Bantry man wins Cork City Marathon

ALAN O’SHEA, tipped as a star of the future, took a giant step in the right direction yesterday when easily winning the Cork City Marathon.

The 26 year old Bantry man, who mixes his busy schedule as a doctor at the Mercy Hospital in Cork with his running, won in 2hrs 27 minutes 36 seconds. Run in hot and sometimes windy conditions the race was never going to produce fast times.

He had exactly four minutes to spare over the runner-up, Wieslaw Sosnowski, a Polish athlete who runs with Eagle Athletic Club in Cork City. Another experienced marathon runner, Roy Fahy, who now competes with East Cork AC, was third in 2:31.59 ahead of Colin Merritt (Togher AC), 2:33.12, and the experienced Cathal O’Connell (St Finbarr’s).