Newly crowned Louth Senior Cross Country Champion, Drogheda & District AC’s Christopher Keenan, took to the fields again at last weekend’s Autumn Open International Cross Country meeting in Abbotstown.
This was a big leap for Keenan as this race would give any national championship a run for its money. Running in the Junior Men’s race, Keenan worked his way through the field and was always close to the leading runners as the race wound its way around the course which takes no prisoners.
Keenan was rewarded for his aggressive running with a noteworthy 10th place finish in a field packed full of quality athletes and his future looks very bright indeed on his current showing.
Also running, but this time in the Senior Men’s race was Liam Mulligan who’s journey back to race fitness continues in earnest. Mulligan stuck to his guns and put the hard work in mid-race to finish well up the field.
In the Masters 045 race, Paul Smith ran well but couldn’t quite close the gap on the leading pack in a race that was used as the trial for the Home Countries International which will take place soon. Smith’s brave 8th place finish will see him determined to close the gap on his rivals over the coming season.
Further afield, at last week’s Chicago Marathon, David Murray led the way home for our athletes with a strong run which saw him cross the line in a solid 3:10:58. Next in was Colin Cuffe in 3:38:48, closely followed by Helga McDonnell in 3:43:38. Also running was Linda Cruise who finished in 4:29:05.
In the 5K race, run alongside the Marathon, Frank Cruise and Mary Cuffe gave a good account of themselves over this tough distance.
Meanwhile, over in Cardiff, Colin Leonard was turning on the turbo as he sped round the Half Marathon in a lively 1:13:12 and there’s more to come from him over the coming season.
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