Last Friday evening a large gathering of Drogheda and District athletes made their way to the picturesque village of Carlingford for their annual 5K Road race.

The lure of a fast course, plus a quality field of athletes made the prospect of a potential PB run too good to turn down.

Thankfully the weather Gods were kind to the runners as the clouds rolled back with minutes to spare before the Starter's pistol sounded.

This race certainly isn't for the faint hearted and the all-important first kilometre is always run at a hectic pace, as the runners jostle to take a good position in the leading pack.

The red vest of D&D was soon to the fore, with Liam Mulligan, Paul Smith and Rodney Thornton giving it their all as this race took the sharp right hand turn close to the halfway mark.

This trio kept pace with some quality athletes and crossed the finish line in that order with Mulligan 13th overall in 15:55, Smith 21st in 16:17, which gave him the M45 category win, and Thornton 45th in 16:49.

Also running well were John Reilly who had a really solid run to finish 83rd in 17:53, while Fatih Zitouch finished in 19:18. Young Ciaran Maree ran well to cross the line in 19:25. The race winner was Kieran Kelly from Raheny Shamrocks AC who scorched round the course in a lively 14:49.

First across the line for the ladies was Helen Dillon, who crossed the line in 22:25 followed by training partner Karen Delaney who finished in 23:46, followed by Niamh Matthews in 23:53. Also running were, Niamh Carroll (25:37), and Margaret Carroll (26:01).

The Women's race was hotly contested with Hannah Gilliland from Annadale Striders AC a deserved winner in 16:38, which was quality running given the challenging headwind on the second half of the course.

Meanwhile, over in Athboy on the same evening, Colm Reilly gave a good display of controlled running as he covered this testing course in a useful 17:36, as he continues his return to form after injury.

Drogheda and District AC and its many members would like to wish Bon Voyage to Matthew O'Shea who is off to the University of Charleston, West Virginia on an Athletic Scholarship for the next four years.

O'Shea has had a really solid year, making the All Ireland schools 800m final, and also running some big PB's in both the 800m and 1500m.

The future looks very bright indeed for this talented and humble athlete who should do well on the NCAA circuit.