Cover photo courtesy of Peter Mooney.

After some horrendous wind & rain in midweek, Sunday morning dawned as fresh & perfect as a spring day could be. The vast blue sky was looking stupendous, the myriad of daffodils lining the roadside were looking voluptuous & the post race spread greeting us as we lined up for our timing chips & t-shirts was looking sumptuous.

The inform Mick Clohisey took the male honours today for Raheny Shamrocks as he cruised to a 2min win over second placed Emmett Dunleavy of Sligo AC. There was only ever going to be one winner as Mick is in the form of his life & came home in a fantastic time of 50.14. Never too far away from the top ten in races over the last decade he is going from strength to strength & has taken multiple wins over the last few years (including the Fields of Athenry the last two). He recently ran to his best win to date with a 1st place in the National Cross Country three weeks ago, narrowly beating Gary Thornton of GCH by 15 seconds in the process.

The womens race was a tighter affair & a successful one for Athenry AC as the club finished with two podium spots. Paula Prendergast took first place with a 1:04:37, with Jane-Ann Healy 39 seconds behind in second. Sinead Foran finished a further minute & a half back to take third place. It’s a mark of the fighting spirit & future possibilities in both that neither were happy with their times & feel they could have done better – Sinead in particular finding the heat tough going towards the end.

Not only did Jane-Ann take second place but also won the dinner table bragging rights as husband David finished 17 seconds behind her. A brilliant result for David in his first race at this distance!

Whilst the team results are only provisional at the minute, it looks like Athenry took gold in the womens county team championships with Maria Lambe running a stormer to be fourth woman home for the team behind Jane-Ann, Sinead & Ruthann Sheahan. The quartet of Janet Clancy, Mairead Blake, Siobhan Guinan & Mary Rohan look to have taken third place.

The men’s team of Lyall Guiney, Ray Somers, Mick Rice & Gearoid Rohan would appear to have taken silver behind GCH. Mick was also successful on a personal level, taking 2nd in the over 40 category. Well done to all on great running.

As ever Athenry AC descended en-masse to the Craughwell 10 with a total of 56 members turning out in maroon & white at the start line this morning. Less than two hours later there was a lot of sun burned & salt streaked faces & a lot of beaming smiles. Whether it’s a target race in its own right or preparation for a spring marathon / half marathon, the timing of this race is just perfect in the racing calendar & a lot of people come to this race in peak fitness and the amount of club PB’s prove it........(one’s I know of at the minute)

Lyall Guiney       - 0:59:15

Ray Somers        - 0:59:33

Gearoid Rohan   - 1:04:21 Gave himself a B+ (Could have done better!) Feels he left the sub 64 behind him

David Meehan   - 1:05:33 First race at this distance

Martin O’ Hara  - 1:08:41 Delighted! PB by 58 seconds

Pat McDonagh  - 1:08:52 The eternal carpet bagger! Apparently never in form but pulls it out every time

Kenneth O’ Hara  1:09:47 Woo hoo!!

Ronan McCarthy  1:09:59 What a way to run your first 10m

George Livanos - 1:10:03 So near but yet so far, but who cares, a 5min PB – brilliant!!

Paul Hegarty     - 1:12:17 First 10m. Wasn't expecting this time & over the moon

Maria Lambe     - 1:15:24 Very tough run but thanks to Philip Magnier for keeping me going, especially on the last two miles

Siobhan Guinan - 1:16:42 Very little mileage since the 50k in February so delighted

Janet Clancy      - 1:17:30 Definitely back in the groove after her injury

Anne Lyng           - 1:29:56 Delighted! PB by 3 ½ mins

With over 50 members running today there was bound to be more – and near misses too. Kieran Guiry narrowly missed out on a PB, falling short by 6 seconds with a 1:06:00.

It was great to see John Langan back on the start line again after a couple of injury interrupted years. In what was his first long distance event since Dublin 2012 John ran a 1:17:01. Kellie O’ Shaughnessy was also making her return today & was delighted with her 1:30:40.

As ever Craughwell put on a great race today & the post-race spread ( which, in fairness, is the reason most of us turn up) was fantastic. Congrats to all involved for a great day.

Results located here

Photos by Peter Mooney located here

Some thoughts on the day;

James Lundon

Last two miles today were horrible! Seeing all my teammates racing ahead up on the road and leaving me in the dust was not easy. I was passed by 6 or 7 people in the last painful mile, while the rest up ahead - much of it Maroon and White clad - went further out of sight! Just ran out of steam big time after keeping it together quite well in the first half. May have gone out too quickly but nothing I thought I couldn't hold onto to, or at least try to... Kinvara, then Ballycotton, then 9 hard miles in Abbey last week didn't help! I was behind Martin Hynes (AAC not TAC) for at least 7 miles - most of it only 30 metres back - but I could never get any closer; he was slowing at the same rate as myself in the last few miles!

Tony Killarney

It looked like there were more Athenry runners there than any other club, it was just amazing, and what a great day. Unfortunately I don't have a PB story - 73:56 versus 66:09 in 2012. But I was delighted to be able to run it (plus an extra 10 miles to make a long training run). The rest of the old guys seem to be getting faster though - I got a silver medal in 2012 but that time would only have been 5th O50 today.

Kellie O’ Shaughnessy

My first race since injury last year so no PB but mission was to get around and was delighted to manage 9 min miles as training not taken me under 10 min miles so happy happy happy!

Anne Lyng

I had a great day! Came in at 1.29.56 a PB and knocking 3.30 mins off last year’s time! Tough going, but worth it!!

Sinead Foran

Not my best day out today at all, had been hoping for a better time but didn't feel good from mile 5 on. The heat got to me too - unbelievable!

Kenneth O Hara

Some say that running is a solitary sport but I challenge anyone who thinks it to take a look at today’s race. With an identical target of 70mins Colin Duane & I decided to stick together & see what happens. It wasn’t long before we were joined by George Livanos & for a good 7 miles we were inseparable. In a race this distance you are always going to hit a low point or tough patch & it’s great to have a teammate alongside you to give you encouragement or even tuck in behind for a few minutes for a breather. At various times throughout today we all took on the leader / sufferer but dragged each other around & even got a few shouts of ‘Great teamwork Athenry’ along the way.

Delighted with the race, was unsure of match fitness going in to today so over the moon to hit the sub 70 – check out the photo for the pain / relief / ecstasy all rolled into one.

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