Novartis staged their second annual 5k road race in sunny Ringaskiddy tonight, once again attracting a big entry. The race itself again showed how fit Roy Fahy is right now. Taking the lead from the start he quickly opened up a gap between himself and the rest of the field, with Billy O’Rourke the only one to offer any kind of challenge. Behind, at a respectable distance, there was a close tussle for third between Eamon McEvoy, Jim McHugh and Ian O’Sullivan. However, it was Fahy’s race, and he crossed the line in a winning time of 15:26, some fifteen seconds ahead of O’Rourke who felt he was having his best race in a long time, but simply could not go with the leader. Mary Sheehan had a close win in the womens race from Carmel Parnell of Leevale, her winning time of 17:57 just five seconds ahead of her rival. Louise Murphy of Leevale was third, ahead of Sylvia Dunne and Shelley O’Shea.