It was the icing on the cake type of victory last night as our Men’s Team claimed Gold, and the Ladies Team claimed Silver, in the 4th and final county road race of the 2021 season.No other club in the county can claim the same level of success, with United Striders the only Wexford club to claim medals across ALL MALE & FEMALE INDIVIDUAL placings, and ALL MALE & FEMALE TEAM placings this year. It’s a very proud moment for all athletes, coaches and all involved. Certainly one for our history books.And it’s GOLD all the way for the mighty men’s teams, with 4 team Golds.
( Men – Novice 1st / Intermediate 1st / Senior 1st / Masters 1st)
And our ladies fought hard at every race with equally impressive team results.
( Women – Novice 2nd / Intermediate 1st / Senior 2nd / Masters 2nd)
But back to our Superstars of last night, it was all roads leading to Ferns, with the turn of our Masters athletes (i.e. age 35 + up). A fast 4km for the ladies and 6km for the men.
Nicer conditions allowed for a fast race, with senior medallist Nicola Murphy storming home to take individual bronze amongst a very competitive field. Intermediate medallist Sharon Kehoe ran another stormer of a race finishing in 6th, and the equally impressive Sandra Young followed closely in 11th place, earning the club it’s Silver team medal. Courageous running from Sandra who only had a baby a few months ago!
Sharon earned a 2nd medal as the O40 category winner, and a very determined run from a strong Catherine Ronan earned her the O55 category medal.
PBs galore on the night, with determined runs from the rest of our ladies of Theresa McDonald, Sinead Croke, Liz Conway, Alison Bennett and Aine Cullen.
The men’s 6km also set off with a blistering pace, but success finally came to Brendan Lyng as the 3rd individual in a closely fought contest. The Striders men packed well as the race progressed, and the talented team of Colin Carney, David Kehoe and John Byrne earned the highly respected Gold. The grass path of the CBS Park can surely tell lots of stories of the battles at training amongst all of our men which lead to these results!
A big turnout again from the men, with 13 others fighting hard for places.
(not in any order!) Sean Murphy, John McGrath, Pat O’Callaghan, Fabian Flood, John Hickey, Liam Traynor, Eddie Murphy, Pat Murray, Tom Moran, Emmett Malone, Pat Culleton, Martin Kehoe and John Kent. A special mention to John McGrath on his first race back after a knee surgery last September.
Thanks to Wexford Athletics and hosts SBR AC.
