Here are this week’s Letterkenny Athletics Club Notes:
Congratulations to Ann-Marie McGlynn who has been selected to represent Team Ireland in the Half Marathon at the inaugural European Road Running Championships, Brussels, Belgium on the 13 April 2025.
Ann-Marie is sure to replicate her fantastic form of recent months which have seen her already claim national medals in the marathon, XC and most recently, last week’s 10k road championships.
Naoise Enright & Ciaran Liddy
The international action continued as duo Naoise Enright and Ciaran Liddy travelled to Belgium for the Sofico Ghent Marathon. In what can only be described as the narrowest of verdicts, Enright crossed the line in 3.48.14 with Liddy just one second behind in 3.48.15. In a post-race interview, Liddy admitted he was distracted by Enright’s “suspiciously bouncy” running shoes on the final straight.
Barry Mackey & Irish Teammates
For the second week in a row, Letterkenny AC was represented at the World Masters Indoor Athletics Championships in Florida, USA. Following on from his team triumph in the XC event, Barry Mackey showed strong form, completing the 3000m indoors in 11 minutes and 34 seconds earning himself a top 20 finish. Mackey clocked 41 minutes and 8 seconds for the 10k road race, leading his Ireland team to a convincing 4th place, narrowly missing out on the bronze medal which went to Puerto Rico, just 40 seconds up the road.
Dublin Half Marathon: Top Left- Peter Gallagher, Darren Price, Con Duffy, Margaret Shiels, Stevie Shiels. Bottom Left- Mark Nee, Michael Harkin, Alicia McNulty, Claire Price, Denise Gallagher, Liam Wiseman
12,000 athletes took to the streets of the capital for the first running of the Dublin City Half Marathon. Letterkenny was well represented at the forefront by new club member Stephen McAuley, running 1:08:37, finishing 6th overall in his debut race for the black and amber. Kevin McGee continued his rich vein of form, with a finish time of 1:17:41, earning himself a personal best and 2nd place in the over M50 category. Both Stephen and Kevin are preparing to run the London Marathon on the 27th of April.
Michael Harkin & Patrick “Tubber” Brennan went through the 10k mark together in 39 minutes. Harkin showed his strength, putting daylight between the pair in a very windy 2nd half, finishing in 1:22.05, with Brennan a minute behind in 1:23:34.
Mark Nee just missed out on breaking the 90-minute barrier with an excellent finishing time of 1:30:12. Stephen Shiels clocked 1:37:10, steering clear of a determined Peter Gallagher (1:37:56) in the final stretch through Fairview Park.
The impressive performances continued as the masses hurried down Seville Road toward the finish line. Liam Wiseman 1:48:33 outsprinted Joan Naughton 1:48:40 to finish just 7 seconds clear, with Con Duffy coming close to breaking the 2 hour mark with a finishing time of 2:00:37.
It was a friendly family rivalry between aunt and niece, which saw experience overcome youth as Margaret Shiels (1:50:38) defeated Alicia McNulty (1:50:59) by just 21 seconds over the 13.1-mile distance.
Twins Denise Gallagher & Claire Price were separated by the narrowest of margins as Denise finished in 2:06:13, and Claire followed closely in 2:13:27.
The summer race season kicks off this week with the ATU 5k taking place on Tuesday evening.
Gaelscoil Adhamhnain hold their annual 3k & 5K race on Wednesday evening, and St Patricks NS 5k, Drumkeen taking place on Friday 4th April.
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