Thousands of runners and walkers turned out for the annual FUTURE Streets of Galway 8K road-race which took place on Saturday evening last. Again this year, male runners slightly outnumbered the female runners as 55 per cent of finishers were male and 45 per cent female. Almost 85 per cent of all finishers were unaffiliated to any official running club, showing the special appeal of the Streets of Galway race to the wider population outside of competitive or club running.

Runners participating in the FUTURE Streets of Galway on Salthill prom on Saturday.

The race began at Southpark in the Claddagh, following the traditional route through the city-centre and out through Salthill, before finishing in a closed loop adjacent to the start-line.

The race, which is now in its 23rd year, had to cap entries at the 2,000 mark a number of weeks before the race date due to the huge demand for entry places. With the introduction of chip-timing for the first time, a smoother start to the race on the narrow streets was guaranteed and all runners went to the line just after 7pm in blustery but close and dry conditions after a day of heavy rain in the city.

There was a great buzz in and around the Claddagh area from 5.30pm onwards on Saturday evening as thousands descended on the seashore to begin their quest to complete the novel road race. The race sponsors FUTURE Wealth and Protection were again offering a bonus for a new course record, but the damp and inclement conditions made this more difficult on the night and existing course records were going to be very tough to beat.

Josphat Boit (Clonliffe Harriers) came in first place with an impressive time of 23m 35s and Vinny Mulvey (Raheny Shamrock AC) finished in second place, 16 seconds adrift, followed by Christopher Erichsen in third position, a further 45 seconds back.

Rosemary Ryan (Bilboa AC) successfully defended her crown to become a 44 winner when she won in a time of 27m 43s this year. Teresa McGloin (Finn Valley) travelled from Leitrim to take second exactly a minute later in 28m 43s. Breege Connolly was third in 28m 45s.

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