Derry City Track Club's Cathal McLaughlin ran one of the
best races of his career to grab a silver medal in the European Masters' Indoor
Athletics Championships in Torun, Poland.
The 47-year-old company director was one of three DCTC athletes in
action at the championships with the trio all acquitting themselves with credit
against the cream of the continent.
McLaughlin went into the M45 1500m final with his confidence
high after winning the Irish title for the third consecutive year. He sat in the chasing back during the opening
laps while home favourite Murawski carved out a lead at the front. The English favourite Adrian Haines, who had
beaten McLaughlin to the silver medal in the Worlds 12 months earlier, soon
fell off the pace leaving Dutchman Joosse to head the pursuit of runaway
Pole. It was only with just over 100
metres left that McLaughlin turned on the afterburners to accelerate past Joosse
and sprint into the runner-up spot in a season's best of 4:14.24.
The European silver medal capped a fine indoor campaign in
which he won Connaught, Leinster and Irish titles. He also finished second in the British
championships over 800m, missing out on the gold medal only in the final few
metres. He has also excelled on the cross
country representing Northern Ireland in the British & Irish Cross Country
Championships in Nottingham as well as clocking an impressive 16:30 on the
roads for 5K.
It may disconcert slower runners, who regularly cover in
excess of two hours on training runs, to know that all this is achieved on less
than 30 miles per week and with no run longer than one hour!
Adrian Boyle exceeded all expectations with a sixth place
finish in the M35 800m. The Ballykelly
resident ran a strong heat to qualify for the final as one of the fastest
losers in 2:03.31. Even better was to
follow in the final with Boyle following the strong early pace to finish up
sixth in a personal best 2:02.16. The
DCTC man can now concentrate on breaking two minutes for the distance when the
outdoor season kicks off later this month.
Malcolm McCausland was disappointed to arrive in Torun to
find out that the cross country course included 300 metres of tarmac meaning
that he had to run his race in trainers.
Athletes from other countries had been made aware of this before their
arrival. Nevertheless he finished a
respectable 14th and would have gained a team bronze medal but for
an administrative error by the Irish team management.
Meanwhile new recruit to Derry City Track Club Chris Millar
had the honour of being the first man across the line in the first Limavady
parkrun. Millar played the waiting game
to perfection, allowing others to do the pacemaking before hitting the front on
the final lap to cross the line in a personal best 18:23. DCTC mentors have been impressed by Millar
and already see him as a potential key member of next winter’s cross country
squad.
No comments:
Post a Comment