Emailed by Ciaran Tobin Saturday 28th June 2008-7.30pm The annual Dunshaughlin 10Km Road Race hits the streets of the south Meath village for the 29th time on Saturday 28th June with a 7.30pm start. This is one of the oldest surviving 10Km races in the country with a great history and charm attached to it. The first race started back on the 5th September 1979 when 35 hardy men and 4 sprightly ladies ran around the historic lagore block with Internationals Des McGann and Carol Meagan leading their respective gender packs home.
The intervening years produced many great performances with no less than seven Olympians winning this event over the four decades The race is No 6 on the Meath road league with prizes of weekends away on offer for anyone who takes part in 5 out of the 8 races.
Although the course is rated as testing with two “heartbreak” hills at Greenhills and Mooretown on the second half there has been so many impressive times recorded here down through the years. The official mens record stands to Clonliffe’s Noel Cullen, the 1993 national cross country champion blazed around the official course in 29.21 back in 2000 but equally impressive was the 1972 and 1976 Olympian Neil Cusack’s time of 28.58 on the old course (96 metres shorter) back in 1985 while Beijing bound Martin Fagan from Mullingar got within 7 seconds of Cullen’s record in 2006.
The ladies course record of 34.50 was set by former Irish International Mary Donohue in 2001 and should stand for some time while Mary Hanley (twice), Rosie Lambe (twice) and Connie Kelly (5 times) have been the most consistent female performers over the years. The fastest youngest runner is local lad Richie Kealy who clocked 37.55 as an aspiring 13 year old back in 1989 while at the other end of the age scale the great Jim McNamara, an Olympian in 1976 ran 43,04 in 2007 at the age of 68 – Age is no barrier.
The fastest competitor ever is actually John Fulham, a 5 time paralympian who powered his wheelchair home in 2003 in a time of 28.11 while Patrice Dockery, another Paralympian recorded 31.33 on that same wet windy day
– Good times and great memories!
The M3 on-going road works have forced the organisers to change the start from the Dunsany road onto the Drumree road and so a new beginning but otherwise it’s business as usual, with a prize fund of over €2,000 and t shirts & goody bags for the first 150 entrants, refreshments & spot prizes and a post race party in the Arch Bar for the real endurance athletes to round off the night.
This year’s official race starter is Bren Murray – a local man steeped in Dunshaughlin history and he will send the runners on their way at 7.30p.m. Entry fee is €10 and registration is at the community centre.
More information is available on the Meath Athletics website
www.meathathletics
Regards Paddy Mangan Tel – 087 2597731
Mobile email [email protected], email [email protected]
