Mayo AC compete well at National 10k
At last Sunday's National 10k Championships in Dunboyne were Donna Gallagher (Mayo AC) and her husband Eoin (Swinford AC).
Athletics: Mayo AC had another successful big day out on Sunday last, as a huge number of members competed at the National 10k which was hosted by Dunboyne AC in Co Meath.
The event was incorporated in the 53rd edition of their annual race.
Mayo AC's 26 representatives included junior and seniors, with the rest in masters categories. Many of them travelled to Dunboyne in the club bus – a big thank you to organiser Colette Tuohy and driver Damien Finnegan.
Running conditions were good – 9°C, dry, crisp with a light breeze – while the 10k course was on a flat left-handed route through the ‘Moor Of Meath’, starting in Dunboyne village and finishing with a lap of Dunboyne AC’s 400m track.
The consensus from the Mayo AC camp was that “it was a lovely course, great weather, well organised but a tough day.” Mayo AC’s first three men across the line were John Byrne, who is coming back to great form, with his 35:30 a minute faster than the previous Sunday in the Tubbercurry 10k, Tony O’Malley in an excellent 37:39 and Andrew Hayes in 39:00.
Norah Newcombe Pieterse had a brilliant run in 37:04 to come fourth M35 and first of Mayo AC’s women finishers. The second home, with another fantastic run, was the fast improving Martina O’Connor in 37:58 – a PB and over half a minute better than her 38:30 time in Tubbercurry. Third was Angela O’Connor in an amazing 41:57, and in silver medal position in W55 category. She equalled her finish time in 2022 (the last year the full 10k distance was run in the championships).
There were some great finishing times among the club's remaining 20 competitors – and probably a few more PBs among them as well.
Championship medals were keenly contested in all categories and Athletics Ireland’s results validation is awaited with fingers crossed for confirmation of individual category and team medals. But looking at the results, the club’s wonderful W50 team are in gold medal position on the podium: Angela O’Connor, Colette Tuohy and Pauline Moran had a combined time of 2:09.33.
In club team competitions, Mayo AC’s W35 team were 8th in 2:03.32, the M35 team 22nd in 1:52.08 and the M50 team 11th in 2:04.42.
The club’s individual medal winners look to be Angela O’Connor, W55 silver, Pauline Moran, W65 gold, and Mags Glavey, W70 gold. Sadly, three finishers were just outside the medals, with Norah Newcombe Pieterse W35, Colette Tuohy W55 and Monica Joyce W60 all finishing fourth in their categories.
Mayo AC 's finish times, subject to Athletics Ireland confirmation, are as follows: Junior – Karl O’Malley 51:36. Senior Men – Richie Hanley 40:10. Senior Women – Martina O’Connor 37:58. Master Women W35 – Dee Finnegan W35 44:56, Eimear Fitzmaurice W40 44:13, Norah Newcombe Pieterse W40 37:01 (4th), Paula Donnellan Walsh W40 43:45, Mairéad Bristow W45 45:49, Donna Gallagher W45 42:33, Ann McDonnell W45 46:48. Master women W50 – Angela O’Connor W55 41:57 (silver), Colette Tuohy W55 43:36 (4th), Monica Joyce W60 49:53 (4th), Pauline Moran W65 44:01 (gold), Mags Glavey W70 49:19 (gold). Master Men M35 – Damien Finnegan M40 40:22, Andrew Hayes M40 39:00, Andy Neary M40 41:55, John Byrne M45 35:30. Master Men M50 – Ambrose Gaughan M50 44:20, Brendan Murphy M50 42:44, Tony O’Malley M50 37:39, Martin Parsons M50 55:08, Brian Healy M55 56:48, Tom Jennings M55 49:27, Jimmy Feeney M65 53:25.
The 2024 National 10k race winner was Sean Tobin from Clonmel AC in 29:17 while the first woman was Shona Heaslip of An Riocht in 32:48.
