Athletics
Mayo AC will be well represented at the annual Flora Women's Mini Marathon 10k in Dublin on Bank Holiday Monday. A number of them are from the Fit4Life group based at Claremorris track. The fitness programme has been running for the past 15 weeks. Among the expected 40,000 participants on the big day will be Chris Clarke, Pauline Clerkin, Annett Cuddy, Nadine Dabbagh, Tracey Durkan, Margaret Hession, Sarah Syron, and Claire Walshe. They will be joined by a couple of Mayo AC's most experienced and successful masters women athletes, Angela O'Connor from Castlebar and Breege Blehein-McHale from Ballina, who will be hoping to finish well up in the o40 category. The Flora Mini Marathon is one of the biggest races of its type in the world and generates a unique atmosphere with runners, walkers and joggers taking part.
Byrne comes second in Galway 5k series
The fourth race in the Galway 5k series, the Claregalway 5k, took place recently. Over 400 runners went to the start line. Gerry Ryan (GCH ) finished first in 15.19, with John Byrne (Mayo AC ) second in 16.10 — a repeat of their placings in the previous 5k at Craughwell. Other Mayo AC finishers were Anthony Devaney 16.47, David Huane 18.05, Josephine Gardiner 21.20, Christy O'Malley 21.52, and Patrick Moran 23.29.
National masters combined events
The AAI National Masters Combined Events Championships took place on Saturday at Greystones, Co Wicklow. Padraic Cullina (Mayo AC ) has competed at the annual outdoor and indoor masters championships with some success over the years, but this was his first time taking part in the combined events over 50 masters quadrathlon. The four events are 100 metres, long jump, shot, 1,500 metres, and points are awarded for performance in each one. Cullina gained 1,312 points in total and this was good enough to win a bronze medal — a well deserved reward for consistency and dedication, not to mention the long trip. Patrick Moran, now also with Mayo AC, was close behind in fourth place.
