Emmet Jennings and Meghan Ryan thrived in the swelteringly hot sunshine of the Phoenix Park this morning, with the Dundrum South Dublin duo collecting the gold medals in their respective National 5 Mile Championship races which took place in conjunction with the Irish Runner 5 Mile (June 11th).
Jennings (Dundrum South Dublin A.C.) went toe-to-toe with Clare’s Jake O’Regan (St Johns AC) from the gun in the men’s race, with the pair pulling away from the field over the opening miles before settling down to a final mile duel which would see Jennings ultimately cross in a winning time of 24:27, two seconds ahead of O’Regan in 24:29.
Speaking after the race Jennings said: “It was a tough battle with Jake in the end, it came down to the wire and we were hurting at that point, but I’m very happy to come out on top”.
David Troy (Lucan Harriers A.C.) and Stephen Conroy (Celbridge AC) battled it out for bronze, with Troy just getting the better of the Celbridge athlete in a time of 25:20 to back up his fine performance in the national 5k last month.
Liffey Valley AC are making a habit of claiming medals at the national 5 mile and walked away with gold this year thanks to a fine showing from Geoffrey Alexandre, Mark Nylor, Pierce Geoghegan, and Sergey Dolgy.
The women’s race was somewhat easier to predict at the halfway point with Ryan looking particularly strong and showing no ill effects from her mini marathon exertions last week.
The DSD star would lead her club to the senior team title while also collecting her first national senior title in a time of 28.07. Ryan was followed home by Edel Gaffney (Trim A.C.) 29:32 and
Sorcha McCallister (Dublin City Harriers A.C.) 29:46 who collected the silver and bronze respectively.
Speaking after the race Ryan said: “I felt really good….I raced the mini marathon last weekend and I was a bit disappointed so I wanted to come back and redeem myself today so I’m really glad that I did that”.
Ryan’s win was backed up by excellent performances from her clubmates Serena Tuffy and
Fiona Clinton which saw DSD with almost 90 seconds to spare over their nearest challenger in the team standings.
Select Results
Men Result:
1» Emmet JENNINGS Dundrum South Dublin A.C. 24:27
2» Jake O’REGAN St. Johns A.C.24:29
3» David TROY Lucan Harriers A.C. 25:20
Women Result:
1 Meghan RYAN Dundrum South Dublin A.C. 28:07
2 Edel GAFFNEY Trim A.C. 29:32
3 Sorcha MCALLISTER Dublin City Harriers A.C. 29:46
Men Senior Team:
1 Liffey Valley A.C. 01:47:49
2 Donore Harriers A.C. 01:53:09
3 West Waterford A.C. 01:55:06
Women Senior Team:
1 Dundrum South Dublin A.C. 01:30:54
2 Dublin City Harriers A.C. 01:32:19
3 Raheny Shamrock A.C. 01:34:05
Provisional Team Results: HERE
Notes:
The next National Road Race is the 10 Mile which takes place in the Phoenix Park on July 23rd. Entry available HERE.
