Search Results for 'Christina Duffy'

Elvery’s MacHale Park is the place to be this weekend, when the best eight senior club teams in the county do battle for a place in the semi-finals of this year’s club championship.

There was an excellent turnout for the third annual Charlestown 10k on Saturday. It was also the fourth race in Mayo AC's 2014 Move2Improve Series. The field of 194 was over 80 up on 2013, testament to great work by an enthusiastic local organising team led by Christina Duffy, who was ably assisted by Kilmovee 10k supremo John Roddy, and supported by a host of local sponsors.

September in the rain marked the second running of the Charlestown 10k on Saturday evening. The recent good weather turned colder, wetter, and breezier, but the rain held off during the race and conditions were good for running. Christina Duffy and her team, assisted by John Roddy, put on another enjoyable and impressively organised event. They provided an excellent well marked and marshalled course all the way from the starting line at Lowpark to refreshment tables in the CBD sports complex, for which the race acted as a fund raiser. John Byrne, John Mannion, and Paul Conlon led David Tiernan out of town, as the field headed for Cloonaweema. Jonathon Deane, Thomas Kelly, Brendan Gill, and Anto Devaney kept them in view until they crossed over to the old Dublin road at halfway near Gowel. By then Byrne had a few metres on Mannion, with Tiernan and Conlon together over a minute behind. Ann Lennon had John Nolan for company as she had in Balla 10k and Claremorris four mile the previous week. John Byrne stretched his lead gradually from 6k and crossed the line in 32.32, a new course record, to record his first league race win since 2011. “I thought I’d never see that time again”, he said afterwards. This marks a brilliant return to form for Byrne, who has been at the forefront of Mayo athletics for over 15 years. Mannion finished second in 34.10 with Tiernan third in 34:51, a new PB and beating his 2012 winning time by over a minute. Ann Lennon 37:47 – a brilliant performance by the National W45 half marathon champion, and Colette Tuohy in 39:20 finished first and second in the women’s category. Standards were high, with more than double the number finishing in under 40 minutes compared to 2012. There were a number of PBs joyfully celebrated at the finish line. The road League continues in east Mayo in less than three weeks with the Ballyhaunis 8k on September 28, followed a week later by the final race, Breaffy 10k on October 6.

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.