Munster Express Online

St Senans AC had a new face in action at this years St abbans Four County League as Dave Forristal lined out along with Sean Caulfield, PJ Dwyer and Nicholas Halley in Ferns last Sunday. The race over four miles saw fine run by Sean who held of a strong challenge from Paul Deegan of Gowran to finish in 22.10. A trimmed down Dave had a run of 28.10, which is a new PB though the few pounds he’s shed seem to have been found by Adele, who is wearing them well. St Senans scored 140pts with placings as follows: 10th Sean Caulfield, 26th P J Dwyer, 54th Nicky Hally and 50th Dave Forristal. Gowran finished in third place in both division “A” and division “C”. The scorers for the “A Team” were Pat Kavanagh -9, Paul Deegan -12, Gary Farrell – 27 and Jimmy Barcoe -31. The division “C” squad were Neil Lyons-33, David Farrell – 34, Denis Cormack – 40 and Marty Kelly – 45. The latter three also scored in the veterans section. The Harriers finished on 83 points and their placings were as follows :14 Toss Hayes, 22 Clive Minogue, 30 Niall Quinlan, 37 Steve Dermody and 46 Eddie Hawe. Numbers are down in this years event and it may need a revamp if it’s to survive in the years ahead.

Conor Rochford had to battle hard to win the Youths race in Ferns but the teak tough runner was not to be denied. In front after lap one he pushed on over the second and final lap to cross the finish line with a comfortable lead over the rest of the field. The Gowran squad had an excellent run with John Murphy 3rd, Darragh Buggy 4th and Shawn McCormack 6th.

The ladies were next to toe the line for the two lap course around the town. Caoimhe Foley, Kilkenny City Harriers (KCH), recovering from an injury acquired on the ski slopes, was the first of the Kilkenny ladies home in 4th place. Aoife O’Connor, Thomastown, making her debut in this race, was 5th. The KCH team with Sarah Nolan 11th, Teresa Daly 16th and Angela Finnegan 24th ended the day in third place. St Laurence O’Toole, Carlow, are in second place with a seven points advantage over KCH. In the next round in Gowran on 29th March the city club will undoubtedly have a go at reversing these placings.

Outstanding Mullingar runner Martin Fagan broke John Treacy’s long standing half-marathon record with a stunning run in the Hague, where he set the early pace with the likes of Haile Gebresellassie and Sammy Kitara. Fagan’s time of 1.00.57 was good enough for 5th place and made him the first European home. Meanwhile at an indoor meet in Texas, West Waterford star athlete David McCarthy was 4th in 4.02.24 continuing his fine run of form.