Wexford’s road racing season commenced in Kilmore last Sunday morning with the running of the Mr Oil County Novice Road Races. Clear skies, sunny but not overly warm, no wind: perfect conditions. Host club Kilmore AC had a plenty of stewards on duty around the course and a well-stocked coffee van to caffeinate the large band of travelling supporters and to give the runners something to look forward to after their exertions.
The course took in a lap of just over 3km on quiet back roads around the village. It was largely flat with just one gradual gradient on the road out from the village.
The women’s 4km race had a field of 43, 54% up on last year. That there was a result straight away. Annalise Crean (Adamstown) was first to show with Deirdre Waters (Croghan) following at a more conservative, but consistent, pace in her wake. As the race developed, Annalise opened a gap of 20 metres-plus on Deirdre. There was a biggish gap then back to Louise Cosgrave (SBR) in 3rd place, with a group of four 20 metres behind her. The gaps widened as the race developed and by the finish Annalise had 21 seconds on Deirdre with Louise a further 40 seconds back. Louise Harrington (United Striders) was 12 seconds behind her in 4th, her clubmate Sinéad Cullen just 3 seconds further back. The generally open nature of the team race was reflected in the fact that in the top 12 there were two athletes from each of Adamstown, SBR and Menapians, while there were three from United Striders. And it was that good teamwork by Striders which left them in the number one spot when the numbers were totalled. The club’s Lorraine and Sinéad were followed home by Liz Conway in 9th and Stephanie David in 16th, giving them 36 points. SBR were next on 42 points and Menapians on 51 points took 3rd place.
The number competing in the men’s 6km race was also up on last year. There was no clear favourite for individual honours and the team race was seen as being wide open.
The first lap saw the Striders duo of Thomas Harrington and John Byrne along with SBR’s Joe Byrne pulling clear of a chasing group of five – James Doyle (Slaney Olympic), Stephen Dempsey and Brendan Dunne (both SBR), Padraig Cloone (Slaney Olympic) and Pat Murray (US). On the second and final lap Thomas put daylight between himself and a gallant Joe Byrne who tried to give chase. Once John Byrne fell off the pace he found himself working hard to keep his cadence. His main aim from that point was was to hold his place. Harrington sprinted up through the village and across the finish line to win by 10 seconds from Joe. John Byrne was 13 seconds further back and working like a divil to keep SBR’s Brendan Dunne at bay. Hold on he did and he was rewarded with the bronze, Dunne just 5 seconds behind him in 4th.
And so the race for team gold. Striders had four in the top nine; SBR had four in the top ten. Four to score. 1+3+7+9=20 for Striders. 2+4+5+10=21 for SBR. Gold for Striders. Slaney Olympic took the bronze with 43 points.
Mr Oil Wexford Women’s Novice 4km R.R. Results
1 Annalise Crean Adamstown 16.30
2 Deirdre Waters Croghan 16.51
3 Louise Cosgrave SBR 17.31
4 Paula Dempsey Slaney Olympic 17.43
5 Lorraine Harrington United Striders 17.55
6 Sinead Cullen United Striders 17.58
7 Helen Wallace Menapians 18.02
8 Ilze Bedrite Menapians 18.05
9 Liz Conway United Striders 18.15
10 Sian Law SBR 18.25
11 Elaine McDonald Adamstown 18.31
12 Niamh McCarthy Croghan 18.34
13 Paula Gondard Menapians 18.52
14 Ciara Kelly SBR 18.59
15 Deirdre O Malley SBR 19.04
16 Stephanie Davis United Striders 19.17
17 Carol Devereux Kilmore 19.23
18 Helena Murray Kilmore 19.24
19 Bernie Cashin United Striders 19.25
20 Triona Mooney Adamstown 19.41
21 Catherine Redmond United Striders 19.42
22 Margaret Cahill Slaney Olympic 19.47
23 Sarah Bermingham Menapians 19.57
24 Tina Nunnan United Striders 20.05
25 Clodagh Connolly Slaney Olympic 20.14
26 Elaine Stafford Adamstown 20.16
27 Sinead Fortune Kilmore 20.19
28 Ruth Rattigan Croghan 20.22
29 Emma Mooney United Striders 20.25
30 Ciara Kearney Slaney Olympic 20.33
31 Caroline Murphy United Striders 20.42
32 Aine Cullen United Striders 20.45
33 Orla Keogh Slaney Olympic 20.50
34 Aishling Wall United Striders 20.54
35 Claire Hancock Kilmore 21.22
36 Sarah Delaney Croghan 21.25
37 Louise Henderson Menapians 21.39
38 Yvonne O’Connor United Striders 21.48
39 Mary Cronin Menapians 22.32
40 Carol Dowling Menapians 23.20
41 Gráinne Hayes Menapians 23.40
42 Ann O’Reilly United Striders 24.02
43 Samantha Donegan Menapians 28.36
Teams
1 United Striders (36), 2 SBR (42), 3 Menapians (51), 4 Adamstown (58), 5 Croghan (78), 6 Slaney Olympic (81), 7 US 2 (93), 8 Kilmore (97), 9 US 3 (135), 10 Menapians 2 (157)
Mr Oil Wexford Men’s Novice 6km R.R. Results
1 Thomas Harrington United Striders 20.39
2 Joe Byrne SBR 20.49
3 John Byrne United Striders 21.02
4 Brendan Dunne SBR 21.07
5 Stephen Dempsey SBR 21.17
6 James Doyle Slaney Olympic 21.3
7 Thomas Moran United Striders 21.32
8 Padraig Cloone Slaney Olympic 21.40
9 Pat Murray United Striders 21.42
10 Sean Byrne SBR 22.04
11 Paul Browne Slaney Olympic 22.13
12 Colin McShane Croghan 22.16
13 Brian Besanson SBR 22.21
14 Pat Callaghan United Striders 22.23
15 Adrian Doyle SBR 22.24
16 Tony Harpur Menapians 22.25
17 Brian Smyth Menapians 22.43
18 Jimmy Grannell Slaney Olympic 22.47
19 Brian Kelly Croghan 22.55
20 Colin Garry Slaney Olympic 23.04
21 John Cousins Kilmore 23.07
22 Jessie OConnor Slaney Olympic 23.08
23 Sean Doyle Kilmore 23.09
24 John Sinnott Croghan 23.17
25 Michael O’Flaherty Kilmore 23.29
26 Michael Quigley Slaney Olympic 23.3
27 Ken Laffan Croghan 23.37
28 Sean Meaney United Striders 23.39
29 Kenny Rothwell SBR 23.40
30 Dermot Foley Menapians 23.45
31 Niall Crosbie Kilmore 24.03
32 James Herterich Croghan 24.13
33 Eddie Murphy United Striders 24.18
34 Ken Murphy Slaney Olympic 24.25
35 Jesse Kielthy Menapians 24.54
36 Allan Ronan Slaney Olympic 24.57
37 Cian Doyle Kilmore 25.26
38 Finbarr Collins Kilmore 25.39
39 Anthony Foley Kilmore 25.44
40 Rory Cassidy Kilmore 26.10
41 Ger Power Kilmore 26.20
42 Fran Power Menapians 26.27
43 Micheal Kinsella Menapians 27.05
44 Paul O’Meara Menapians 27.05
45 Conor Casey Kilmore 27.19
46 Andrew Cleary Croghan 27.23
47 John Dier Menapians 27.52
48 Tadhg Henderson Menapians 29.21
49 Gaereth Llyod Menapians 29.50
50 David Clancy Menapians 31.54
51 Oliver Stack Menapians 32.17
52 Liam Carroll Menapians 33.17
Teams
1 United Striders (20), 2 SBR (21), 3 Slaney Olympic (43), 4 Croghan (82), 5 Menapians (98), 6 Kilmore (100), 7 Slaney Olympic 2 (102), 8 Kilmore 2 (154), 9 Menapians 2 (176), 10 Menapians 3 (198)