Achill Half Marathon king retains crown in thrilling finish

TREBLE WINNER?Freddy Sittuk of Raheny Shamrock AC on his way to winning the Achill Half Marathon race for the third year running. Pic: Tom Greally

Achill Half Marathon king retains crown in thrilling finish


Anton McNulty

Defending champion Freddie Sittuk retained his Achill Half Marathon crown after a thrilling finish when he held off a challenge by Brendan McDonnell by just two seconds.
The Kenyan runner won the tenth Achill Half Marathon coming home in a time of 1:12:42 coming in just ahead of American Brendan McDonnell by the slimmist of margins.
The two runners battled each other throughout the race, and both kicked for home from 300 metres out. Sittuk won out to claim his third Achill Half Marathon victory in successive years. Brendan was taking part in his first Achill Half Marathon along with his brother, Declan who came in third place in a time of 1:18:01.
The first woman home was Nora Newcombe Pieterse of the Mayo Athletic Club, who crossed the line in 1:23:06, with Emma Grimes coming second in 1:23:51 and Charlotte Kearney was third in a time of 1:27:29.
Over 1,500 runners lined up for the Achill Half Marathon and 10k (which started 45 minutes after the start of the half marathon), with the weather improving considerably for the start of the races, which took place in near perfect running conditions. The numbers were up by approximately 60 runners on last year, which delighted SeΡn Molloy, Manager of Achill Tourism.

Exciting finish
“We had a very exciting finish to the race, which is very unusual to get in half marathons, and it gave the crowd a lot to shout about near the finish,” he said. “We advertised the race in a lot of running publications, and it is nice to see new runners coming to Achill. The calendar for half marathons in Ireland is full, and people will not do the same one all the time. We find that while runners might not come back every year, they do return, and it is good to see an increase in the pool of people running the race.”
The 10k race was won by David Rooney in a time of 32:37. He came in almost three minutes ahead of second-placed Paul Fleming. The first woman home was Michelle McGee in 36:31, while Ilona McElroy was second in 38:48.
Of the local runners, Darran Lovely and Margaret McDonagh were the first Achill man and woman to finish the half marathon, while Wesley Billingham and Caroline McLoughlin were the first Achill Runners home in the 10k.
The race is expected to receive extra exposure this year with new race sponsor Irish TV on hand to record proceedings for a special edition of Out and About, which will be broadcast later this month.
Today FM DJ Phil Cawley also started the 10k race live on his national radio show, and SeΡn said the race was mentioned more on Twitter as a result.
Over 250 volunteers were on hand to make sure all went smoothly and the race organisers Achill Event management and Corrymore Promotions thanked everybody who took part or helped out in any way.
The race marked the beginning of Féile na Mara, a month-long celebration of coastal communities. The festival was launched on Sunday night in spectacular fashion with the lighting of the Napoleonic-era signal towers on Clare Island, Achill and Blacksod.
Féile na Mara events this week include the official Féile na Mara dinner in the Chalet Restaurant on Friday night and the screening of classic 1970s film ‘Jaws’ on Keel beach on Saturday night.
For more information on Féile na Mara, visit www. feilenamara.ie.