Congratulations to Drogheda and District Athletic Club's Paul Smith, the Flying Firefighter, on his tremendous run to take the bronze medal in the Cross Country race at the World Firefighter games in Denmark last weekend.

Smith has put the work in over the summer to prepare for what lay ahead and this is a coveted medal to be bringing home, and just reward for his efforts in training.

Meanwhile, the annual running of the Seamie Weldon memorial 5 and 10K road races took place in Ardee last Saturday.

Seamie was one of those unsung heroes who put in the hard miles to ensure that athletics went on to thrive at local level, and he had a deep love of his chosen sport.

Thankfully the weather Gods were kind on race day, but with the mercury hitting 23 degrees on the thermometer, things were set to get tough for the close on 400 runners, especially on the back half of both courses, which contained some testing hills.

A small but determined crew of DDAC’s  finest took to the start line, and with no quarter given nor asked for, it was down to business in earnest.

In the 10K race, first in was Alan Wade, who has made a steady return to fitness and his time of 39:32 when placing 7th overall shows that all's going well in training.

Next in was Karl Lombard in 42:07, followed by Joe Carroll in 49:27, solid running by this pair. Also running was Karl Cooney who ran the course in 51:52.

In the 5K race the DDAC ladies led the way with some strong performances from Eimear Marron (22:59), Maria Cooney (26:10), Nuala Reilly (26:19), and Olivia Reilly (28:13). These four packed well to take home the second team prize in the Women's race, while Nuala Reilly took the honours in the W60 category.

Also running well was Linda Bowe who took 3rd in category in the W60 section with her run of 29:11. Others who ran included Edel Smith (33:44), Mary Reilly (40:32) and Sarah Monaghan (42:27).

Of the DDAC Men, David Thornton was first in with a time of 23:38, he wasfollowed by Seamus Roe in 25:05, decent running given the warm conditions. Adrian Gogarty and Brian Guilfoyle couldn't be separated, with both guys dead heating in 25:53, so the battle for club bragging rights continues unabated.

Also running was Barney Flannery who ran the course in 26:44, and his love of racing shows no signs of abating.