Athenry AC is looking in good shape for the Dublin Marathon judging by the three races at the weekend. The splurge of "last-minute" racing/ training brought 63 of our runners for the Athlone 3/4 race on Sunday and the Galway Half Marathon and 10k on Saturday.

Actually that's 62, as one of those runners, Maire Treasa Beatty, competed on both days by doing the 10k on the Saturday and travelling to Athlone for the almost 20 miler on Sunday. That brings to memory a certain Valerie Glavin from two years ago when she won the women's Half on the Saturday and just went ahead and won the 3/4 race on the Sunday.

Maire Treasa has suffered from her share of injuries over the years and another athlete who has been in that "trough of despond" is Liam Egan. Nice to see him back running, as distinct from triathleting, on the Sunday and his wife Frances (aka Frank Noone) was there with him also just a couple of minutes behind. Another couple, Jim and Frances Leahy also performed very well on the day, again in preparation for their debut at the marathon distance in Dublin's fair city.

A group that looked particularly strong were the "Aspiring-to-3:30" competitors at Athlone. They include Kieran Guirey, Jim Leahy, Martin O'Hara, Deirdre Quinn, and Maeve Noone with Noel Fox a good bet for a sub 3:20 in Dublin. I can vouch that they have been training hard and intelligently for a few months now and their run must have filled them with confidence.

Back to the Half Marathon and Ray Somers narrowly beat Peter Delmer to the line. Both recorded very good times, under 1:23. The battle will re-commence on October Bank Holiday Monday.

I predict that 40 runners from Athenry AC will compete in the Dublin Marathon and I invite anyone not participating to come along for the trip, it will be an absolute blast.

Athlone results: http://athlone3quarter.com/userfiles/2012Results.pdf

Galway Bay results: http://www.galwaybayhalfmarathon.com/results.htm