Round the Houses victory for O"Grady

The 51st running of the Round the Houses road race for the Midnight Shield took place at 12 noon on New Year"s Eve. Twenty eight runners competed, including a good number of the Larkin family who were home for Christmas. The race was run over a distance of 4700 metres and was on a sealed handicap basis. Catch Grennan led the race from the start to finish and came home in a time of 15.26, well ahead of Jody O"Reilly in 15.48 and Adrian Curley who clocked 15.55. However, after the times were adjusted after the handicaps Andy O"Grady was declared the winner. This was Andy"s second Round the Houses victory, having previously won it in 1999. Andy was over a minute clear of Jim Langan in second place with Vinny Conlon taking third position. Full Results: 1 Catch Grennan 15.26; 2 Jody O"Reilly 15.48; 3 Adrian Curley 15.55; 4 John Harkin 16.05; 5 Mick Murphy 16.17; 6 Johnny Feery 16.35; 7 Vinny Conlon 17.27; 8 Liam Dunne 17.29; 9 Maire Triona Keane 17.33; 10 Tony McCormack 18.04; 11 Pat Conlon 18.05; 12 Adrian Larkin 18.26; 13 Mary Daly 18.44; 14 Fran Mollen 18.50; 15 Deirdre Feery 20.05; 16 Jim Langan 20.23; 17 Sinead Rigney 20.41; 18 Larry Rigney 20.42; 19 Andy O"Grady 20.45; 20 Sean Rigney 20.48; 21 Mat Velders 21.21; 22 Aideen Rigney 21.51; 23 Rory O"Doherty 23.05; 24 Samantha Larkin 23.33; 25 J. Farkuym 23.38; 26 Jim Dolan 24.15; 27 Kristina Larkin 25.00; 28 Paula Doherty 25.45 Results adjusted for handicap. 1 Andy O"Grady 12.30; 2 Jim Langan 13.38; 3 Vinny Conlon 13.57; 4 Deirdre Feery 14.05; 5 Fran Mollen 14.20; 6 Pat Conlon 14.23. Goal Mile A record number of people took part in the Goal Mile on a fine Christmas morning and ran, jogged or walked a mile on the track and raised much needed funds for Goal projects around the world. There was a great atmosphere as people met old friends and exchanged Christmas greetings. In the competitive mile, Barry Minnock was the fastest in a time of 4.37 followed by Catch Grennan who clocked 4.43. Race Roundup Jim Langan ran in the Newmarket to Kanturk 5 mile road race on the Sunday before Christmas and ran well to finish in first place over 65 in a time of 36.15. Then on St Stephen"s Day Jim competed in the Farranfore 4 mile road race in Kerry. Jim was going for six in a row in this race. However, despite running a faster time than last year, Jim had to be content with second place in the over 65 category. Jim recorded a time of 29.52 for the four mile race. Also on St Stephen"s Day, Liz Cuskelly finished in third place in the ladies section of the Athenry 10k road race in a good time of 37.46. Declan Fahey also competed and finished fifth in a time of 33.28. Pauline Curley travelled to Newtownforbes in Longford on St Stephen"s Day and was first woman across the line in a time of 17.04. Tony McCormack finished with a time of 20.55. The clubs sprinters have been training hard over the winter months in preparation for the upcoming track season and two of these, Paul Kilmartin and Ray Delaney, got in some useful racing when they guested in the Munster Indoor Championships last Sunday. Paul Kilmartin competed in the 400 metres and clocked 55.0 seconds whilst Ray Delaney Clocked 8.00 seconds for the 60 metres and 25.9 for the 200 metres. IAAF International Cross Country Pauline Curley competed in the IAAF International Cross Country at Greenmount Campus in Antrim on Saturday. This was a very competitive race and Pauline ran well to finish in 15th position in a time of 19.42 for the 5600 metres distance. Sympathy Deepest sympathy is extended to Mick Murphy on the death of his brother Charles in Donegal. Tullamore Harriers would also like to express sympathy to Gerry McGlinchey on the recent death of his father Oliver. Fixtures January 10th: Senior Indoor combined events and relays in Nenagh; January 11th: AAI Masters indoors championships in Nenagh; January 18th: Leinster senior cross country championships in Tymon Park, Dublin.