LOCAL CLASSICS–DESSIES RUN AND WATERSIDE HALF MARATHON

Looking a bit further ahead the annual Dessies Run is coming up fast. Its on Tuesday 25th August at 7 15pm out of the Gransha Park site. The new 10K course will be ANI certified next week and pre entry can be made at dessierun@gmail.com

Simply forward your Name, Gender, Age on race day, Club if any and T Shirt size and pick up your race pack between 5 45pm and 7pm on race night at race HQ in the U3A Foyle building. On the night entry can also be made at the same venue between 5 45pm and 7pm, the entry fee is £10 and there are T Shirts for the first 150 entrants.

WATERSIDE HALF MARATHON 2015

Friday 21st August is the closing date for the 34th staging of the local Classic, the Waterside Half Marathon which is all set to go—on its new course–on Sunday 6th September. The Foyle Arena in St Columbs Park will welcome the Waterside back to its original home and runners will take on a new course covering both sides of the river Foyle, for the first time ever! Make sure you are part of it by entering now—online at www.WHM15.com or download an entry form and enter in person at either the Foyle Arena or Templemore Sports Complex.

Email inquiries to halfmarathon@derrycityandstrabanedistrict.com

Athletes from local clubs City of Derry Spartans, Derry City Track Club and Foyle Valley will be in Dublin this weekend for the National Senior T&F championships at Santry’s Morton Stadium and while podium places may well be at a premium, big performances from all nine athletes are expected.

The Spartans JP Williamson and Connor Bradley are joined in the Mens 5,000m line up by Foyle Valley’s Scott Rankin and this talented trio will hope to make an impression in what looks like a high quality line up. Given the big entry there are two races scheduled for the Sunday showdown and if all three are drawn together the battle for local bragging rights will be all the more intense.

DCTC star Master Cathal McLaughlin is in the 800m heats on Saturday alongside the teenage Spartan Shane McGowan. Getting out of the heats will be a big ask, the classy Mark English from Letterkenny heads a formidable line up, but Seasonal Bests if not PB’s, will be the local boys targets.

Another red vest Connor Doherty runs in the 1500m heats tomorrow and here again a strong run with a PB target will be sought. DCTC 400m specialist Aaron Carlyle has the pedigree to produce a big one in his heats, also on Saturday and the Spartans Declan Reed takes on a strong field over 10,000m mid afternoon tomorrow as part of his build up for September’s Berlin Marathon. Inishowen AC stalwarth Pauric McKinney is also in the 10,000m start list and is a Berlin Marathon hopeful as well—be interesting to see how he goes tomorrow just six days after his M50 National Half Marathon gold medal run.

The only local female athlete listed for action is the Spartans Naomi Morgan who will go in the straight final of the 100m Hurdles on Sunday afternoon. She will target a possible podium finish.

Back on the roads there is Friday’s Sperrin Harriers 5 Miler out of the Loughrey College Campus with a 7 30pm start and on Sunday at 10am closer to home is the Riverine 10K in Lifford, a popular race set to pull a big entry.

Wednesday next 12th August brings the Nissan Coleraine 5 mile Classic out of the Coleraine Leisure Centre at 7 30pm while on Tuesday 11th the North Down Open T&F meeting will cater for that clientele at the Bangor track.