Fourteen medals for Mayo AC at nationals
Mayo AC's 4x200m relay silver medal winning team at the National Masters Championships, from left: Christian Macrae (sub), Gerry Kirrane, John Walkin, Mike Griffin and Keith Conroy.
Athletics: Mayo AC had a very successful day at the National Masters Indoor Championships in Athlone last Saturday. The eight men and two women competed in a number of track and field events in a busy schedule which began at 10am and continued until late evening. As usual, competition in all age categories was keen.
The top Mayo AC performer, not for the first time, was Pauline Moran. In her W65 category she ran three races and won three golds – a unique feat which she has achieved in these championships in recent years.
Angela O’Connor in W55 added two silver and a bronze in the same distance events – 800m, 1500m, 3,000m. It was great running by two top club competitors.
In addition to Pauline and Angela, the rest of the team won eight medals in sprints, field events and relay, making a fantastic total of fourteen medals: three gold, seven silver, four bronze.
In the men's M60 category 60m sprint, Christian Macrae won bronze in 9:22.
Keith Conroy won a brilliant bronze in a very competitive men's 200m at M40 level, finishing in 25:20s – a massive improvement on his 26:85 in the 2023 event.
In field events, Martin Peyton won bronze with a 9:31m throw in the M70 shot put. He added silver in the long jump and in his third competition of the day, won another silver in WFD weight for distance.
In the men's M65 high jump, Patrick Moran was back in form after a year out. He was the joint winner but awarded silver on countback. He jumped a brilliant 1.30m – equalling his 2023 PB – and added silver in the men's long jump, clearing 3.17m.
In the day’s final event, Mayo AC’s men’s 4x200m relay team won silver. Mike Griffin, John Walkin, Keith Conroy and Gerry Kirrane ran a brilliant relay race to finish in 1:45.59, in what was a wonderful performance and a huge achievement. The relay winners were Omagh Harriers in 1:44.88, with Mayo AC pipping Killarney AC's 1:45.80 for silver by .21 seconds.
