Double-joy for Wexford on Local Mountain
Tom Hogan at Bray Head
Colm Hill had taken the course record for Mt. Leinster out of the hands of local man Tom Hogan last year so despite finishing second in a 5k road race the previous day, Hogan arrived intent on returning it to sunny County…
Tom was not alone in his mission as Aoife Joyce, another native of the county, set out to break her 2008 record as part of her continuing Snowdon preparations. Fair weather meant the summit quagmire wouldn’t show itself from its worst side but works on the summit antenna forced a 230m extension of the route, stacking the odds against the record chasers.
Hogan grabbed the initiative immediately as he has done in many previous races this season and Bernard Fortune, looking to secure his Leinster Championship title, led the chasing pack. As the runners left the fire-road behind, Tom Hogan’s battle was only against the clock while the podium spots were still hotly contested.
At the trig-point turn, Hogan and Joyce both arrived first as expected and with the record-attempts still very much alive. In the end, with the second ticking, Tom Hogan matched Colm Hill’s 2010 record of 59:59 exactly despite the extension thus taking possession of the morale record on the course.
Aoife Joyce
Rathfarnham’s Zoe Melling had done well to keep herself in contention on the ascent but Aoife Joyce made the most of her gap and extended it to four minutes by the finish. Her time of 76:20 knocked 42 seconds of her old record. Hazel Thompson, Setanta, finished third on a day when the top-4 women recorded times that would all have won the race in 2009 and 2010.
Amidou Dembele, whose descent had caused havoc at Lugnacoille, arrived at the summit in eighth and started his now trademark assault on positions. As the front male runners emerged on the fire road, he had closed down Des Kennedy and Bernard Fortune and his final effort saw him pass out the former and take his first podium finish with IMRA.
One suspects it will be the first of many. Bernard Fortune held a ten second gap and his position returned the Leinster Championship to him which he last won in 2009. This tallied the local victories to three as Fortune too hails from Wexford and plies his trade with Sliabh Bhuidhe Rovers.
Full results now online at IMRA.
