Davenport comes home in comfort

ATHLETICS:American-based runner Marie Davenport was the comfortable winner of the women's mini marathon in Dublin yesterday, covering the 10km route in 33 minutes and 14 seconds

The Clare native and two-time Irish Olympian, who is living in Boston, controlled the race from early on and came home well clear of Rosemary Ryan and former winner Pauline Curley.

The 31-year-old, married to the former American distance runner Mark Davenport, had a commanding lead from the halfway stage, passing the 6km mark in 19:41 - at which stage she was 13 seconds up on Ryan and Curley. Davenport had returned home especially for the race, using it as part of her build-up to a full marathon in the coming months.

Elsewhere, Alan O'Shea from Bantry provided a home victory in the Cork City Marathon, which was revived yesterday after a 21-year absence. Having already won a series of races on the roads in recent weeks, including the national 10km title, O'Shea ran well within himself to take the win in two hours 27 minutes and 36 seconds on his debut at the 26.2-mile distance.

Warm and sunny conditions didn't make for fast times, and O'Shea had over four minutes to spare on Latvian native Sandis Bralitis from Waterford, who took second, with East Cork's Roy Fahy taking third. Tracy Guilfoyle from Clare was equally impressive in winning the women's race, her time 3:01.52.