SPECTATORS at the finish of Saturday’s Kilwaughter Minerals Larne 10 Mile Race thought initially maybe they should pay a visit to a well-known opticians this week.
That was because that it was former national cross country champion Ed McGinley who had appeared out of the distance enjoying a healthy lead over the rest of the field.
The collective disbelief in the accuracy of their vision was well-founded as the former Annadale Strider, now 41, retired some years ago and had not been seen in a competitive race since 2015.
The Kilwaughter Water sponsors were delighted that the third edition of the race which attracted a field of almost 700 runners from across the north and was organised with their usual efficiency by Larne Athletic Club.
The company’s CEO Gary Wilmot said: “Kilwaughter Minerals is thrilled to continue our partnership with Larne Athletic Club, and to have brought this exhilarating racing event to our community once again.”
McGinley stopped the clock at an impressive 53 minutes and 12 seconds, particularly given the wind and rain.
Over a minute behind him, Chris Madden, of Beechmount Harriers filled the runner-up spot with a time of 54:28.
Madden was in turn followed by Jordan Heron of the host club in 55:23. Gordon Graham (56:21), Drew Fowler (57:18) and Lindsay Gordon (57:17) made up the top half-dozen.
Letterkenny’s Claire McGuigan was a equally dominant winner of the women’s race coming home in a tad outside the hour with a 60:48 mark.
North Belfast Harriers supplied both second and third finishers in Elisoa Crawford (63:51) and Louise Smith (64:33). Kathleen Law (64:52), Laura Wylie (68:45) and Mary Slocum (68:47) rounded out the top six female finishers.
Meanwhile, Elizabeth Ndudi broke the Irish women’s long jump record in Illinois on Saturday with a 6.68m leap, improving Kelly Proper’s previous mark set in 2010 by six centimetres.
Competing at the Gary Wieneke Memorial, Ndudi produced the record-breaking effort in the first round but showed commendable consistency jumping 6.67m later in the competition.
The 6.68m mark was, obviously, also a personal best and improved the 6.56m distance she set when winning the European U20 gold last August in Jerusalem. Ndudi’s main target for this outdoor season will be the World U20 Championships which will take place in Lima, Peru at the end of August.
Cillín Greene celebrated his selection for the World Athletics Relays in the Bahamas at the start of next month with a 46.56 second clocking for 400m at a meeting in Beja, Portugal on Sunday. There were only two in the race and the Galway City Harrier won easily from the local representative.
Greene is one of 11 athletes named to do duty in the mixed 4x400m and women’s 4x400m in Nassau on 4-5 May. Both teams qualified automatically following top-eight finishes at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest last summer. No other Irish team was in the top 32 of world rankings to gain qualification.
Olympic medal hope Rhasidat Adeleke is included in the squads for both relays, as are recent World Indoor finalist Sharlene Mawdsley and Phil Healy.
Only northerner on the list is North Down AC’s Rachel McCann, who will be hoping to get a run in the women’s 4x400m after showing good form with a silver medal over the distance at the recent Irish Universities’ Track and Field Championships. McCann is coached by Mike Roberts at the Mary Peters Track.
