Posted Date: 03-Apr-2008 Thurs

Carndonagh based athlete Karol Doherty took second place in the wheelchair section of the Omagh half marathon on Saturday last. With wet conditions during the early stages of the race, Doherty was delighted with his time of 79 minutes. His early season form has been impressive as he opened his road season with a 17.09 personal best in the Gransha 5k in mid March. Oliver McGeehan followed his strong run in Larne a week earlier with a season’s best of 85 minutes and 31 seconds in Omagh. The Sligo based fitness instructor is well on schedule of achieving his target of breaking the three hour barrier in the Hamburg marathon on 27 April. Patrick Mc Laughlin finished impressively in 1 hour 33 minutes, with Peter White just 20 seconds behind. Katrina Ruddy completed the 13.1 mile event in a solid 1 hour and 45 minutes. Brigid Mohan was comfortably under the 2 hour mark in 1.55. Clive Bell and Margaret O’ Donnell also showed good early season form with strong performances from both athletes in preparation for spring marathons. Clive is running the Belfast marathon on May 5, while Margaret will run in the Boston marathon on 21 April.
Elsewhere, Theresa Doherty ran 12.41 for the Easter Sunday race 3k in Letterkenny, while Eilish Bell finished in 12.55.

Up-Coming Events

Helena Crossan travels to Oughterard in Co. Galway this weekend to defend her Connemara ultra marathon (39.3 miles) title. Last year, Helena stormed to an impressive victory in the women’s race in a new course record of 4 hours and 51 minutes, finishing fourth overall. Conor Collins and Declan Donaghey will also be traveling down the country as they compete in the All-Ireland indoor championships in Nenagh, Co.Tipperary. Declan will compete in the U 13 boys long jump, while Conor will race in the U 18 boys 400m. Both secured their qualification for the All-Ireland’s by finishing third in the Ulster indoor championships in Magherafelt.

Fit for Life

On Tuesday 8th April, the Club will be launching the ‘Fit for Life’ initiative at 6.15 pm at the Buncrana Leisure Centre. This is aimed at people over 18 years of age who wish to start recreational walking/jogging on a regular basis. As the name of the initiative suggests, its main aim is to help participants enjoy the health benefits of regular aerobic exercise. People of all abilities and fitness levels are very welcome to come along and wear appropriate footwear and clothing for walking/jogging. There will be on-going help and advice on training, nutrition and other aspects of regular exercise. The cost for registration for this initiative is € 35.