James Nolan won the Tom Brennan Memorial Race in Dublin's Phoenix Park today.
In a gale force wind, the UCD man had five seconds to spare on Mark Kenneally of Clonliffe Harriers with Paul Fleming of Rathfarnham in third spot in the 5km race.
Niamh Devlin of DSD was an easy winner of the women's race ahead of Caroline Kearney of Mullingar.
Running into the wind from the start, Mark Kenneally had Nolan on his shoulder as they detached themselves from the field after 200metres.
Kenneally, who had a good run in the recent European Cross Country Championships, looked anxious to make stamina pay and they passed the first mile in 4mins 31secs.
The long striding Clonliffe man continued to force the pace along and as they made their way down the Main Road for the first time it was obvious that James Nolan was very content to sit back and let Kenneally do all the work.
The direction of the wind meant that the runners only had it behind them on the Main Road and the two front men pulled away from their pursuers. 9mins 31secs was on the clock as the leaders passed two miles.
Once Nolan got into to the home straight, by now he had taken off his hat and gloves, it was inevitable that his kick would be the vital ingredient and so it proved to be.
With 150m to go, he accelerated away and won in 14m 46s, some seven seconds slower than last year's winning time, testament to the strength of the gale blowing. Kenneally was five seconds behind with Paul Fleming a distant third.
The women's race saw Devlin continue her recovery from injury with an easy win. Bedecked in a colourful hat, Devlin was always well clear of her pursuers with Caroline Kearney holding down second ahead of Jean Wilson.
Men's results:
1 James Nolan UCD 14.46
2 Mark Kenneally Clonliffe 14.51
3 Paul Fleming Rathfarnham 15.30
4 Eoin Flynn Rathfarnham 15.34
5 Damien Bateman Mullingar 15.39
6 Richard Corcoran Raheny 15.45
Teams: 1 Clonliffe 26, 2 Raheny 34, 3 Liffey Valley 45
Women's results:
1 Niamh Devlin DSD 17.53
2 Caroline Harney Mullingar 18.00
3 Jean Wilson Sportsworld 18.24
Teams: 1 Sportsworld 169, 2 Liffey Valley 413, 2 Donore 413
