Double Success For Ennis Track At National Championships

Derrick Lynch

It was a weekend to remember for Ennis Track Club at the National Athletics Championships with Clare men taking both gold and silver in the final of the 3000m steeplechase.

Rory Chesser continued his outstanding record in the event as he captured a seventh national title to take first place in a time of 9.39.62. The victory was made all the sweeter as his clubmate and debutante Mark Hanrahan powered home to take the silver medal. Hanrahan, who is still in the Junior age category, came home in second spot with a time of 10.04.78.

Chesser was understandably in buoyant mood after the race and outlined while he felt his time could have been better, he was just glad to be taking the silverware back to the county.

“The plan was to do 10k this year and move on to half marathon in a couple of weeks but training has not been going well. It is nice to be able to come back to steeplechase. My jumping was woeful and we are missing maybe three of the top guys so hopefully next year we will all get it together and get a good race going. It was fine, but the time was atrocious, but after everything I am happy to get a medal and bring it home so happy with that” he stated.

It is the latest achievement for the Ennis based primary school teacher, who also used his time during the Covid-19 lockdown to raise funds for Slainte an Chlair with an online initiative. He is now into the seasoned stage of his career but admits the drive to keep going is as strong as ever.

“It is just part of my lifestyle to get up and run. I will admit that some days it can be a bit harder now but I still have that desire to train hard and as long as I want to that and can stay competitive, I will keep coming to nationals every year because I love it. I don’t mind what race it is or where I come, I just love to come here and get racing. We should have more races down the country too, because cross-country races can be run anywhere” he smiled.

Plans are already in place to keep the success going for Chesser and Ennis Track and he outlined that everyone is hoping to keep that momentum going.

“I am going to do the Charleville half-marathon next week and see how I get on. I am hoping to break 70 but I am not looking for anything special either. I just want to go out and run it and see how I get on. There is a bit of a plan in place then for the nationals along with the Ennis Track team so I am looking forward to that because we have a lot of good lads coming through. I am delighted for Mark too today so hopefully we can build on that” he said.