Report by John Desmond (www.eagleac.net) The 2011 National Half-Marathon took place in Waterford City on Saturday on Saturday 3rd of September. Seeing as how it was ‘on our doorstep’, so to speak, the Club made a concentrated effort to enter as many members as possible, with over 40 taking part in the end.
One of the most obvious features of the National Half this year was the sheer number of runners taking part. Looking at previous years, 183 had turned out in Donegal in 2009 while 196 took part in Laois in 2010. The 2011 event was completely different with almost 700 runners taking part.
What was also clear from the results was the very high standard of the field taking part. Most of the 690 entrants were club runners which made it a very competitive race. The organising club, Waterford AC, held their own Half-Marathon on the same course back in January 2011. It coincidently got the exact same number of runners…690. Back then, only 8 runners broke the 80 minute mark, while 101 ran sub 80 in this National event. In fact, it is easy to say without contradiction that 2011 was the most competitive National Half-Marathon in over a decade.
With some of the best runners in the country taking part, it was always going to be a long shot to come away with any medals but we were still well represented in the overall results with several Eagle teams fielded. Our senior ladies team finished 5th, our Masters M40 teams were 5th and 9th, while our Masters M50 team was 5th with our Masters W50 team 7th and our senior mens team 20th. On the individual front, the closest Eagle to the podium was the evergreen pat Twomey, in 4th place in the M60 category
So no prizes this time but we certainly flew the flag. Elaine sums it up nicely in this comment…….."Those of you further forward at the start may not appreciate the impact of so many Eagle singlets at the early stages of the race, everywhere I looked during the first mile I could see Eagles ahead!"
Where to next…??
Eagle Finishers
Place Bib Forename Surname Cat CLUB Time
105 626 Derek O’Keeffe SM Eagle A.C. 1:20:12
137 648 Ronan O’Shea SM Eagle A.C. 1:22:26
157 603 John O’Callaghan M40 Eagle A.C. 1:23:09
169 385 Ann Marie Holland SW Eagle A.C. 1:24:00
171 243 John Desmond M45 Eagle A.C. 1:24:03
177 232 Paul Daly M40 Eagle A.C. 1:24:33
187 623 Colin O’Herlihy M40 Eagle A.C. 1:25:02
198 152 Tony Cambridge M45 Eagle A.C. 1:25:29
207 700 Gary Relihan SM Eagle A.C. 1:26:01
216 560 Pat Murphy M55 Eagle A.C. 1:26:46
221 858 Ken Wyman M40 Eagle A.C. 1:26:53
230 759 Pat Twomey M60 Eagle A.C. 1:27:29
232 570 Deirdre Nagle SW Eagle A.C. 1:27:36
235 512 Mike Mc Grath M50 Eagle A.C. 1:28:00
237 471 Donncha Lehane SM Eagle A.C. 1:28:07
240 693 Maura Regan SW Eagle A.C. 1:28:25
245 203 Michael Corbett SM Eagle A.C. 1:28:44
259 386 Collette Holland SW Eagle A.C. 1:30:10
260 704 Joe Roche M45 Eagle A.C. 1:30:14
274 477 Neil Macay M40 Eagle A.C. 1:30:59
278 428 Cian Kennedy SM Eagle A.C. 1:31:19
290 721 John Scannel M40 Eagle A.C. 1:32:04
308 159 Ann Cashman SW Eagle A.C. 1:33:45
324 707 Niamh Roe SW Eagle A.C. 1:34:54
335 171 Paula Coakley SW Eagle A.C. 1:35:39
341 684 John Quigley M55 Eagle A.C. 1:36:06
365 787 Hannah Wooton SW Eagle A.C. 1:38:04
390 348 Elaine Guinane SW Eagle A.C. 1:40:27
422 851 Gerry O’Connor M55 Eagle A.C. 1:42:15
423 857 Kevin O’Connor M50 Eagle A.C. 1:42:22
427 511 Donal Mc Grath SM Eagle A.C. 1:42:28
428 465 Catriona Leahy SW Eagle A.C. 1:42:32
469 209 Mary Cotter W45 Eagle A.C. 1:45:05
495 644 Liam O’Riain M45 Eagle A.C. 1:46:53
516 611 Frances O’Connor W50 Eagle A.C. 1:49:13
600 510 Jane Mc Grath W45 Eagle A.C. 1:57:25
601 645 Fiona O’Riordan W40 Eagle A.C. 1:57:25
625 367 Ann Hayes W50 Eagle A.C. 2:00:39
634 208 Jim Costello M45 Eagle A.C. 2:02:44