Leevale AC runners Michelle Finn and Ryan Creech win the Glanworth 10km race

Two top-class races up front by both winners marked the annual Grange-Fermoy promoted 10km road race which took place for the second year at Glanworth.

It’s not often that you see a sub-30 minute time in a local race but not just one but two runners broke that barrier as Ryan Creech of Leevale prevailed by 18 seconds over Paul Hartnett (East Cork) as they recorded respective times of 29:26 and 29:44.

“Paul and myself took it out hard for the first 3km,” explained Glanmire-native Creech. 

“We were even enough at that stage but then when we hit the first couple of hills I knew I had to put in a bit of an effort to break him, so after that I just kept the distance.” 

Creech had previously won this race on three occasions when it was held on the outskirts of Fermoy but was delighted with his first appearance at Glanworth. 

“The new course is fabulous; if there was a good group of us together here you could easily see a sub-29 time. 

"I love the club here, they’re a great bunch.” 

Sixth overall and second Irishman in a personal best of 2:11:42 at Dublin back in October, Creech is now targeting the Seville Marathon on February 15. 

This was the race where he ran his previous best of 2:12:28 two years ago.

“After Dublin I took a bit of time off but then the last eight weeks have been really hard, the mileage is really high. 

"So to spin the legs at that speed today is always good. The plan in Seville is hopefully to run close to 2:10, or maybe to sneak inside it, so we’ll see.” 

Mark Walsh (Leevale) took third spot in 31:16 as just 15 seconds covered positions from third to sixth.

After missing most of 2025 due to injury, Olympian Michelle Finn won her second race in three days when taking the honours in a time of 33:41.

However, she had to work hard all the way as her much-improved Leevale clubmate Jessica Coyne was just 16 second in arrears at the line.

“The course was pretty fast, I felt fairly comfortable actually and was happy enough to get a gap on Jess and once I did I didn’t really mind about the time,” said the winner.

With a prize list that covered every category, long-sleeve T-shirts for early entrants and much appreciated hot refreshments in the local hall, this was another promotion the Grange-Fermoy club can be justifiably proud of.

Results:

Men:

1 R Creech (Leevale) 29:26; 2 P Hartnett (East Cork) 29:44; 3 M Walsh (Leevale) 31:16; 4 S Ciobanu (Cloniffe, M40) 31:21; 5 S Davin (St Finbarrs) 31:27; 6 D Madigan (North Cork) 31:31.

Women:

1 M Finn (Leevale, F35) 33:41; 2 J Coyne (Leevale) 33:57; 3 L Dermody (Castlecomer) 35:45; 4 N Moore (Leevale) 35:47; 5 M Kenny (Leevale, F45) 35:52; 6 K Tideswell (Clonmel, F40) 36:46.