Cooke and Kosek claim victories at Cork City Marathon
Cork The At Ac Category Women's Marathon Kane The Who Cooke, Aoife City Pic: darragh Eagle Won
Aoife Cooke and Pawel Kosek claimed victories at the Cork City Marathon on Sunday morning, with Cooke taking the women’s title in 2:56:33 and Kosek the men’s in 2:23:54.
The women’s race saw Cooke, a Cork native who grew up in Ballincollig and Youghal, run a patient race. The 37-year-old passed 10km in third in 41:40, 35 seconds adrift of race leader Sarah Diamond. But the Tokyo Olympian steadily cranked up the pace from there, hitting halfway in 1:27:24, 58 seconds clear of Yuliya Tarasova. Cooke’s lead only grew over the latter half, with Cooke hitting 30km in splendid isolation with an advantage of 2:24 and reaching the finish over four minutes clear of Tarasova, who took second in 3:00:57, while Andrea Aza Villamor rounded out the podium in 3:05:15.
“My favourite mile was definitely that last mile, coming into the finish,” said Cooke. “I found the last two miles before that really tough but when you get on to Patrick Street, the crowd carries you in – you can’t help but feel ecstatic.”
In the men’s race, Kosek was part of a group of five that hit halfway in just outside 1:11, with David Mansfield of Clonmel leading at that point alongside Chris Jeuken, Sean Doyle and Tudor Mircea. Mansfield also led through 30km, with Kosek three seconds back and Mircea a further 11 seconds behind, but the Pole made his move soon after, hitting 40km with a 12-second lead and reaching the finish in 2:23:54. Mansfield was runner-up in 2:24:33 while Mircea was third in 2:25:21.
Clonmel’s William Maunsell was first home in the half marathon, clocking 1:08:13 to hit the line well ahead of Ratoath’s Peter Somba (1:09:12), with Togher’s Gavin Sweeney third in 1:11:57. Leevale’s Niamh Moore was a class apart in the women’s race, clocking 1:21:21 to win ahead of Caroline Lambert (1:22:05) and Sally Forristal (1:23:32).
The 10km saw Michal Wojcik take victory in the men’s race in 31:22 ahead of Paul Moloney of Mallow (32:10) and John Durcan of Togher (32:13). Niamh O’Mahony of An Ríocht took the women’s title in 35:25 ahead of Leevale duo Sinéad O’Connor (36:16) and Claire McCarthy (37:06).
Participants travelled from far and wide to take part in the event, with Robin Foley flying in from Pensacola, Florida for the race along with his son and daughter. Foley is a Cork native who moved to the US in 1983 and was running the race to celebrate his 80th birthday, having also done it to celebrate his 70th in 2014. Marie Kehoe O’Sullivan from Kerry, meanwhile, celebrated her 60th birthday on the day and she was also celebrating five years of recovery from breast cancer.
Christopher O’Connor, aged 20, ran the marathon in honour of his father, James O’Connor, who died from altitude sickness while climbing Mount Kilimanjaro on December 5 – both his and Christopher's birthday. The O’Connor family also donated two cups which were presented to the first male and first female finishers in the 10km. Trevor Casserly from Galway was taking part in the third of seven marathons he’ll run across seven months in memory of his friend Cathal Hynes, who died this year, and he has already raised close to €20,000 for his nominated charity, Galway Hospice.
Elsewhere, 25,000 took part in the women’s mini marathon in Dublin, with Íde Nic Dhomhnaill from West Limerick AC leading them home in 33:23. Meghan Ryan of Dundrum South Dublin AC was next best with 34:54, followed by Maebh Richardson from Kilkenny City Harriers with 35:02.
1. Pawel Kosek 2:23:54 2. David Mansfield (Clonmel AC) 2:24:33 3. Tudor Mircea (Clonliffe Harriers AC) 2:25:21
1. Aoife Cooke (Eagle AC) 2:56:33 2. Yuliya Tarasova 3:00:57 3. Andrea Aza Villamor 3:05:15
1. William Maunsell (Clonmel AC) 1:08:13 2. Peter Somba (Ratoath AC) 1:09:12 3. Gavin Sweeney (Togher AC) 1:11:57
1. Niamh Moore (Leevale AC) 1:21:21 2. Caroline Lambert 1:22:05 3. Sally Forristal 1:23:32
1. Michal Wojcik 31:22 2. Paul Moloney (Mallow AC) 32:10 3. John Durcan (Togher AC) 32:13
1. Niamh O’Mahony (An Ríocht AC) 35:25 2. Sinéad O’Connor (Leevale AC) 36:16 3. Claire McCarthy (Leevale AC) 37:06