from Rosemary Ryan Record numbers turned out to walk and run in Cappamore this year- 200 runners and 50 walkers set out on a cool cloudy evening and made this the biggest event yet Organisers will step up the preparations for next years 10th anniversary. A fast winning time this year came from pure class- 31:49 by Neil Cusack from Limerick, a younger version of the great Cusack and also very talented. An exceptional run for second place came from a man just recently recovered from winning his first marathon in the Cork City Marathon 2009- Michael Herlihy raced home in 31:57. Limerick AC new recruit Labeta Debela did extremely well to mix it with the company up front and ran 32:22 on the challenging course. West Limerick AC, Dundrum AC and Thurles Crokes athletes were also among the top finishers and all host well-organised races in their area.
Womens winner, Ann MacPhail from the University of Limerick, represented Scotland at international level and regularly tops the womens list in Munster. Ann finished in 38:20, followed by another strong run from Veronica Colleran of Ennis Track Club in 39:09, and Eimear Martin (wife of the record holder Séamus Power) in 39:40. The Lifestyle Sports Top Junior award went to Tony-Joe Berkery from Doon (42:02) and Maeve Boland of Bilboa AC (52:18). Neil Cusack took home the Ger Mullane Perpetual Trophy and Bilboa AC retained the Jim Burke Team Trophy. All runners finished inside 70min. Hope to see you all next year again!