Gerry Ryan and Veronica Colleran take title at St. Marys Road Race.

The Bernie Meaney Memorial and the 31st Annual St Marys 5. 5 mile road race held at Kilmurry Mc Mahon and organised by St. Marys A.C. attracted a small turnout of athletes with Gerry Ryan Galway City Harriers recording a very easy victory in (26mins . 36secs) over a very hilly course in windy and damp weather with Ian Egan Galway City Harries having to work hard to take second place ahead of Jason Broderick Loughrea who captured the Junior Mens Title and the Tommy Mc Carthy Cup going to Galway City Harriers ahead of Loughrea and Kilmurry Ibrickane/North Clare.

Veronica Colleran Ennis Track Club notched up another great win with a very time of (32mins . 53secs) the exact same time as last year with Sue Garrahy Kilmurry Ibrickane/North Clare second and Maura Falsey Kilmurry Ibrickane/North Clare third.

The race was run in windy and damp weather conditions and right from the start Gerry Ryan Galway City Harriers laid down and early marker when he opened up a twenty metre lead on the rest of the field with a group of six athletes working together as they made their way towards the mile marker Ian Egan Galway City Harriers was leading the way along with Jason Broderick, Loughrea, Pat Sherry Galway City Harriers, Brian Murphy, Eugene Moynihan, Marian, and Kevin Darcy Kilmurry Ibrickane/North Clare with a great contest between this group for the minor places.

Gerard Mullane Bilboa and Michael Harvey Kilmurry Ibrickane/North Clare were battling for honours in the masters O/50’s and with both men running shoulder to shoulder going towards the five crosses it was any one’s title and facing into a tough hill climb for the next mile the leader Gerry Ryan was in complete control up front and he came home with and very easy victory in (26mins . 36secs) and took the Bernie Meaney Memorial Shield to Galway with two more galway athletes filling the next two places Ian Egan in (28mins . 43secs) and third was Jason Broderick Loughrea and he was the first Junior athlete in (28mins . 47secs), next was Pat Sherry and the leading master O/40 in (28mins . 51secs) followed by Martin Corcoran the second O/40 and the first Clareman in sixth place was Brian Murphy Marian with Kevin Darcy Kilmurry Ibrickane/North Clare 8th.

Eugene Moynihan Marian finishing 7th overall and he took the masters O/45’s title and he will represent Ireland in theMasters International Five Nations in Santry Demense Dublin on Saturday along with Pat Nugent in the O/40’s and Frank Garrihy in the O/50’s, second in the O/45 was Tom Mackey Kilmurry Ibrickane/North Clare with Tom Fitzgerald West Limerick Third.

The big battle of the day was in the masters O/50’s with Gerard Mullane Bilboa sprinting clear over the final 100metres to take the title from Michael Harvey and Tom Madden Marian with Roger Rush Tuam taking the masters O/60.

The Junior mens title Jason Broderick Loughrea running a very big race and finishing third overall was a very impressive winner with Thomas Garrahy Kilmurry Ibrickane/North Clare second and his Clubmate David Mackey third.

The Team award and the Tommy Mc Carthy Cup went to Galway City Harriers on (29pts) with Loughrea second on (41pts) and third Kilmurry Ibrickane/North Clare on (50pts).

The first three St Marys Novice athletes for the James Hanrahan Memorial Shield the title going to Denis Meaney St Marys with Dermot Moran second and Shane Donnellan third.

The Ladies race was dominated from start to finish by Veronica Colleran Ennis Track Club for the second year in a row when she set a blistering pace and she went through the mile mark at (6:30pace) with Sue Garrahy Kilmurry Ibrickane/North Clare working hard to keep the leader in her sight as they made their towards the two mile mark with Bernie Kelly Galway City Harriers, Marion O’Loughlin Ennis Track Club, Joan Sheehy West Limerick, and Maura Falsey Kilmurry Ibrickane/North Clare all battling for major honours in the various Categories with Siobhan Garrahy Kilmurry Ibrickane/North Clare contesting the Junior Ladies award.

With two miles to go Veronica Colleran was moving well on the hills and working hard all the way to cross the finishing line in (32mins . 53secs) and that was being the same time as 2004 with a great last mile by Sue Garrahy to close the gap and finishing second with a time of (37mins . 04secs) with Marion O’Loughlin a very competitive athlete finishing strong in third place and taking the masters ladies O/35’s with Bernie Kelly Galway City Harriers fourth and the leading masters lady O/45 and her cousin Maura Falsey Kilmurry Ibrickane/North Clare fifth with Joan Sheehy West Limerick sixth and she took the ladies O/40 title, with the Junior ladies title going to Siobhan Garrahy Kilmurry Ibrickane/North Clare in (44mins . 53secs).

Results.

Senior Ladies

1. Veronica Colleran Ennis Track Club (32 : 53)

2. Sue Garrahy Kilmurry Ibrickane/North Clare (37 : 04)

3. Maura Falsey Kilmurry Ibrickane/North Clare (41 : 26)

Masters Ladies

O/35.

1. Marian O’Loughlin Ennis Track Club (38 : 54)

2. Hillary Cunningham St. Marys (44 : 53)

O/40.

1. Joan Sheehy West Limerick (42 : 49)

O/45.

1. Bernie Kelly Galway City Harriers (40 : 52)

Junior Ladies.

1. Siobhan Garrahy Kilmurry Ibrickane/North Clare (44 : 53)

Senior Men

1. Gerry Ryan Galway City Harriers (26 : 36)

2. Ian Egan Galway City Harriers (28 : 43)

3. Brian Murphy Marian (29 : 09)

4. Kevin Darcy Kilmurry Ibrickane/North Clare (30 : 10)

5. Alan Whelan St. Johns (31 : 05)

6. Darragh O’Brien Loughrea (32 : 25)

7. Ger Quigley Tulla (34 : 00)

8. Danny Fahy Ind. (39 : 22)

Teams.

1. Galway City Harriers (1. Gerry Ryan, 2. Ian Egan, 4. Pat Sherry, 22. Tom Porter) = 29pts.

2. Loughrea (3. Jason Broderick, 7. Martin Corcoran, 14. John Mannion, 17. Darragh O’Brien) = 41pts.

3. Kilmurry Ibrickane/North Clare (8. Kevin Darcy, 11. Michael Harvey, 13. Tom Mackey, 18. Thomas Garrahy) = 50pts.

Masters Men.

O/40.

1. Pat Sherry Galway City Harriers (28 : 51)

2. Martin Corcoran Loughrea (29 : 35)

3. John Mannion Loughrea (31 : 38)

4. Paul Talty St Coco’s (32 : 06)

5. Sean O’Sullivan Fergus (40 : 09)

O/45.

1. Eugene Moynihan Marian (29 : 03)

2. Tom Mackey Kilmurry Ibrickane/North Clare (31 : 32)

3. Tom Fitzgerald West Limerick (32 : 03)

4. Michael Quinlivan Kilmihil (34 : 17)

5. Denis Meaney St Marys (34 : 46)

6. Tom Porter Galway City Harriers (34 : 46)

O/50.

1. Gerard Mullane Bilboa (31 : 02)

2. Michael Harvey Kilmurry Ibrickane/North Clare (31 : 08)

3. Tom Madden Marian (31 : 30)

4. Brendan Cusack Kilmurry Ibrickane/North clare (37 : 54)

5. Kevin O’Loughlin Kilmurry Ibrickane/North Clare (38 : 02)

6. Dermot Moran St. Marys (38 : 32)

O/60.

1. Roger Rush Tuam (37 : 36)

Junior Men.

1. Jason Broderick Loughrea (28 : 47)

2. Thomas Garrahy Kilmurry Ibrickane/North Clare (33 : 36)

3. David Mackey Kilmurry Ibrickane/North Clare (39 : 48)

4. Shane Donnellan St. Marys (40 : 19)

Confined to St Marys A.C. (James Hanrahan Shield)

1. Denis Meaney St Marys (34 : 46)

2. Dermot Moran St Marys (38 : 32)

3. Shane Donnellan St Marys (40 : 19)