Ballymore Cobh AC Roundup – 19th Jan

A fusion of bitterly cold northerly winds, a temperature of 4 degrees, sunshine, ice, a 30 minute delayed start and last-minute changes to the course route couldn’t dampen the spirits of all 527 of the athletes who turned up and completed the annual Cork Business House Athletic Association FMC 4 mile race in Little Island.

The black and amber of Ballymore Cobh A.C. was, of course, there to be seen as the athletes huddled together in the semi-glacial conditions and eagerly awaited the starter’s pistol.

The course itself was a reasonably flat one, with a small number of gentle hills, allowing for good race times or maybe even a personal best to be achieved by all competing.

If one were to create a graph of a new athlete to the game’s progress, then Jan Verwey’s would surely be on an upward scale, as he once again showed fine form to cross the finish line in a time of 35:03.

Club secretary Ruth Phelan demonstrated to us that she has more strings in her bow than just administration skills, by clocking a very impressive time of 34:37 and by virtue of doing so, finished a highly creditable 6th place in her age category.

Clocking 32:34, Owen Ryan kick-started his race year (and also his first race in 2 years) with a fine display, too. Good to have you out there with us, Owen.

One of the hardest things for a 17 year old junior athlete to do must be to kick your legs out of bed on a freezing cold January Sunday morning and get yourself out running alongside some of Munster’s elite senior athletes. But that’s exactly what Lucas Keating did, in the process registering a very respectable time of 28:37, gaining invaluable experience in the process.

A relative newcomer to the club, Harry Gibbs has hit the ground running this year. Recording a convincing time of 28:10, there will be no holding him back, as he has started this year off with a powerful performance.

Running under the flag of his BHAA employer, the Irish Naval Service, Shane Meyler ran the first two miles at a steady seven minute pace and then kicked on from there to close in on the finish line in an incisive time of 26:51. [Editor’s Note: The only time we get a break from his strong Dublin
accent is when he’s out of breath…More fast finishes so please, Shane!]

Finally, Trevor Cummins started the race as he meant to finish. One of the first out of the traps, Trevor was never far from the front of the field, closing a very well-run race in a gob-smacking time of 23:45, earning himself a 36th place position out of a field of 527 athletes. Fantastic stuff out of you, Trevor.

Onwards and upwards we go.