Second national title for Offaly athlete
Offaly athlete is home for summer from US scholarship
HOME from an athletics scholarship in the USA for the summer, Heather Murphy (St. Michael’s AC, Portarlington), secured a second national road racing title on Sunday morning by claiming gold at the national 5 mile championship in the Phoenix Park.
From the Gracefield side of Portarlington over the border in Offaly, she adds this to the national half marathon title she won at the end of May in Cork.
In a highly contested race in which men and women started together, most of Murphy’s main contenders set off at a blistering pace with many of the men. Unlike the half marathon where she led almost from the start, Murphy had to work her way through the field as others paid the price for over exerting too early.
By the halfway point she had hauled in all contenders and by three miles had taken a clear lead. Finishing in a time of 27 minutes and 24 seconds, she crossed the finish line with 20 seconds to spare on runner up, Nikita Burke of Letterkenny AC. Fiona Roach of Raheny Shamrocks was just over a minute behind Burke.
Following these strong summer performances, Murphy will likely now compete in the national 10 mile championship in July before returning to America in August.