Well who knew Shop Street was so steep!

A race that, only in its fourth year, has already become a staple in many people’s racing calendar’s, today’s Resolution Run 5km was another well organised race from Tony Killarney & his band of merry helpers. After basking in sunshine last year the weather was less inviting this time around with a cold breeze & showers keeping the waiting masses huddled closely at the start line.

With numbers up again from last year, Gary Thornton, formerly of Galway City Harriers but now running under the UVU Racing banner, blew away the remainder of the field with a brilliant 15.01, a time not seen in these parts in quite a while. Less than a minute behind & in a time that would usually give him first position was Keith Fallon of GCH with Jamie Fallon of Craughwell AC completing the podium a further 10 seconds back.

There was a great turn out from Athenry AC with 31no members taking the opportunity to lay down a marker for the New Year. Top of the bunch was Ray Somers with a 18.08 followed closely by Mick Rice in 18.11, a clear statement from Mick that he’s getting back to his best.

Jane-Ann Healy continued her run of podium finishes with 2nd position in 18.38 just ahead of her husband David & a five minute improvement on last year (although she was nearly 8 months pregnant at the time). Bernie Mulryan also continued her recent dominance with another category win.

There were 10 members under twenty minutes today but there were good results through the field as Siobhan Guinan & Deirdre Quinn both finished under 24 minutes after their 14.5 mile ‘warm-up’ from Athenry to Galway. It’s also good to see some of our old Fit4Lifers progress with Diane Collins improving 2½ minutes over last year’s race.

It was a family affair for the Mangan’s as Mam, Dad & two sons appeared alongside each other with Fabian (a Junior) finishing in a credible 22.51.

It's good to see some old faces too with both Alan Burke & John Langan making a rare appearance on the racing scene. Hopefully they’ll keep up the appearances this year & we’ll see them rise up the ranks again.