The Waterford Half Marathon hosted by Waterford A.C. attracted another huge crowd this year. This event just seems to strike a cord with runners. The club left no stone unturned to organise a fabulous event. We get to see runners from all over the country. Runners see how well this event is run and always get a great race experience.It was a chilly and foggy start to the morning with temperatures below freezing. However, it became clear and the sun popped out just after the race started.
The HQ for the race is in SETU sports campus arena that is just perfect. Parking is just a short distance from the start and finish line areas along with warm indoor facilities such as changing rooms, showers and a coffee dock. It's also ideal for family and friends to come and support the state of the art facilities. The strong tradition of Waterford A.C. is felt by participants.
All participants are made to feel very welcome. 2,200 signed up for the event. The course seems to produce some fast times even with some tricky hills to navigate. The runners head off from the SETU towards Waterford City and down along the Greenway to eventually return back to the SETU.
We had yet again another strong field of runners in both the men's and women's races. Local man David McGlynn had a very impressive win in a time of 65:26. He had a very strong field behind in the form of Clonliffe harriers athletes, Sergui Ciobanu, Mihail Sprincean and Tudor Moldovan. Mihail and Tudor were just fresh after last week's wins in the Clonakilty 10k and Marathon. Tudor ran extremely well considering he had just ran a tough course in the Clonakilty Marathon.
Another noticeable and hugely impressive performance was from the local legend Joe Gough who ran 1:27:19 and is over 70. He had plenty of gas in the tank as he stormed up the home finish.
The women's winner was Ciara Wilson of DMP A.C.. Ciara won in a time of 76:43. This was a great time and it needed to be as she was chased all the way by 2nd place Becky Woods of Clonliffe Harriers and Bohermeen A.Cs Nichola Sheridan.
Thanks to Waterford A.C. for another great event.
