Bweeng 5k was another success for the North Cork club

Wed, 24 May, 2023 - 19:46

John Walshe

THOUGH course record holders Jake O’Regan and Lizzie Lee were absent, two exciting races - both won by Leevale athletes – made the annual Bweeng 5km in North Cork another successful venture.

Eric Curran, third last year, bided his time in the early stages before moving away over the second half to win in a time of 15:34, 16 seconds clear of his Leevale clubmate Tom McKenzie. Andy Goulding of Grange-Fermoy had a fine run to finish third just four seconds further back in 15:54.

“I’m delighted to win; I tried to go off conservatively down the hill and save it a bit for the later stages of the race. At the turn, I made a move for it and I got about a 10-15 second lead and then coming into 4km I knew I was fairly safe,” said the winner.

Niamh Moore, first in the women's race at the Bweeng 5km, receiving her prize from Patrick Murphy of Murphy Browne Auctioneers, main race sponsor. Picture: John Walshe

The women’s race was even closer as Niamh Moore, second two years ago, battled all the way with Martina Kiely of St Finbarr’s to cross the line just four seconds ahead, 17:15 to 17:19. Orla Byrne, also St Finbarr’s, finished third in 17:51.

“We ran the whole race together, hitting the town we both took off and we were both flat out when we crossed the line,” admitted Moore.

Seamus Kelleher, Sean Powell, Derek O'Flynn, Aoife O'Flynn and James Byrne at the Bweeng 5km. Picture: John Walshe

Both winners had different objectives after the race. Moore was heading to Belfast on the Saturday afterwards where she was dropping down to the 1500m at the Irish Milers Meet while Curran is targeting the Cork Half-Marathon on the June weekend which will be his debut at the distance.

The race was once again superbly organised by Brian Ahern and his Bweeng Trail Blazers club. There were prizes for the top three in each category, a huge spread of food and adjacent parking facilities.

Also, all profits from the modest €15 entry go towards the construction of a 200m all-weather track this progressive club has just undertaken.

Results

Men:

1 E Curran (Leevale) 15:34; 2 T McKenzie (Leevale) 15:50; 3 A Goulding (Grange-Fermoy) 15:54; 4 D O’Leary (Killarney-Valley) 15:56; 5 A Sheehan (Clonakilty RR) 16:00; 6 K Lenihan (West Limerick, M45) 16:06.

M40: 1 J Goggin (St Finbarrs) 16:38; 2 B Caffrey (Riocht) 17:12; 3 A McGivney (Mallow) 17:28.

M45: 2 K Kelly (Youghal) 16:12; 3 A Davis (Leevale) 16:41.

M50: 1 C Diviney (Crusaders) 16:24; 2 D Barrow (Mallow) 17:58; 3 J Kelly (unatt) 18:25.

M55: 1 P Sheahan (Millstreet) 18:11; 2 K Twomey (unatt) 19:22; 3 W O’Connor (Galtee) 19:25.

M60: 1 K Griffin (Riocht) 18:13; 2 M Lynch (Eagle) 18:23; 3 D Carroll (Eagle) 22:51.

M65: 1 E McEvoy (St Finbarrs) 19:49; 2 N Aherne (Midleton) 20:36; 3 S Kelleher (Mallow) 22:57.

M70: 1 K Higgs (Eagle) 23:14; 2 J Walshe (RRC) 26:33; 3 D Condon (St Finbarrs) 32:27.

Women:

1 N Moore (Leevale) 17:15; 2 M Kiely (St Finbarrs, F40) 17:19; 3 O Byrne (St Finbarrs) 17:51; 4 S Rynne (Kilmurry-Ibrick NC) 18:02; 5 B Gaffney (Mallow, F50) 18:08; 6 N Forde (Leevale, F40) 18:20.

F40: 3 B McGinn (Donoughmore) 18:29.

F45: 1 A Borkowska (Mallow) 18:54; 2 M O’Sullivan (Marathon Club Ire) 19:48; 3 L Cagney (Togher) 20:05.

F50: 2 H Leonard (Leevale) 22:41; 3 O Nolan (unatt) 23:00.

F55: 1 C Murphy (Gneeveguilla) 20:14; 2 M Buckley (Donoughmore) 20:55; 3 D Duffy (Watergrasshill) 21:17.

F60: 1 M Sweeney (St Finbarrs) 21:24; 2 K Cronin (Mallow) 24:14; 3 M Murphy (Shandrum) 24:31.

F65: 1 B O’Riordan (West Muskerry) 28:55; 2 A Sheehy (St Finbarrs) 30:40; 3 E Twohig (Mount Hillary) 31:06.