The glory days of local athletics returned at the recent Louth Track and Field Championships with a standout performance from Mary McDonnell who put in a remarkable display of controlled running to set a new Irish Masters W65 100M record of 16.86 seconds.

Mary also holds the W65 National Record in the 200M from the Leinster Championships in a time of 35.58, and like fine wine, continues to improve with age.

Masters Athletics in Ireland is going through a real purple patch at the moment, and there's never been a better time to get involved in this most enjoyable of sports.

Also in action for DDAC recently were the trio of Nuala Reilly, Olivia Reilly and Patrick Maher who raced well at the BHAA Dublin City Council 5K, which took place in Irishtown last Wednesday evening.

Ireland's answer to the Duracell Bunny, Nuala, led the way home in 24:03, followed by daughter Olivia in 26:22, with Maher finishing strongly in 26:36.

Meanwhile, out on the roads, at last Sunday's Duleek 10K road race, the weather God's shone down in earnest with the Mercury hitting close on 22 degrees as the 10am starting time drew near.

Thankfully, there was little or no wind, but the heat could be felt along the narrow country lanes which seemed to hold the temperature.

Following the starter's pistol, the red vests of DDAC were soon to the fore, with Paddy Murphy, Alan Foley and Shane Larkin quickly settling into the pace.

Strengthened by weekly long runs in Oldbridge Estate, Murphy judged his pace perfectly and crossed the line in 18th spot in 41:08.

Backed up by Foley in 25th place, in 43:22, and Larkin 26th in 43:26, this trio combined well to take the honours in the Men's team category. Also running well were Michael Walker, Barry Sullivan and Darren Maguire. 

The DDAC Ladies, Orange Group stalwarts Andrea McArdle (46:07), Eimear Marron (46:50), and Helen  Dillon (47:53) coped best with the undulating nature of this challenging course and finished in that order to take the Women's team prize.

Others who ran well included Karen Delaney, Sinead Weldon, Marta Herrera and Yvonne Russell.

Nuala Reilly, running her fourth race in seven days showed most of her younger rivals a clean pair of heels, when winning her W60 category in 50:33.