All posts in Michael Murphy Memorial

In perfect conditions The Michael Murphy Memorial 5 Mile Race took place in the grounds of Malahide Castle last night. A still, hot evening with the sun still high in the sky greeted the athletes on what is one of the highlights of the club season .Welcome shade was provided amongst the trees which line the route of this Summer Classic. Round 7 of the 2006 Grand Prix Series was incorporated in the race which saw an entry of 28 athletes including a number of our ladies section fresh after there exertions around the street of Dublin in Monday`s Ladies 10K. Once again Michael Murphy`s family, including his mother and sister were in attendance for the race and presentation on this the 25th running of the race in memory of a young Clonliffe Harrier who died tragically in the States back in very early `80s.

This race is run on an open H`cap basis , essencially a staggered start. First away was Maurice Mullens , followed by the rest of the field down to scratch man and collector of PBs , “The Beard” Brennan.

After the first of 2 laps , the field was begining to close up, a good finish was on the cards. Tom Monks was motering nicely. Stephen Byrne ,having been caught and passed by yours truely , was not prepared to bow and instead had the cheek to re pass and proceed to run the legs off me! Also having a superb run was another product of the Clonnakilty production line Stephen Cleary who was making up ground hand over fist.

The Yellow Jerseyed Philip O`Doherty was again in good form on his run from the back, needless to say so was “The Beard”.

All the while Maurice Mullens remained in the lead making steady progress, Pat Bonass ,Marice Ahern and Pat Healy were all over hauled over the last mile or so by Tom Monks going like a train.

First accross the line, and first Grand Prixer was Maurice Mullens, with Shay Byrne 2nd and Eddie Harrison 3rd.

In the Mick Murphy race first Clonliffe man and a very popular winner was Tom Monks who was presented with the Cup by President Paddy Marley inMalahide Cricket Club. Tom would later comment that ” this was the club race I always wanted to win”.

Fastest man was “the Beard” ,who was out for an easy one, we must assume on the basis of his failure to run a new PB !

RESULTS OF MICHAEL MURPHY 5 MILE :

1. M. Mullens (40.48) 20pts in Grand Prix

2. Shay Byrne (32.28) 19

3. E. Harrison (32.28) 18

4. T. Monks (29.01) 17

5. Stephen Byrne (29.26) 16

6. R. McConville (36.04) 15

7. N. Guiden (29.23) 14

8. S. Brennan (37.03) *

9. P. Healy (35.38) 13

10. S. Cleary (28.41) 12

11. Mce. Ahern (39.39) 11

12. D. Brady (37.22) 10

13. P. Bonass (34.02) 9

14. P. Devitt (32.09) 8

15. A. Worrall (30.41) *

16. J. Walsh (29.15) 7

17. D. Brennan (28.04) 6

18. Murray Ahern (33.08) *

19. P. O`Doherty (28.41) 5

20. C. Hanley (35.10) *

21. C. Troy (36.11) *

22. A. Smeaton (33.32) 4

23. J. Fay (34.24) 3

24. S. Pender (37.19) 2

25. R. Connolly (39.08) 1

26. P. Cooper (42.43) *

27. Aurelie (47.24) *

28. E. McCarrick (31.23) *

( * = not a competitor in Grand prix Series)

Thanks to our race officials, The Murphy family and our friends in Malahide Cricket Club.

Next Grand Prix Race is Thursday 22nd June also in Malahide for the two and a half mile ( one Lap) sponosored by Eugene McCarrick.

Full updated Leaderboard to follow.

Clonliffe International Killian Lonerigan had an absolute stormer in the Michael Murphy memorial five-mile race held in the grounds of Malahide Castle, on Thursday the 16th of June to take victory from scratch in a fabulous time of 23:28.

The Michael Murphy Memorial Race has been running now for some twenty-five or so years. The race was first run in the grounds of Malahide Castle back in 1980, the fastest time recorded that day was by Michael Murphy in a time of just over twenty-four minutes, tragically later that year, Michael was killed in a road traffic accident in the United States and the following year the race was run in his memory. Michael’s family donated the cup and have almost every year been in attendance on the race night to present their prize to the fastest man. The race is one of the highlights of the club year and is one of the feature races in the Grand Prix series. This year the race was round five.

On a hot and humid night, a rarity for the Grand Prix athletes to see the sunshine, a good field of thirty-four athletes were entered. The race was run as an open handicap meaning that the fastest in the field go last.

First away were Maurice Ahern and Eugene McCarrick with Tony Westby being waved off twenty seconds later and so it continued until scratch man Killian Lonergan tore away from the start line 12 minutes and 10 seconds after the first runners. Killian was in blistering form as he cut through the runners like the proverbial hot knife through butter.

Further down the field, good runs were also being recorded by William Stafford and Ronan Hartnett. The lads who had been out on the Wicklow mountains the previous weekend in the Wicklow Way Relay were suffering big time particularly over the second lap, the phrase ‘running in quick sand’ featured regularly in their post race discussions.

At the sharp end of the field both Killian and William Stafford were catching all and sundry and Killian eventually hit the front with over half a mile to go to record not only the fastest time (by far) but also to win the handicap and take home the Michael Murphy Memorial cup.

The first three were Killian Lonergan, William Stafford and Sean Pender.

After a hot shower (for some) prizes were presented in Malahide Cricket Clubs Clubhouse after the race, including of course the presentation of the cup and the prize for fastest man by the Murphy family.

In addition Killian was presented with the club prize for the winner of the race. Prizes were then presented by the club for second place to William Stafford, third place Sean Pender, fourth place to Ronan Hartnett, fifth to Pat Devitt and sixth to Michael Scully. The prize for fastest lady was presented to Aisling Coppinger (33:41).

The full result of the race is as follows:

1. Killian Lonergan
2. William Stafford
3. Sean Pender 4. Ronan Hartnett
5. Gary Hynes (guest)
6. Pat Devitt
7. Michael Scully
8. David Dunwoody
9. Tom Monks
10. Richard Connolly
11. David Brennan
12. Eddie Harrison
13. Dave Brady
14. Shay Byrne
15. Eddie Coughlan
16. Colm Doran
17. Kieran Murphy
18. Colin Hickey
19. Noel Guiden
20. Stephen Byrne
21. Alan Smeaton
22. Jimmy Bennett
23. Aisling Coppinger
24. Eugene Coppinger
25. Tony Westby
26. Dylan Ahern
27. Pat Healy
28. Erwin De Wilde
29. Paul Lannon
30. Maurice Ahern
31. Colm Gallagher (guest)
32. Pat Bonass
33. Ken O’Gorman
34. Phillip O’Doherty

The actual times recorded by each runner were as follows:

1. Killian Lonergan: 23:28
2. Gary Hynes (guest): 26:22
3. William Stafford: 26:59
4. Ronan Hartnett: 27:16
5. Eddie Coughlan: 27:50
6. David Dunwoody: 28:34
7. David Brennan: 28:47
8. Eugene Coppinger: 28:59
9. Tom Monks: 29:01
10. Colm Doran: 30:42
11. Colin Hickey: 31:06
12. Noel Guiden: 31:10
13. Richard Connolly: 31:25
14. Pat Devitt: 31:32
15. Phillip O’Doherty: 31:42
16. Stephen Byrne: 31:53
17. Kieran Murphy: 32:05
18. Erwin Deville: 32:09
19. Eddie Harrison: 32:12
20. Shay Byrne: 32:18
21. Michael Scully: 32:22
22. Alan Smeaton: 32:46
23. Jimmy Bennett: 33:39
24. Aisling Coppinger: 33:41
25. Dylan Ahern 34:12
26. Colm Gallagher (guest) 35:03
27. Pat Bonass: 35:10
28. Dave Brady: 35:22
29. Pat Healy: 35:26
30. Paul Lannon: 35:41
31. Sean Pender: 35:22
32. Ken O’Gorman: 37:42
33. Tony Westby: 39:30
34. Maurice Ahern: 40:42

In the Grand Prix the points went as follows:

1. William Stafford 20 points
2. Sean Pender 19 points
3. Ronan Hartnett 18 points
4. Pat Devitt 17 points
5. Michael Scully 16 points
6. Tom Monks 15 points
7. Richard Connolly 14 points
8. David Brennan 13 points
9. Eddie Harrison 12 points
10. Dave Brady 11 points
11. Shay Byrne 10 points
12. Colm Doran 9 points
13. Kieran Murphy 8 points
14. Colin Hickey 7 points
15. Noel Guiden 6 points
16. Stephen Byrne 5 points
17. Alan Smeaton 4 points
18. Jimmy Bennett 3 points
19. Aisling Coppinger 2 points
20. Tony Westby 1 point

For round six the Grand Prix series goes back on track at Santry Stadium for the 1,500 metres (sponsored by Richard Connolly) incorporating the Clonliffe Club Championships on Thursday the 23rd of June at approximately 8.15.