Mayo AC success at Carney 10k and Paris Marathon

Mayo AC’s three competitors ran in the Carney 10k on Easter Monday (April 1) were led home by Ballyhaunis athlete Johnny Cribbin, who crossed the line in a brilliant 40:34, 21st overall and 1st M60.

He won the M60 category in the Kilmovee 10k two days previously in 41:20 - impressive running by one of the club's top master athletes.

Ray Clarke had a great run to finish 31st overall and 3rd M50 in 41:36, while Dee Corcoran finished 3rd F40 in 45:48.

The Carney 10k race winner was Seamus Somers (Sligo AC) M50 in 33:58, Cora Regan (Drumshanbo AC), sister of Olympic Marathon runner Breege Connolly, was first woman home in 39:07.

Darren Flanagan (Mayo AC) joined thousands of runners in the Mass Participation Paris Marathon last Sunday. He finished in a brilliant 2:45.37 – that’s a personal best time and another big performance by this consistently improving distance runner.

He made a big step forward last year due to 'speed and recovery' sessions when competing in the Mayo AC 5k Series in early summer. He ran 2:51.55 in Dublin in 2023, having finished 2:59 in 2022.

The marathon course followed the same route as the Olympic athletes – including Mayo AC's inéad Diver who will be representing her adopted Australia – will run in 110 days time.

The marathon course starts on Champs-Elysées just a few blocks from the Arc de Triomphe. After a fairly short tour through southeast Paris neighbourhoods, the course loops around a large swath of Paris’s largest park, the picturesque Bois de Vincennes and along the Seine River for six miles to Bois de Boulogne, where after winding through the park for almost five miles, the route emerges on Avenue Foch to the finish line and another view of the Arc de Triomphe.

Darren’s race statistics were impressive a well-paced race averaging 3:55 per k; reaching 21k in 1:22.49.