A: Grange, Mullingar, Co. Westmeath, Ireland | E: info@mullingarharriers.com

Donadea 50k Irish Championships 2020 (8th Feb)

 

The 10th anniversary of the Donadea 50k hosted by Donadea Running Club on Saturday morning 8th February incorporated the Irish 50k Championships. The course was ten laps of Donadea Forest Park, Co. Kildare, so it was difficult for the 224 finishers to maintain concentration and focus as the laps unwound, even remembering what lap they were on posed a challenge!

Concerns that he was running too fast in the first few laps and that he might pay for it later proved unfounded for Maurice Looby. He had enough strength to drop very little time in the final three laps, even overtaking fourth place half way through lap eight, and held on to finish third in a new PB of 3:16:54 and win a National bronze medal.

Being a National Championship, one expects Club colours to be worn, and it was good to see Evan McCormack in maroon and white fulfilling a long time wish to compete over 50k and he finished 17th in 3:46:51. Though a good result on his debut, this is not as quick as he had hoped for when he entered the race some time ago. Not long back from injury, Evan really had to dig deep to keep going to the finish, particularly from the 30k mark, but he proved his endurance mettle and was happy to battle on and complete the tough course. Time will tell if he will have another attempt next year.