A special report on the Leitrim 5 by Joe McCann
On a day of great disappointment for many who eagerly awaited a great display, those who witnessed the spectacle of the Leitrim 5 Mile road race were treated to ‘a festival of speed’ as the ‘flying’ Brendan Teer of East Down AC recorded his fourth consecutive win in an event he has come to dominate. Despite having raced in the Carlingford 5k the previous evening, recording an impressive sub 15:30 for the 3.1 course, the perennial race favourite was in imperious form as he controlled the race in the early stages before making a decisive move.
As the athletes left Fontenoy Park, Teer was joined by Melville and O’Flaherty as the elite trio moved away from the rest of the field. The pace was somewhat pedestrian for the opening mile, evidenced by the fact that some of the less speedy Newcastle AC athletes were hanging on their shirt-tails. However, as the pace increased and the hills were tackled, the gaps opened and the filed became less bunched. Ray Carolan from Carrickmacross was having a great run just off the leading trio and would break the 30 minute barrier (29:46) in securing a fine fourth place and winning the V40 prize. As the leaders approached the end of the second mile (a hilly one to say the least!) Melville was dropping off the pace, leaving O’Flaherty on his own trying to cause an upset. However, as mile 4 took the runners to the Backaderry crossroads, Teer made the decisive race winning move. He was able to move away and win with 54 seconds to spare. O’Flaherty finished strong and was comfortable in second, 42 seconds ahead of Melville who took the third podium spot. Both NAC men can be pleased with their times on a testing course. Best of the rest for Newcastle AC went to the impressive Paul Byrne, who on the advice of The Prophet paced the race perfectly, picking off one or two places in the final mile. He was the subject of much admiration amongst almost all of his club mates during the warm-down!!!
The Ladies race was won in some style by Laura Graham in a very fast 31:39. With only weeks remaining to the transfer deadline and the closing of the window, Laura is being compared to a high scoring centre forward – plenty of talent and delivers results. She left the prize giving with forms to join several clubs! Sinead Murtagh was second in 32:38, declaring that she let the Prophet and DJ Normski pass her to take the bad look of them – such candour can only be admired. Cheryl Denvir of East Down completed the female podium.
Further down the field there were many personal battles and many personal bests. Nowhere was this more evident than in the form for fast starting and faster finishing Frank Cunningham, who severely dented the confidence of Rodgers the younger with a dazzling turn of speed that had not been witnessed since Frank’s opening 100m – pity about the 4.8 in between!!!). Rodgers was sanguine in defeat claiming that his colleague’s burst of speed ensured that he was able to dip under the magic 35 minute barrier. All ended well!
After the agony came the ecstasy in the form of the now infamous spread laid on by the host club. There was enough food to cater for a small nation and the portion sizes can only be described as man-size (it was noted that Aidan brown went for seconds and potentially doubled his body weight!!!). The tay flowed in abundance like a river in the monsoon season and as if by magic, buns appeared – it was difficult to assess which of the Rodgers’ brothers had the biggest smile at this favourable turn of events. All ate until they were as full as a butcher’s dog, while Dan Morgan managed to thank half of county Down and a few others beyond it in an oration that has ‘future Oscar nomination’ written all over it.
Perhaps the biggest winner of the day was Joe Quinn who not only won the V60 category, but was treated to the full, unabridged tale of the Armagh 10 – a tale seldom told and known only to those initiated in the way of running truth!!! There is always a lesson to be learned and for this great servant of athletics in the area the lesson is to learn to suffer fools less willingly in future!
Well done also to the sixty competitors of all ages who took part in the fun run earlier in the day. It was great to see so many younger athletes complete the course and some leaving their parents trailing in their wake in the closing stages. Finally, in a greatly redacted version of Chairman Dan’s words, Leitrim GAC would like to thank everyone involved in organising and sponsoring the event. To all you athletes and would-be athletes out there, watch this space for details of this event in 2016 and become part of ‘Ireland’s friendliest race’. Full Results and Category Winners
