Athletics Ireland to be part of the national team that will be competing in the World Athletics Half Marathon Championships in Gdynia in Poland next month.
The Knockmore native has seen his performances steadily improve in recent times and became one of Ireland's top ten marathon runners in history when he finished 35th overall in the Seville Marathon in February in a time of 2:12.26.
The World Athletics Half Marathon Championships were originally due to take place in March this year, but were postponed following the Covid-19 outbreak.
Charlestown 10k sees strong field compete
The eighth annual Charlestown 10k took place on Saturday morning last, September 19. It was hosted by the local athletics club, East Mayo AC, led by Gemma Leetch.
Racing conditions were good with a gentle breeze and welcome late summer sunshine as the year moves towards the autumn equinox.
The popular course started at Lowpark, heading out through the town centre to a rural 8k loop, and then back via Lavey to the finish outside the GAA grounds.
There was an excellent turnout (148 finishers ) from near and far – all brilliantly marshalled and organised by East Mayo AC to meet the current requirements – and all eager for a live race.
The winner was Seamus Somers (Sligo AC ), who led from start to finish. He came home in 32:32 – just outside Matt Bidwell’s 2016 course record of 32:28.
Paddy O’Toole (Westport AC ), came second in a time of 34:17, while still recovering from the Charleville Half Marathon the previous week. David Tiernan from the local club, was closing on Paddy in the later stages and finished third in 34:24 – almost two minutes faster than his 2019 time.
The women’s race was a great contest all the way between Norah Newcombe (Mayo AC ) - looking fresh after her seventh place finish in the Charleville Half Marathon the previous week and Sara Doohan (Corran AC ).
They were never more than a few metres apart, with Norah leading. Although Sara finished strongly, she was just pipped on the line, with both recording the same time 36:12.
Norah was just two seconds outside her pb. Sara’s effort was rewarded with a significant new pb – down from 36:36. Caitlin Hughes (Swinford AC ) finished third in 39:48.
Tony O’Malley was the second Mayo AC finisher with a great time - 36:28 - and he was first M40 home. He was among twenty-seven finishers in under 40 minutes. Paula Donnellan crossed the line in 42:16, second Mayo AC, fourth woman overall and first W40. Full results at www.mayoac.com
