April 1st might be All Fools Day but our athletes weren’t fools. Neither were they fooled. It was by and large a weekend of PBs. Our two men in Tulsa, Oklahoma, had a 2,500 kilometer journey to compete in the Stanford Invitational on April1st. Shay McEvoy competed in the 5K with a PB of 13.46.45. Then Peter Lynch had a PB of 28.36.32 for the 10K.
Nearer home our juveniles were in Athlone on Saturday for the All-Irelands. Seven relay teams, having qualified from the Leinsters, were in action. Being without some team members because of covid and confirmations they travelled morein hope than expectation. Six of the seven clocked improved times with three – Girls U12, Girls U13 and Girls U14 – finishing in fourth place – just losing out on medals by a small fraction of a second. The under 15 girls won bronze. Girls under 16 were 11th and boys under 15 were 6th.The U12 boys without star performer Daire O’Flaherty did well to finish in 2.07.20. Individuals in action were Louie Raggett and Alex Cullen – both in their respective long jumps. Louie U16 was 4th (5.62) and Alex U17 was 3rd (6.02).
Ger Forde was in Cork on Sunday for the annual 10 mile where he took first place in 50.37. Meanwhile Claire Dermody made the trip to Manchester for the marathon where she recorded a new PB of 3.10.36 for the distance.
The Castle Park was the venue on Sunday for the Kilkenny Tri Club duathlon which featured a number of KCH members including none other than club chairman, John Maye.