The Raheny Shamrock women’s team stole the show at the national road relays held in Raheny village.
Two gold and one bronze was brought back by Clare Fox’s team as the host club took home the prize as club of the competition.
The day started with great success, Zoe Quinn, Kate Purcell and Siobhan Eviston securing an excellent masters women’s 35 gold medal.
Purcell’s fantastic second leg setting it up for Eviston to seal victory some seven seconds clear of Finn Valley. Sportsworld took bronze.
Our B team of Mary Walsh, Carmel Ward and Anne Marie Martin took eighth place, while our C team of Aileen Cooke, Bernadette Bruen and Sharon Keilthy took 14th place.
There was great success for the masters women’s 50 team of Trish Fitzgerald, Annette Kealy and Adrienne Atkins who took gold some two minutes clear of Lucan Harriers with Drogheda & District third.
Our B team of Patricia O’Cleirigh, Orla Gormley and Lorraine Byrne took fourth place.
In a very competitive masters men 35, our team of David Kirwin, Mark Kirwan and Ian Conroy took fifth place. A race that was won by Brothers Pearse with East Cork second and Donore Harriers third.
Our C team of Simon Devenney, Graham Ahearne and Paul Gannon took 14th place with our D team of Andy Kelly, James Cassidy and John Clarke 22nd.
The men’s masters 50 was next on the agenda, making its debut as a standalone race with 11 team taking the line.
Our team of Dave Woods, Brian Kelly and Mark McComish took fifth place with a very straonge Ratfarnham WSAF team taking gold followed by Clonliffe and Donore.
Our B Team of Eamonn Traynor, Keith Fleming and Denis Murphy were ninth with the C team of Dave Feeney, David O’Hara and Niall Buckley finishing 10th.
The senior women’s race was a line-up of high standard with our team taking a very impressive bronze medal.
Leevale took gold their side containing Olympian’s Lizzie Lee and Michelle Finn. Rathfarnham took silver with the team of Lucy Barrett, Niamh Kearney and Iseult O’Donnell taking a very impressive bronze, some 13 seconds clear of defending champions UCD.
Our B team of Siomha Magee, Aine Crimin and Roisin Leahy took 13th, with our C team of Caroline Kavanagh, Mairead Roche and Triona O’Dohmnaill 18. Our D team of Blaithin Shiel, Jenny O’Sullivan and Deirbhile O’Keeffe were 24th and our E team of Isobel Dunne, Mary Cronin and Clodagh Foley were 27th.
So it came to the final race of the day, a very impressive Clonliffe Harriers defending their title successfully with Donore Harriers taking silver.
The bronze became a total battle between St Abbans and Raheny Shamrock with Shane Spring just beaten to the line by Brian Kelly to give St. Abbans their first ever national road relays medals.
Our B team of Dylan O’Brien, Barry Meean, Graham O’Dwyer and Adam Condon took 11th place with our C team of Kevin Byrne, Martin McKenna, Aaron Tansey and Garreth Hogan 18th
A very good performance by all who took part.
At the end of the day with all the team points added up it was Raheny Shamrock who won back the Paddy Boland Cup as team of the competition two points ahead of joint second placed Rathfarnham and Clonliffe Harriers.
A good day at home!
