 The final race in the Nike Ballycotton five mile road race series was held tonight in Ballycotton itself. Much of the pre-race attention focused on the overall positions, with Leevale’s James McGee leading by just one second from William Harty of West Waterford. From the gun it was Harty who raced into the lead, a tactic he regularly employs in his races, while another youngster, James Grufferty of Leevale, raced alongside, both reaching the mile mark in 4:45. However, they were joined shortly after by the much more experienced Garrett Barry of North Cork, with Peter Duggan of St. Josephs, James McGee, and John Kearney in close attention. Barry didn’t hang about and quickly opened up a gap between himself and the others. By the three mile mark he was well clear of Kearney and Harty, with Duggan and McGee finding the going tough. With a mile to go Harty fell away from Kearney, but they were a long way adrift of Barry who won in time of 24:59, with Kearney second in 25:32, Harty (25:44), Duggan (25:51), McGee (26:08), Billy O’Rourke (26:11), Ian O’Sullivan (26:42), Eric Meade (26:49). The result meant that Harty won the overall series award ahead of McGee, with Billy O’Rourke third. |
