The National Masters Track and Field Championships were held last weekend in Santry
and it was great to see Club members perform so well. The day got off to a great start
when John Laste competed in the over 50 5K walk. John made a great recovery from an
injury over the past four weeks and went to the start line with confidence. He went off
with the early pace and soon settled into a good pace, he maintained that effort to win
the Silver medal in 33 mins 56 secs, great to see John back competing well again. Then
we had the 1500m races and here Patrick Davoren represented the Club in the Men’s
over 45 race. The race started and soon a group of six athletes set the pace with Patrick
on the shoulder of the leader watching every move. This group stayed together and with
600m to go the six were tightly bunched. Then with 500m to go, Patrick made his move
going clear and reaching the bell in 3 mins 31 secs with the group hot on his heels.
Patrick then increased the pace and soon open a good lead, a lead he held all the way
to the line to win convincingly in 4 mins 36.36 secs. This was a brilliant performance by
Patrick who was rolling back the years at National level, great to see Patrick running so
well again. Two great performances by Club coaches. In the women’s 3000m race we
had Angela McCann competing in the over 45 final. The race started and Angela was
well positioned throughout the race. Midway through the race Angela was leading the
chasing pack and she maintained a strong effort over the closing stages when finishing
4th in 11 mins 7.13 secs, great performance and delighted to see Angela running well
again.
Later in the day Mick Pender competed in the Men’s over 50 400m final. Mick was drawn
in the outside lane. The race started and Mick went out strong and maintain a good
pace. Then as they reached the 200m mark, Mick upped the tempo and coming off the
final bend was in front and he maintained that strong rhythm down the finishing straight
to win the Gold medal in 59.67secs brilliant performance. The final event of the day
was the Men’s 5000m and here we had Conor Fleming competing in the over 50 event.
Conor went with the early pace and midway through the race he was leading the
chasing pack. Conor kept the pace going and ran well over the closing stages when
finishing 7th in 18 mins 16.17 secs, great running. This was a great weekend for Club
members and it was great to see them all acquitting themselves on the National stage.