WITH the cross country season coming to a close and the new road season not yet in full flight, there was a dearth of events over the weekend.
It gave Letterkenny AC runners an opportunity to get in valuable training miles.
However, a small number of LAC runners did manage to engage in competitive action, a few locally in Letterkenny and, one, as far away as Glasgow.
John McCallion had an outstanding run in the 1500m at the Northern Ireland and Ulster Indoor Track and Field Championship in Abbotstown. John’s time of 4.16.42 saw him come home in a highly creditable third place. The winner was Acorns AC’s Matthew Neill in 4.06.09.
Kathryn McDevitt was also in indoor track action. On Sunday, she put on a trilogy of terrific performances in the W35 category at the Scottish Masters’ Indoor Track and Field Championship.
It was held in the Emirates Arena in the east end of Glasgow. Kathryn took Gold in the 400 metre race, in a time of 65.08 seconds.
Her victory was an example of perfect timing. Going into the last 100m, five runners were ahead of Kathryn and she overtook all five in that final quarter of the event.
Kathryn then took second place in the 200m, in an excellent time of 28.23 seconds. A wonderful afternoon in Glasgow was completed with a bronze medal in the short, but very tough, 60m; an event in which there is no room for error or poor starts. Her time was 8.66 seconds.
Cathal Roarty was the first LAC runner across the line in Saturday morning’s Letterkenny Parkrun. Cathal, running in his 87th parkrun, was seventh overall, first in the M55 category and finished in 23.35. John Doherty and his guide runner, Paul Lee, crossed the line in 25.18. Paul was second in the M50 category. James McBride was the leading M65 runner in 26.51.
Peter McLean, now just three short of the century mark, finished in 30.39.
Over 100 runners completed the event, which was won by Mark O’Donnell in 19.58.
