 Annette Quaid |
 Chris Harrington |
The first senior athletics event was held at the new Tramore Valley Park this morning, following the juvenile cross country meet that was held there during the week. The event was organised by East Cork AC in association with Bishopstown Lions Club and Marymount Hospice. A good-sized field of almost 300 runners took part, amongst them several Leevale athletes eager to go down in the record books as the first winner at the new venue.
They certainly didn’t disappoint, taking individual honours in both men’s and women’s races, and the top positions in the men’s race dominated by Leevale runners. From the off Chris Harrington took control of the race, breaking clear after just 400m from a group that included Tim Twomey, Togher’s Shane Coffey and John Meade of St. Finbarr’s. Chris raced on for an easy victory over the two-lap circuit to finish well ahead of his nearest challenger. Tim Twomey proved strongest of the chasing pack to take 2nd for Leevale. Not far back were Cillian Ó Tuama in 5th and Colm Moore in 8th.
Victory in the women’s race went to Leevale’s Annette Quaid, who finished just inside 18 minutes, ahead of Emma Murphy of St. Finbarr’s. Nollaig Hunter ran her first race in some time and had a good run to finish 5th.
The park will be open to the public next year and, with a bit more work, should be a fine facility. Hopefully athletics events will become a regular feature there over the coming years.
Tramore Valley Park 5K Road Race, Sat 26 Nov 2011, 11:00am
| 1 | Chris Harrington | Leevale AC | 15:43 |
| 2 | Tim Twomey | Leevale AC | 16:20 |
| 3 | Shane Coffey | Togher AC | 16:30 |
| 4 | John Meade | St. Finbarr’s AC | 16:38 |
| 5 | Cillian Ó Tuama | Leevale AC | 16:44 |
| 6 | Tim O’Connor | Riocht AC | 17:00 |
| 8 | Colm Moore | Leevale AC | 17:08 |
| 1F | Annette Quaid | Leevale AC | 17:58 |
| 2 M50 | John Collins | Leevale AC | 18:17 |
| 5F | Nollaig Hunter | Leevale AC | 19:32 |
Full results
Leevale results
Results courtesy of John Walshe