Sharon Rynne and Ruairí Casey first past the line in Sterling 5k at Ringaskiddy

Sharon Rynne continued on her good form on the road with victory for the second year at the Sterling 5km while Ruairi Casey continued his comeback from injury with first place overall.

The name of the promoting company may have changed from Novartis to Sterling, but this one lap circuit at Ringaskiddy remains the same as it has been since this race began under the auspices of the Cork BHAA back in 1998.

For Clare native Rynne, who won the national F35 cross-country title back in February, it was a repeat victory but on this occasion she was almost a minute quicker than last year. 

Her time of 18:17 gave her a comfortable margin over the consistent Linda O’Connor who recorded 19:21 with Brid Hearne taking third in 19:35.

“I’m delighted with that, it’s a tough race with a lot of ups and downs,” admitted Rynne, who does her club running with Leevale but was here representing her employers Kepak in the BHAA promotion.

“The first mile went off fairly lively, there was a bit of a group but I fell off of that. 

One of the lads I train with then passed me so I was trying to keep him in my sight but I ran the last mile-and-a-half on my own. 

"It’s not easy to get a win in Cork, so I’ll take then when they come about.” 

In recent weeks, Togher athlete Casey had a fourth and a third on the road so he too was delighted with a victory in what was his first appearance in the race. 

Better known as a track runner, his last serious competitive outing was two years ago when he made the final of the national senior 1500m.

“I kind of took a bit of a step back after that so the ambition now is hopefully to get back on the track again for next season,” explained the 26-year-old who crossed the line in a time of 16:07. 

“There were three of us together for the first half of the race and I pushed on after that, so it was nice to win.” 

Carraig na bhFear athlete Timmy Hawkins took second in 16:21 with Damien Murphy from West Waterford finishing third in 16:28. 

However, as he wasn’t BHAA registered, the third prize went to Peter Moreland who finished fourth in 16:53.

Results:

Men:

1 R Casey (CITCO) 16:07; 2 T Hawkins (Janssen) 16:21; 3 D Murphy (temp-reg) 16:28; 4 P Moreland (Cork City FC, M40) 16:53; 5 P Cashman (Elevate Credit Union, M45) 17:10; 6 M McGarry (temp-reg) 17:20.

Team: (Grade A) 1 UCC 33; 2 Musgrave 104; 3 Dell Technologies 155. (Grade B) 1 Janssen 150; 2 UCC 163; 3 Uisce Eireann 187. (Grade C) 1 Midleton Collective 209; 2 Apple 215; 3 MTU 218.

Women:

1 S Rynne (Kepak, F35) 18:17; 2 L O’Connor (Musgrave, F50) 19:21; 3 B Hearne (HSE, F40) 19:35; 4 K Hennessy (Hennessy Farm Ltd) 20:12; 5 N O’Driscoll (CUH) 20:20; 6 S Holland (Sterling, F45) 20:24.

Team: (Grade A) 1 SOL Learning 154; 2 Hennessy Farm Ltd 157. (Grade B) 1 Sterling 207; 2 UCC 249. (Grade C) 1 CUH 270; 2 Pure Boutique 304.