Ledwith wins at Bohermeen race

Despite the prospect of an impending storm up to 250 athletes turned up at Bohermeen on Sunday for the 39th running of the Rennicks Cup and the 36th Fr Delany Cup. The forecasters indicated that Hurricane Katia was on the way and when the runners and walkers gathered at the start the storm clouds were gathering also. The increasing winds certainly didn't hinder the performance of the in-form Andrew Ledwith with the Fr Murphy athlete quickly finding his stride to retain the Rennicks Cup. The ladies race was won by Down runner Kerry Harty from Newcastle. Both these accomplished athletes showed little mercy to their opponents as they took a early stranglehold on their respective races, powering out in front and cruising to the finishing line well ahead of the field. Ledwith's winning time was 25:01:81 with Raheny's Simon Ryan next home (26;02;15) while Darragh Greene from Dunleer was third in 26:52:79. Dunshaughlin were the first team. Harty took the women's event in 28:35:60 with Monaghan Phoenix's Donna Evans second in 32:21:87 and Imelda Clarke from the Na Fianna club third in 32;50;42. The Fr Delany Cup did contain some joy for the host club as their team won the trophy for the first time in eight years having last claimed it in 2003. The winning team was Linda Gunning, Amy O'Keeffe, Catherine Gorman, Terese Coffey and Brigid Reilly and they were well supported along the way by other local athletes including Cora Bennett, Shauna Bennett, Claire Coyne and Jackie Fitzsimons. Other good performances by Meath runners included Nick Hoey (Navan) who took the junior men's title, Ciaran O'Dwyer (Dunshaughlin) who claimed the men's o-35 race, Don Mahon (Trim) who was second in the o-40 race, David O'Connell (Bohermeen) who was second in the o-45 category, Pady Mangan (Dunshaughlin) who took the o-50 event, O'Keeffe (Bohermeen) who was best in the junior women while Linda Fahy (Dunshaughlin) and Mary Watters (Navan) won the o-35 and the o-45 categories respectively. The home club also enjoyed success with Linda Gunning best in the women's o-50 while Rose Healy (Fr Murphy) took the o-60 race.