Banagher 5k 2024 (7th Apr)

On Sunday morning 7th April, Banagher AC hosted the second race in this year’s Offaly series, the Banagher 5k. The picturesque village on the Shannon looked resplendent on a dry sunny but windy morning. Expertly marshalled with full road closures around the village and local roads, 453 runners took part on a course that had some nice little climbs to balance downhill running along the main street. Always in contention in a lead group of four runners was Kevin Moore. The final 500m coming out of Shannon Harbour Business Park, home to many of the boats and cruisers on the Shannon, was a great battle to the finish, with Kevin crossing the line in 4th place in 15 minutes 51 seconds. Eddie Newman was next home for Mullingar, and won his master category with an excellent 17:46. Training partners Glenda Shaw and Ann Hall put in huge performances, with Glenda first scorer on the women’s team with an excellent 18:56 followed closely home by Ann in 19:04. Siobhan Farry (23:08) and Nuala Moran (24:44) completed the team and Mullingar women team finished 1st non-Offaly Club and was just 30 points off 3rd team overall on the day, so with six races to go in the series, Mullingar has a real chance of making the top 3 team places in 2024. Also flying the flag for Mullingar was Michael O’Sullivan (24:34), Kelly Dunne (25:11) and Claire Lennon (26:34) [MO’S].