Last Sunday the very popular Cork City Marathon took place in trying conditions where athletes had to contend with warm windy conditions.
Angela was making a comeback as her last time to run in this event was 2012 where she successfully defended her title, won in 2011. So, her experience told her to hold back in the early stages and aim to run at the 3-hour pace and take it from there. So, she started off steady in the middle of the pack and was running comfortably with the 3-hour pacing group, ticking off each kilometre at approx. 4 mins 13 secs in 62nd place overall. She kept this pace going for the next 10k averaging 4:16 per km and had moved into 55th place at 21k and was full of running and at halfway she moved into the lead in the women’s race. This gave her great confidence and she kept that strong pace going over the next 10k averaging 4.15 per km which saw her draw well clear of the chasing pack. At this stage in the Marathon, tiredness sets in and maintaining the pace can be very hard, especially if the body hasn’t run this distance in quiet some time. But again, Angela’s experience taught her to ease back a bit on the pace and take a breather, which she did as she averaged 4.26 over the final 12 km to come home a very worthy and convincing winner in a brilliant time of 3 hours 2 mins 57 secs, fantastic performance. They say Form is Temporary, but Class is Permanent and that can be truly said about Angela McCann, who has experienced some poor performances by her high standards in recent years, but she always believed in her ability to get back to her potential. This performance by her last Sunday will give her immense satisfaction, possibly more satisfaction then her previous two wins in this event in 2011 and 2012. Grzegorz Kecik also ran well in the marathon when finishing 598th in 4 hours 15 mins 37 secs.
In the Cork City Half Marathon Brian Carroll ran very well when finishing in 84 mins 42 secs. Brian started off at a strong pace clipping along at 3 mins 55 secs per km for the 1st 10k, he maintained that pace over the final stages to finish strongly in 36th place.