Note: No club listings in results so apologies for anyone I've missed - please post a comment if you have additional results and I'll update report.

The second trip to Longford for a half marathon in just over a month! This time members made their way down to the long standing Longford marathon/ half marathon.

Rumour has it the bould Ray O'Connor was spotted trotting around the ultramarathon course, not long after a long day out at the Connemara 100; there are no results as yet up for the ultramarathon (as of 29/08) so no finish time for him yet...

Brian O'Connor headed up the club standings yet again, with a strong finish in sixth place, at 1:17. Owen Curran was next in 1:23:03. Adrian Fitzmaurice was pleased to run a personal best in 1:28:07 and Enda Munnelly ran a fine race in 1:39:03.

Martin O'Hara finished in 1:46:56, followed shortly by Seb Locteau who was back on the road with a solid run of 1:50:04.

Janet Clancy had a fine race to lead the club ladies home in 1:49:00, while Kellie O'Shaughnessy and Marie O'Connor did some team work, running together with times of 2:10:28 and 2:10:47 respectively.

Here is Marie O'Connor's race report:

My Second Journey to Longford

Janet Clancy collected me just afer 8am on Sunday morning and after meeting Kellie O’Shaughnessy near Mountbellew our next stop was Longford town for the half marathon.

Arriving nice and early meant we picked up our goody bags and t-shirts before the queues started. The t-shirt was not a technical one which was a bit of a disappointment but the goody bag did have some nice bits and pieces in it so all was not completely lost.

We did a short “interview” on the Longford marathon, which will appear on the Longford Marathon web page… unless the editing team decide otherwise. Poor Janet became our spokesperson!!

After a visit to the portaloos and a nice warm up we were ready for our 13.1 miles. We had a quick chat with Owen Curran, Enda Munnelly, Martin O’Hara and Seb Locteau before congregating at the start line. A pipe band was on hand, providing some entertainment for us, supporters were out in force and there was a great buzz. Janet placed herself strategically amongst the competitors while me and Kellie moved towards the back of the group.

The MC counted us down and just after 11am we passed the starting mats. The first mile had us loop around the town, so we hit the start for a second time, which was lovely as the main street was lined with people and there was plenty of support on offer. I was not racing and so set my sights on staying as close to 10 minute miles from start to finish.

Kellie was happy to join my plan so we chatted away as we left Longford town behind us and headed for the countryside. A local lady joined us for a mile or so sharing her running experience with us and keeping us company.

Just after mile five I heard “how are the women” and turned to see Ray O’Connor overtaking us with great ease as he was completing his ultra marathon quest. We looked on as he disappeared into the distance.

Between miles five and six it started to mist and there was a nice wind blowing right at us, thankfully it was not long before we took a right turn off the main road and onto a nice secondary road, providing shelter from the wind and rain.

I was happy with the pace, just sitting under ten minute miles, going slightly over in places, mainly on the hills that appeared. I had been told this was “the flattest half marathon in Ireland”, I can’t remember who told me this, but the flat part was either a great exaggeration or false advertising. Hills popped up all over the place.

Around the ten mile marker we had to to turn back on ourselves, this gave us a few moments where first those ahead of us offered us encouragement and then it was our turn to offer those close on our tail words of support. There was a gang of “Craughwellers” in front of us and another gang behind us so there was a nice taste of Galway support before we turned onto a road and faced yet another hill, this one was the nastiest one, it dragged a bit but we were soon faced with a flat section, the hills behind us.

Mile 12 came and Kellie kicked on from here to the finish, I stuck with my plan but did dip to 9.3 minute miles on the run in for the line finishing in 2.10.19. Kellie finished what will probably be her first of many half marathons in 2.10.01 and so with medals in hand we left the “friendliest marathon in Ireland”.