As Storm Bert lashed the country and the heavens opened on Saturday night, three Drogheda and District siblings Beatrice, Hannah and Eve Cunningham, still managed to deliver outstanding performances at the Leinster B Cross Country Championships at Stradbally Hall in County Laois.
Brave Beatrice sprinted to the finish in an age category above her years to take a wonderful 2nd place in U15 girls race. Her plucky sibling Hannah had a spirited run to finish 8th in the Under 13 race while little lion-hearted Eve punched above her weight to finishing 42nd in the Under 11 category while also running with girls older than her. We’re so proud of our young athletes!
Senior and Masters Cross Country athletes can take inspiration from these performances and in those that took up the challenge of the BHAA Ledwith Construction 6k Sunday 17th November at Ledwith Farm, Batterstown, Co Meath.
Paddy Murphy finished a fine 24th place in 26:00. Paddy, who you can set your watch by, is modest and understated and this was a fine performance so soon after his fab half marathon in Amsterdam in October. T Gerry Mullins also had the grit to succeed as he glided along to finish in 32:07 just ahead of Nuala Reilly who took 1st in W65 category in a superb 32:51.
The adrenaline flowed as team-mates Jolene Matthews and Darragh Woods lined up at the start line at the Clontarf 5 miler on Saturday 16th.
Tuesday night’s training at home grounds in Newtownstalaban is clearly paying off for both Jolene Matthews and Darragh Woods as the pair, cheered on by an enthusiastic crowd, set a lively pace on the way out to the pier.
Jolene is going from strength to strength and zipped along in a fine 55:50 while hardworking Darragh managed to better his time to complete the distance in 58:01. There was real dedication in these performances and we can expect great things to come. Donal Branigan had a smart run to finish in 1:03:14 also.
At Newtownstalaban, with the New Year approaching Drogheda and District AC welcomes anyone who is looking for an athletic outlet in a safe place to train amongst friends. Come along at 7pm and find out for yourself!
Meanwhile, across the pond in the USA, DDAC superstar Tadhg Donnelly ran well showing some early season form on Friday 15th November and helped his team Iona up their 34th successive win in the MAAC Conference race. Tadhg took 5th place.
