The annual St. Patrick’s Day parade in Cork once again featured the 60m dash to determine the Fastest Man and Woman in Ireland. The race was again generously sponsored by The Market Tavern, sponsorship that gives sprinters the opportunity to compete for valuable prizes, something that is generally reserved for participants in road races. The womens race saw the runners in tense mood with three false starts before the runners got away, but it ended up a thriller with three runners crossing the line together in a blanket finish. Victory went to Sharon Kelly of Leevale who was just a fraction ahead of Shauna O’Brien of Carrick on Suir, with Derval O’Rourke of Leevale third. The mens race showed just why Donal McCarthy of Leevale is the national champion over the distance and why he broke the Irish record in recent times. He took control of the race with twenty metres to go and simply accelerated away from his Leevale colleague Jer O’Donoghue, the National junior champion. Darren Coughlan of Bandon was third.