Sunday marks the start of a season of marquee road races in county Meath with the county’s traditional opener, the Nallys Supervalu Trim 10 Mile Road race. The race doubles up as the Meath County Championship 10 Mile road race, but attracts participants from all over the island due to the nature of the welcome and organisation provided by the host club, Trim AC.
This years event, despite having increased capacity to almost 1,800 entrants, sold out in record time, and judging by the subsequent scramble for transfers, we believe there was demand for probably a thousand more.
The race itself starts at 12 noon, and takes place on a flat, fast course, starting and finishing just outside the town in the Oaktree Business Park. With generous cash prizes for the Top 10 Males and Females, as well as age category prizes and team prizes, the prize fund on offer exceeds €5,000. Aside from the prize fund, each and every finisher will receive a goodie bag which includes one of these stunning 42k running long sleeve technical tshirts.
This year also sees the introduction by the organisers of a sustainable water provider at the finish line. Refill Ireland will be on hand to provide water to each and every finisher, and by using re-useable cups, there will be approximately 5,000 less single use plastic bottles in use this time around.
The race promises to be an intriguing one. Last years winner, and Irish Olympic Race Walker Colin Griffin returns to defend his title, and has shown strong form in the lead up to the race. Current Kia Race Series car holder Eric Keogh is also on the start list as he builds up to the Barcelona Half marathon later in the month, and his Donore Harriers club mate Lee Van Haeften will also fancy his chances of being in the mix.
The ladies races looks more open, with Maria McCambridge coming back to the event after a short absence. Breege Connolly also returns as well as last years 3rd place runner Nathalie Hall from Armagh AC , aiming to climb a couple more steps up the podium come Sunday afternoon.
The battle for age group prizes and team prizes is about as easy to call as picking the winner of the grand national, so we wont event attempt to call those!
By 12:51 / 12:52pm on Sunday, we should know the identity of this years male winner, and 7 or 8 minutes later the female winner. It promises to be a fantastic event, and for the vast majority, the reason for taking part won’t be for prize money, but for their own personal goals.
The club committee, the hundreds of volunteers and the race committee look forward to welcoming you to Trim this Sunday, where a season of superb road racing in Meath kicks off at noon.
As always, a massive thanks to all who help with the race, and to the main sponsor, Nallys Supervalu in Trim, who have been keen supporters of this event in recent years.
Follow the action on Sunday, all live here at the following link: https://www.popupraces.ie/race/trim-10-mile-road-race-2020/
