Dungarvan 10 Mile - February 2nd, 2020

Dungarvan 10:
We had 8 athletes that traveled down to Dungarvan for their annual 10 mile race. With Ballycotton having ceased trading, Dungarvan is the new "must do" 10 race in Spring.

Kenneth was our first man home in a huge PB of 53.26. In a controlled tactical masterclass Kenneth paced himself expertly through 6 miles and picked up the final 4 for 18th overall. Kevin O'Brien was in 7th with 3 miles to go but faded to 19th position (53.31), finishing in an East Cork Vaporfly sandwich 5 seconds behind Kenneth and Kevin O'Leary 20th in 53.33. Kevin O'L made a brave attempt to go with the 51 minute group but was stranded in the windy straight section from mile 3-5.5, he rallied well in the last few miles to close strongly. Donal broke the 60 minute barrier for the first time and broke it convincingly by 91 seconds for 75th overall.

Fiona was our first lady home and 3rd overall in a new PB of 60.16. In such windy conditions a sub 60 is most certainly in Fionas grasp. Watch this space! Caitriona had a break through race, showing that training for a wedding is up there with training for an Olympics in terms of motivation. She ran a superb 69.55. She must of made a pact with the devil though as her feet were so battered afterwards poor Cats could not even walk a step! Great to see that level of commitment! Eadaoin finished in 73.42 but suffered a bad patch in the middle section so hopefully she will rebound well. Paul Crotty also broke 60 minutes for the first time, clocking 59.57 (although you might not see his name in the results!).

​Overall our men finished 2nd team by 6 seconds to Crusaders AC.

Vaporfly Debate:
As it seems to the a main topic of conversation everywhere, the Vaporfly shoes where very visible among all finishers. Fiona was the only person of the 6 podium finishers (male and female) not to be wearing Nike Vaporflys. For the men everybody in the top 15 was wearing them and only 2 in the top 30 were not. Times were still not very special apart in the top 10 or so with no real noticeable difference from previous years. However if you push further back the field the depth seems to have improved dramatically. 56.30 to 58.30 would have got you 30th before but at the weekend you would have had to go 2 minutes faster (54.30) for a top 30. The course record was broken by the first two men and also by the leading lady, all who have ran this race multiple times before all were sporting the shoes. ​