A LARGE entry of over 260 runners and a close and exciting contest up front marked the Cork County Road Championships at Castlelyons which, as usual, was efficiently organised by the local St Nicholas club.

Held over a four-mile circuit, a group of eight soon formed at the front, going through the opening mile in a speedy 4:45. Togher athlete Liam Harris - in his first race for six months - was already dictating the pace. Although he opened up a gap as the race progressed, Harris’ margin of victory at the line was just three seconds from Anthony Mannix of the Cork Track Club, 20:07 to 20:10.

There was a great battle for third with James McCarthy (East Cork) getting the verdict over another Cork TC man, Barry Donovan, by one second. McCarthy had finished second last year but on this occasion, his time of 20:18 was 23 seconds quicker.

“It’s my first county four-miler so it was nice to get the win,” said Harris, a former scholarship athlete at the famed Providence College in the US. “This is my first race since the Amsterdam Half-Marathon in September. I was injured for five weeks before Christmas, then got Covid and was back a few weeks before getting a quad injury, so it’s been a bit of a roller-coaster.” 

An accomplished track athlete over a variety of distances, the 25-year-old will now concentrate on that surface over the summer where he hopes to run a few fast times over 1500m and the 3000m steeplechase.

Fiona Santry of East Cork had an easier victory in the women’s race, her time of 22:39 giving her 14 seconds to spare over Michelle Kenny from Leevale (22:23) while Orla Byrne (St Finbarr’s) third place in 23:33 also gained her the novice title.

Santry’s win marked a great winter season which saw her win the National Masters F35 title in February to add to her national senior silver medal with Cork back in November. “It was nice to be in with the men today, the last time I ran here the men and women were separate,” she admitted.

“I went out hard from the start, I suppose the next aim now will be the Ballintotis race next month and then I’ll pick a few more races and maybe a bit of track in the summer.” 

RESULTS

Men:

1 L Harris (Togher) 20:07; 2 A Mannix (Cork TC) 20:10; 3 J McCarthy (East Cork, M35) 20:18; 4 B Donovan (Cork TC) 20:19; 5 D Mulcahy (St Finbarrs) 20:24; 6 A Forristal (Midleton, Nov) 20:28.

Novice: 2 B Twohig (St Finbarrs, M40) 20:36; 3 R O’Connell (Togher, M40) 21:07.

M35: 2 M Horrigan (East Cork) 21:20; 3 E O’Keeffe (St Finbarrs) 21:37.

M40: 1 B Twohig 20:36; 2 J Meade (St Finbarrs) 20:40; 3 R O’Connell 21:07.

M45: 1 K Kelly (Youghal) 21:22; 2 K McKeown (Grange-Fermoy) 21:35; 3 S Ahern (Youghal) 23:07.

M50: 1 S McSweeney (St Nicholas) 21:40; 2 L O’Connell (Grange-Fermoy) 21:46; 3 J Murphy (Grange-Fermoy) 23:02.

M55: 1 P Sheehan (Millstreet) 23:48; 2 E Meade (East Cork) 25:25; 3 J Casey (Togher) 25:27.

M60: 1 M Lynch (Eagle) 24:22; 2 M McGrath (Eagle) 25:12; 3 D Browne (Eagle) 26:12.

M65: 1 J Collins (Leevale) 25:32; 2 E McEvoy (St Finbarrs) 25:53; 3 B Anglim (Ballymore-Cobh) 27:45.

M70: 1 K Higgs (Eagle) 30:09; 2 R Piotrowski (Eagle) 30:34; 3 D Kennedy (St Finbarrs) 30:42.

M80: 1 T Dunne (Grange-Fermoy) 38:42; 2 B Caball (St Finbarrs) 44:31.

Team: (Senior) 1 St Finbarrs 30; 2 Togher 37; 3 East Cork 53. (Novice) 1 St Finbarrs 29; 2 Togher 42; 3 East Cork 49. (M35+) 1 East Cork 24; 2 St Finbarrs 26; 3 Grange-Fermoy 68. (M50+) 1 Grange-Fermoy 9; 2 Mallow 36; 3 Eagle 47.

Women:

1 F Santry (East Cork, F35) 22:39; 2 M Kenny (Leevale, F40) 22:53; 3 O Byrne (St Finbarrs, Nov) 23:33; 4 H Carroll (Blarney-Inniscarra, Nov) 24:13; 5 R McEvoy (St Finbarrs, Nov) 24:27; 6 L Browne (St Finbarrs, Nov) 24:35.

F35: 2 S Alcock (Ballymore-Cobh) 25:11; 3 N Sheean (Togher) 27:09.

F40: 2 O McCarthy (St Nicholas) 25:38; 3 N Forde (Leevale) 25:51.

F45: 1 N Cronin (St Finbarrs) 24:52; 2 A Borkowska (Mallow) 25:44; 3 L Crowley (Watergrasshill) 25:54.

F50: 1 A Crowley (East Cork) 26:26; 2 S O’Leary (Midleton) 27:21; 3 G Schun (Leevale) 28:55.

F55: 1 C Fitzgibbon (Grange-Fermoy) 27:13; 2 B Sheedy (Midleton) 28:59; 3 N Barrett (Mallow) 34:37.

F60: 1 L Feeney (St Catherines) 36:25; 2 M Mulcahy (St Finbarrs) 37:28; 3 A Cooney (Midleton) 38:49.

F65: 1 J McCarthy (Midleton) 42:21.

F70: 1 M Dunne (Grange-Fermoy) 59:18.

Team: (Senior) 1 St Finbarrs 21; 2 East Cork 50; 3 Togher 71. (Novice) 1 St Finbarrs 13; 2 Togher 54; 3 East Cork 68. (F35+) 1 East Cork 31; 2 Leevale; 3 Midleton. (F45+) 1 St Finbarrs 21; 2 Mallow 24; 3 Midleton 35.