Double delight as Leevale’s Lee leads 11,000 runners home

A 32-year-old IT worker won her second consecutive Evening Echo Women’s Mini Marathon in Cork yesterday, just one week after she added the Killarney Mini Marathon to her belt.

Lizzie Lee from Leevale Athletics Club completed the four-mile challenge in 22 minutes, 3 seconds. St Finbarr’s Club took second place, with Clare McCarthy coming in just 10 seconds after Lizzie Lee.

Ms Lee said it wasn’t an easy run as she knew that there was a possibility of being caught short in the home straight.

“I am wrecked now. She (Clare) gave me a tough race out there. We were together until the bottom of the hill and I just broke away and maintained the gap. But I had to work so hard because I could hear them clapping behind me the whole time. I am delighted to win this two years in a row. I am doing it in aid of Down Syndrome Cork.”

More than 11,000 took part in the 31st mini marathon on a grey and drizzly day. Among the competitors was Olympian, Marian Heffernan.

The four-mile route began at Centre Park Road, continued over the Marina, Blackrock Village, Blackrock Road, Ballintemple and Monahan Road. It ended at John F Kennedy Park.

More than 50 women ran in the marathon to raise funds for research into a rare blood syndrome called Diamond Blackfan Anemia.

Funds were also raised for charities such as Brainwave, the Hope Foundation, Marymount Hospice and the Irish Cancer Society.

The event also included many groups of men, who ran dressed in drag to raise cash for various charities.

Now in its 30th year, the annual event has grown from a modest 300 participants in 1981 to a massive 11,000 entrants in 2012.

Last year, Lizzie Lee won the race in 21.57, with Clare McCarthy again just seconds behind her with a time of 22.04.