Seapark Athletic Club’s Connolly completes his 100th marathon

Seapark AC chairperson Valerie Fogarty presents Gary Connolly with his 100th Marathon medal.

The 26.2-mile course saw competitors complete three-and-a-half loops through the countryside and along the coastline of West Cork, crossing the Dunmore Causeway and around the stunning beach of Inchydoney Island.

Completing the course in 3:50:56, Cordner then went on to run the marathon route again the following day, accompanied by fellow Seapark member, Gary Connolly.

It was a particularly special day for Connolly, who was running his one hundredth marathon.

He crossed the line in 3:45:09, followed by Cordner, completing another back to back in 4:03:17.

Connolly only ran his first marathon in Belfast in 2000. He continued to run several marathons a year between 2000 – 2012, before increasing his mileage in 2013 when he ran 27 marathons.

This year he has completed staggering 45, including multi-day and ultra marathon events.

Meanwhile, seven members of Seapark AC took part in the first of the ‘Born2Run’ Forest Series at Minnowburn on Saturday. The 10k trail started and finished on the Mary Peters Track and was enjoyed by all with results as follows: Neil Harper 54:00 (PB), Angela McCormick 54:42, Alison Welsh 59:47, Mark Welsh 59:46, Philip Magill 1:03:21, Karen McMaster 1:06:45 and Tony Barclay 1:13:54.

Also on Saturday, Richard Heatherington ran the Bushy 5k Parkrun in London in 20:35. Closer to home, Charlie McCormick and James Brown ran the Carrick parkrun in 20:36 and 29:02 respectively.