Michael Harty and Lizzie Lee shine again at Cloyne 5km
East Cork runners Michael Furlong, Annelise Hutch and Stephen O'Brien at the Cloyne 5km. Picture: John Walshe
LOCAL HERO Michael Harty of the East Cork club was again out on his own when winning the Cloyne 5km, while in the women’s race Lizzie Lee notched up her second race victory in three days.
Harty, 42, the current Cork senior cross-country champion, had won around his local roads last year when the distance was five miles but the shorter journey made no difference as he crossed the line in a time of 14:53, the same as he ran for the recent Dublin Docklands 5km.
Robert Troy of Liscarroll AC – fourth in the Irish Schools senior boys steeplechase – was a surprising second in 15:37 with Tony Forristal (East Cork) again maintaining his consistent form to take third in 15:41.
Jamie Hayes (Cork TC) was fourth in 15:53 with Donal Coakley from Leevale – a close second to James McCarthy the night before at the DePuy Synthes four-mile – finishing fifth.
“I’m delighted with the win, no matter what kind of shape you’re in it always brings a small bit of extra pressure when you’re running locally,” admitted the winner. “We had perfect conditions and the crowds here in Cloyne as usual were great, they always come out and get behind a local athlete whether you’re a runner or a hurler.”
Harty had also some words of praise for the young runner-up, Robert Troy. “Fair play to him, I don’t know who he is but there’s certainly a lot of improvement there, there’s plenty more to come and tonight will give him a great boost of confidence.”
Three nights after setting a course record over four miles at Dromcollogher, Lee’s time on this occasion of 16:51 was just eight seconds outside the Cloyne record of 16:43 held by her Leevale clubmate Jessica Coyne. This, remarkably, was the 2016 Olympian’s 10th consecutive victory on the roads since early April.
Another of the Leevale squad, Nadine Forde, took second in 18:15 while Vicki Spiteri (Midleton) was third in 19:17, two seconds ahead of Louise Morgan from the Ferrybank club in Waterford.
Sponsored by Harty Tax Consulting and The Porterhouse, with facilities and refreshments supplied by Harty’s Bar & Restaurant, the race was organised by Cloyne District Community Council in conjunction with East Cork AC.
1 M Harty (East Cork, M40) 14:53; 2 R Troy (Liscarroll, MJ) 15:37; 3 T Forristal (East Cork) 15:41; 4 J Hayes (Cork TC) 15:53; 5 D Coakley (Leevale) 16:05; 6 H Richardson (Leevale) 16:16.
2 P Cashman (Watergrasshill) 16:35; 3 K Ince (Eagle) 16:48.
1 D O’Sullivan (Carrigtwohill) 17:33; 2 P Troy (Ballintotis F4L) 17:52; 3 S Meyler (Ballymore-Cobh) 18:46.
1 M Hennessy (East Cork) 18:34; 2 E Nicholson (Youghal) 19:53; 3 S Sweeney (Togher) 20:14.
1 B Linehan (Grange-Fermoy) 19:58; 2 D O’Callaghan (Eagle) 21:38; 3 K Moran (Midleton) 22:24.
1 M Concannon (West Waterford) 21:33; 2 D Cronin (Mallow) 22:39; 3 D McCarthy (East Cork) 24:17.
1 J Collins (Leevale) 19:47; 2 S O’Mahony (Youghal) 23:12; 3 J Power (Midleton) 23:18.
1 J Walshe (RRC) 27:35; 2 P Dempsey (unatt) 28:16.
2 G Murphy (unatt) 18:11; 3 J Nicholson (unatt) 19:39.
1 L Lee (Leevale, F40) 16:51; 2 N Forde (Leevale, F40) 18:15; 3 V Spiteri (Midleton, F35) 19:17; 4 L Morgan (Ferrybank, F40) 19:19; 5 L O’Sullivan (Watergrasshill, F50) 19:36; 6 A Hutch (East Cork) 20:00.
2 C Kelly (East Cork) 20:23; 3 A McNamara (Midleton) 20:36.
1 M-L Seymour (Grange-Fermoy) 21:46; 2 S Fitzgerald (Aghada RC) 21:56; 3 C O’Brien (East Cork) 23:36.
2 A Crowley (East Cork) 20:50; 3 H Leonard (unatt) 22:28.
1 B Sheedy (Midleton) 22:47; 2 M O’Mahony (Youghal) 25:50; 3 M Molloy (Ballintotis F4L) 28:47.
1 K Cronin (Mallow) 24:03; 2 M Slattery (unatt) 32:17.
1 J McCarthy (Midleton) 33:41.
1 K Hennessy (Midleton) 20:14.
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