A beautiful morning for road running saw 162 athletes take to the starting line for the first St.Johnston/Carrigans 5K and the first 5K of the 3 race series hosted by the Lifford club. There has been a bit of a buzz around the series since it was announced just a few short weeks ago and with such a large turnout today, it clearly is a series that will only go from strength to strength.
Today’s race was won by Dean Toland from the Finn Valley club in 16.35, followed by City of Derry’s Michael Finnegan, 17.16 and Lifford pair Daniel Hannigan, 17.35 and James Crossan, 17.37. The womens race was won by Catherine Lilburn from City of Derry in 19.20 followed by Foyle Valley’s Gemma McGinty in 24.17, Finn Valley’s Samantha Wilkinson, 24.31 and Lifford’s Joyce McKittrick in 25.12.
The Mens V1 category was won by Letterkenny’s Humphrey Murphy, 17.40 followed by City of Derry’s Gary McGee, 17.54 and Letterkenny’s Martin Gormley, 17.55. The V2 category was won by Letterkenny’s Joe English in 17.55, second was Jimmy Renfrew from Enniskillen, 18.21 and third City of Derry’s Peter Lilburn, 18.48. In the V3 category, City of Derry’s Christy McMonagle led the way in 20.06, followed by Lifford AC’s Danny Burns, 24.31. The Junior Mens race was won by Finn Valley’s Orin McDermott, 19.33, followed by Lifford AC pair Darren Gillespie, 20.34 and Ciaran Meehan, 20.55.
In the Womens V1 race, there was a one-two for Lifford with Isabella Breslin coming home in 24.09, followed by Audrey Friel in 28.34 and Carla Hutton Crossan in 29.50. In the V2 category, Dympna Barret led the way in 25.27 followed byh Rith McCrudden, 26.56 and Alice Devenney in 29.19. In the V3 category, it was a Lifford one-two-three with Betty Burns first in 36.19, followed by Joan Colhoun, 36.48 and Joan McHugh, 43.03. The Junior Womens race was won by Amy McDaid from City of Derry in 20.18 followed by Lifford AC’s Shannon Craig, 25.39 and Nicole Cuskelly in 25.40.
One of the big positives from today was the attendance of nearly 70 Lifford athletes, numbers unheard of just twelve months ago. Another positive was the big local turnout from St.Johnston and Carrigans which will hopefully be a kick start for many first time athletes from the area. A big thank you to all who helped out today. A special word of thanks to Kildrum Tigers FC for providing their changing rooms and parking, the local Gardai for their marshalling of the event, the parents from the Fit4Life group that made sandwiches, and to Maurice Toland and the staff at the Fishermans Inn for the use of their premises after the race.
Next week, the race series moves to Raphoe with a start time of 10am. Registration and changing at Deele College. With the big turnout this week, and all athletes picking up points towards the finale in two weeks time, we can expect yet another big turnout next week.
For further information, email liffordac@eircom.net or contact Brendan on 086-6007847