Ballymore Cobh AC – Cork City Marathon & Half Marathon Reports

Cork City Marathon Report

The forecast had been for conditions, to put it mildly, not conducive to marathon running. The early hours of Monday had brought with it unseasonal rain and wind. But as the nine Ballymore Cobh athletes disembarked from their various modes of transport that carried them to the start line the inclement weather conditions had abated and only cloud cover with a gentle breeze greeted them.

Avril Hastings (4:32:26) made haste indeed, running her very first marathon. Painting a heartwarming sight running the last 20 metres hand in hand with her young daughter, Fallyn, Avril’s hard work in the months leading up to this day most certainly paid off for her.

Running side by side next to Avril all the way to the Patrick Street home straight, Louise Dunne (4:31:51) made her bow over this tortuous distance also. Having overcome a serious injury set-back in the weeks leading up to the marathon, Louise deserves great credit for persevering and soldiering on. Joined by her husband, Will, for the last quarter of the race, Louise showed him her heels in the home stretch as she powered home under the finishers gantry.

Completing his second marathon and landing a PB (Personal Best), as you do, Michael Ryan (4:20:19) put in a Herculean effort in near-monsoon conditions at times to secure a very respectable time for himself. Michael now plans to focus on some shorter distance races over the summer, as he fine tunes his speedwork in the coming months.

“It’s not these 26.2 miles that are the test. It’s the 500 miles leading up to them!”. A famous quote about a famous distance race. Very apt words for Angela Histon (4:20:28) who, taking on this distance for the first time, dug deep and found the strength she needed from the many many miles she put in over the preceding months to land a highly respectable time for her first marathon.

Slicing a not inconsiderable 12 minutes off his previous best, Tom O’Riordan (4:09:18) certainly earned his stripes in these tough conditions, registering a PB for himself to be proud of. Tom is currently aiming for a summer half-marathon and then plans to take on the Cork to Cobh Race. In the meantime, he shall pack his speedos, bucket and spade and head on down to Garretstown for a bit of well-deserved rest and recreation. We’ll keep an eye out for you, Tom!

Hitting all of her three targets: (A) a sub-4 hour race, (B) completing a marathon without stopping and (C) enjoying running every mile of it, Deirdre Meyler (3:56:20), in her second marathon to date, ran a very steady and intelligent race. She plans to rest up the body for a couple of weeks before beginning training for this autumn’s Dublin Marathon.

Making running her first marathon look like child’s play, Eimear Taft (3:47:18) demonstrated all of her athletic prowess to storm home in a magnificent time. Running a commendable negative split, Eimear’s second 13 miles were 6 entire minutes faster than her first 13. Superb!

In dog years, he’d be dead. But as he now enters his 40’s, Shane Meyler (3:40:47) shows no signs of slowing down as he banged out a new PB for himself. So everyone’s a winner!

Hot on Shane’s heels was Ken Hickey (3:42:16). Ken chose one unsavoury day, encountering “The Mother of all Battles”, to run his first marathon, but he
came through it with flying colours recording an impressive time for his troubles. We look forward to watching Ken in action again very soon.

It came as no surprise when Barry Breen (3:24:12) recorded a time that a speeding bullet would be envious of. A first marathon for Barry and after this performance we reckon by no means will it be his last. Outstanding.

Anyone who has ran a marathon knows only too well the dedication required to just to train for one, let alone finish one.

To the uninitiated, all of those who committed themselves to this Cork City Marathon are champions in our eyes, regardless of the recorded times.

Add to that the chastening experience of having to run 26.2 miles in at times horrendous weather conditions. The only way to survive beyond one’s physical limits, which each of these athletes had to, was to draw on one’s mental strength to see yourself through over the line. It was a huge test of human endurance and every single member of Ballymore Cobh A.C. passed it with flying colours.

Not forgetting Leilia and Stephen Pender, who had both put in the hard miles alongside their clubmates for months in advance too. Due to very unfortunate injuries days before the marathon, both had to make the difficult call to refrain from running it. But we all look forward to seeing them back where they belong in the near future.

Last but by no means least, a sincere thank you to the families, friends and club-mates who showed up around the course in their droves and inspired, cajoled and supported the marathon runners from the start line right up to the finish line.

Cork City Half Marathon Report

Orla O’Rourke (1:31:46) continued her storming season by setting a personal best over the half marathon distance. A five minute improvement on last winters effort in Clonakilty was good enough to see Orla finish second in her age group and seventh place in the overall ladies field. Tony O’Sullivan (1:39:16) was next home as he knocked six minutes of his previous best while continuing his strong run of form this term.

Kevin Jones (1:44:30) made light of the testing conditions to also record a personal record while completing the Cork City half marathon for the third time. Sinead Daly (1:51:01) was another to set a personal best and plans are a foot for a busy second half of the season for the same athlete.

Jennifer Meade (1:54:21) was also on the PB list with this her third run in the Tony Brauders half-marathon before setting sights on the upcoming Cahir event over the same distance. After recent success over shorter distances Paidi Kearney (1:55:05) proved himself equally adept over the thirteen and a bit miles here, he also joining the list of those who updated their PBs.

Siobhan Looney (1:55:18) was yet another who improved on their previous best despite the wind and rain doing it’s best to slow everyone down. Mairead Kearney (1:55:19) accompanied by her husband, son and two brother in laws made sure she set the pace for the wider family by also notching a personal record. Damien Doran (1:53:40), a recent Fit4Life graduate continues to impress as his star remains on the rise.

Brendan Kearney (1:57:52), a regular face at this event, knows the route fairly well at this stage and there was no fear that he was going to get blown of course despite the unwelcome gusts.

Angela Leahy (1:56:52) and John O’Reilly (1:56:52), forever the team partnership, ran with veritable ease throughout and both happily reported afterwards that the effort took little out of them. A possible step up in distance in the offing, perhaps.

Lynne Doherty (2:00:09) has had a meteoric rise through the ranks and sustained her highly impressive progress with a great run here. Helen Devery (2:01:52) managed to take a huge seventeen minutes of her previous best and this continued progress is testament to her commitment to training and improvement.

Racing her 6th half-marathon and also creating for herself a new PB, Ber Ryan-Rowe (2:00:14) was rightly ecstatic with her performance. She is now toying with the thoughts of running a full marathon.

Begin running in January with our Fit4Life group, then run a HM come June. Yes, it can be done! Take a bow for a super achievement, Greg Byrne (2:04:59). As promised in our previous Great Island 10 race report, Jan Verwey (2:08:30) successfully completed his goal of completing a half marathon.

Following on from her successful exploits in the Ballycotton and Great Island 10 mile races, Trish Doherty (2:09:20) stepped it up to the next level with ease, ably navigating her way around. Margaret O’Connell (2:13:11) wasn’t far behind Trish, giving it her all and clocking a fine time too. Watch this space for more news on Margaret’s endeavours. A first ever outing over this distance for Margaret O’Halloran (2:14:08), she took to it with ease.

Turning on the after-burners and impressing us all on St. Patrick’s St., Lesley O’Regan (2:20:35) sped home to her waiting clubmates in tremendous fashion. Club stalwart Heike von Heyne (2:20:39) completed her second half marathon in three weeks with aplomb. Heike is now focusing on the Ballycotton Summer Series of 5 mile road races.

Cruising to the finish line with Heike, Tracey Whelan (2:20:39) gave it her all and then some, coming to a halt with her customary smile and elegance. Moving up in distance from her exploits in the Great Island 10, Gillian Cronin (2:22:26) proved she sure has what it takes, marking a fine debut for herself in the rain and wind, then being smothered with well wishes and hugs from all of her clubmates watching at the finish line.