No half measures from Hugh

Hugh Armstrong became the first man to win all four races in the Irish Life Dublin Race Series in one year, by taking the title in the Irish Life Dublin Half Marathon at the Phoenix Park last Sunday. The Knockmore native cruised to victory in a time of 1:06:25 to complete the full set in the series, having won the Corkagh 5 Mile, Fingal 10k and Frank Duffy 10 Mile earlier this year.

Armstrong, a member of Ballina AC who is based in Dublin where he is coached by Feidhlim Kelly, broke clear from Dunboyne AC’s Peter Somba at the halfway point and finished strongly, winning by nearly three minutes. Somba, a previous winner of the race, settled for second (1:09:08), with Swords man David Glynn crossing the line third (1:09:42).

Armstrong, who has both got married and turned 30 in the past month, expressed his delight afterwards: “I’ve won all the races in the series this year. They’re all very good races, very well organised with lots of people in them. I’ve been planning to run the Irish Life Dublin Marathon since earlier this year, so I thought the series was good prep for that,” he said.

Leevale athlete and two-time Olympian Michelle Finn, who is also coached by Kelly, was a dominant winner of the women’s race, breaking the course record as she clocked a time of 1:15:45.