Two mountain running races to report on from this weekend past.
TROOPERSTOWN WINTER
We had solid attendance as always at Trooperstown with twelve running officially (and Loraine unofficially as her order had not gone through!) on the long (9.4 km) and short (5.3 km) courses.
Ten of our runners finished the longer course – similar to the 2024 but a bit shorter and more direct – with Kevin Ferguson having a very strong run to lead the team home ahead of Johnny Conway, Paul Duffy and Chris Willoughby. This quartet ‘packed well’ finishing 22nd, 24th, 28th and 30th within a 2 minute time-frame. There was a further 1 minute down to debutante Huw Thomas in 34th and then Alan Kennedy in 48th securing another M55 podium spot. Brian Hendley and Andy Walker came in just after the hour mark and Monica Timmins just after the 70 minute mark in 116th with Brian Howard our last runner. 173 runners completed the race.
| RESULT |
| 1. Emmett McNamara () 0:42:05 |
| ——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————- |
| 22. Kevin Ferguson 0:49:02 |
| 24. John Conway 0:49:27 |
| 28. Paul Duffy 0:49:55 |
| 30. Chris willoughby 0:50:56 (WW RC) |
| 34. Huw Thomas 0:51:58 (WW RC) |
| 48. Alan Kennedy 0:53:50 (WW RC – 2nd M55) |
| 80. Brian Hendley 1:01:19 (WW RC) |
| 87. Andy Walker 1:02:51 (WW RC) |
| 116. Monica Timmins 1:10:18 |
| 166. Brian Howard 1:26:58 (WW RC) |
Chaperoning Cillian and Feihlim, Rene Borg and Sile Keane ran on the short course with 23 others – a mixture of older juniors, under-14s, parents and older runners. First home was Loraine’s son Oisin in his Roundwood and District colours.
| RESULT |
| 1. Oisin Donelon (Roundwood and District AC) 0:31:25 |
| ——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————- |
| 12. René Borg 0:43:40 |
| 19. Sile Keane 0:54:58 |
Sli Chorcaí Ultra
James Heggie ran in Tipperary and managed to complete 43 km of the 71.5 km of the Sli Chorcai Ultra before having to retire. 66 runners competed in the ultra with a further 104 completing the half-marathon run as part of the same evenb.
Glendalough AC 