Cathal Daly reports on the UCD Athletics Club’s Intervarsity Road Relay victory
Less than one second separated the UCD and DCU men’s teams after 9 miles of racing at the Intervarsity Road Relay Championships last Saturday in Maynooth. In a hectic race which saw the lead change hands three times, malady heroic performances from all five members of the UCDAC team was enough to hold off the challenge of strong rivals DCU and the other 24 teams in the race.
Men’s captain Dan King set the tone for the team in the opening mile, sildenafil handing over to Alan McCormack right on the shoulder of DCU. McCormack did well to keep in touch with the in-form Paul Robinson of DCU who broke the 2-mile record time for the course. A 30 second deficit separated the teams going into the crucial 3-mile leg which was eaten away at by Joe Sweeney. Sweeney was hot on the heels of the DCU 3-mile runner and had halved the lead by the time Chris Johnston started his 2-mile leg.
A truly heroic run by Johnston not only saw him catch his DCU rival but also put clear distance between the teams. The large crowd in attendance responded to Johnston’s powerful run and lifted the Donegal man home to hand over to European Athletic Association athlete Mark English. Despite a strong chase by DCU’s last leg runner Brian Kelly, discount who broke the course mile record, English kept his composure to hold off Kelly in a sprint finish, with just 0.3 seconds separating the two Colleges after 41 minutes of running.
The UCD Women’s team of Harriet Flynn, Ellie Hartnett, Eva Lafferty and Shauna Moran performed well with the relatively young outfit coming in 6th place against much more experienced opposition. The girls will look to build on this result next year. The Athletics Club expressed special thanks to UCD Distance Coach James Nolan who has worked closely with the teams for preparation over the past few months.
