Last Saturday saw the 17th edition of Run Galway
Bay, the largest multi-distance running event in Galway City with more than
4,000 participants undertaking a 10k, Half Marathon or Marathon along the
shores of Galway Bay. As the morning
sunshine peeped out from behind the clouds, nervous excitement began to build
at Nimmo’s Pier for the runners, walkers and joggers taking on the fast, flat
and friendly course.
Although the sunshine made a brief appearance in the
morning and late afternoon, the rain
came bucketing down for large portions of the day, coupled with some strong
winds the conditions did not dampen the speed of the participants or the spirits
of the spectators who lined the route from Nimmo’s Pier to Salthill and back.
The Marquee at the Claddagh was a buzz of excitement from early morning to late
afternoon with everyone enjoying the electric atmosphere of race day despite
the weather conditions.
Results
Roundup
First off on Saturday morning were the marathon
runners at 08:30 who were joined by members of the Irish Snow Skiing Team
including Winter Olympian Thomas Maloney Westgaard who successfully defended
his title in the roller ski marathon.
The Marathon was officially started by Mayor of the City; Councillor
Mike Cubbard. First to cross the line was Michael Canty (Moy Valley) who held a
strong pace over the 26.2 miles to finish in 2:37:28 giving him a generous lead
over Brian Leahy (Raheny Shamrocks) in 2:41:31 in second and Peter Burns coming
in third in 2:43:07
In the women’s Marathon, it was Jenna Burton who ran
to victory, in what was only her third marathon, finishing in 3:15:43, she was
closely followed by Brittany Simone Spurrell in 3:17:05 who was completing her
fourth marathon, Louise Jones from Belfast rounded out the women’s podium to
take third in 3:23:17.
The 10k races were hotly contested with Eoin Everard
and Grace Lynch the favourites going into the event. Taking the race title Eoin stormed to victory
in 31:48, the Kilkenny man on top form in Galway winning with a significant
lead over Kevin Glynn in 35:36 in second and Dave Keenan in 36:11 taking third
place. Grace Lynch was third fastest runner overall on the day clocking 35:44
to win the women’s race. Sinead Whitelaw (Mullingar Harriers) finished in 38:49
in second place with Linda Grogan 39:43 in third.
In the Half Marathon all eyes were on Sergiu Ciobanu
and Freddy Keron Stuk who battled it out on the ground over 13.1 miles, it was
Sergiu who broke the tape on the day, the former champion in Galway making easy
work of the distance in 1:06:29. The Clonliffe Harriers man held a significant
lead over Raheny Shamrocks Freddy Keron Stuk who finished in second place in
1:11:11, third place went to Gary Higgins from Tri Lakes Tri Club in 1:11:14.
The closest finish of the day was in the women’s
Half Marathon where Adrianna Mulligan and Heather Noone had a photo finish on
the line with just a split second separating them. Running together for most of the race, it was
Adrianna Mulligan who edged out Heather Noone to take the title on the line in
1:22:04. Galway City Harriers Grainne Ní Uallachain took third place in 1:24:46
Warm
Welcome
With over 4,000 participants across the events there
was plenty of excitement and emotion on the finish line all day, many participants running not only for
themselves but for others. Rosabel’s Rooms and Cancer Care West were widely
supported this year as well as numerous other local and national charities.
The Festival atmosphere at Race HQ at The Claddagh
was enjoyed by all with a warm up provided for the 10k & Half Marathon on
the Windsor Galway Mazda stage by Galway City Chiropractic. Participants not
only received a warm welcome at the finish they also received Tesco goodie bags
packed with runners treats. Cully & Sully provided a widely enjoyed hot
soup, accompanied by tasty bread rolls from Irish Pride. Lucozade, Highland
Spring and Erdinger AlcoholFrei were on hand to quench the thirst of all
participants as they enjoyed a post-race massage from Galway City Chiropractic.
Speaking about the success of the day Race Director
Ray O’Connor said ‘We are delighted with how the event went, considering that
this time last week all eyes were on the impending Storm Lorenzo we are
delighted to have been in a position to deliver our biggest Run Galway Bay to
date. We are grateful to all the participants who choose to race with us each
year to take on their first ever event or chase a personal best on a chosen
distance. We couldn’t organise this event without the support of the local
community, Galway City Council, Failte Ireland, and many volunteers,
stakeholders, suppliers and partners who help us to deliver this event each
year. We are already planning for 2020 and look forward to welcoming visitors
from all over the world to our wonderful city next year.’
For
full results and information on the events go to www.rungalwaybay.com, it is
expected that the 2020 edition of the race will sell out in record time, the
date of next year’s event will be released later this week.
