Round 10 of the 2003 Series was the Club Championship/Pat Bonass Trophy 10000m.   It was well attended with 24 athletes taking part and 19 finishers of whom 17 were from the Grand-Prix series. Conditions were perfect for a race like this with the temperature dropping to a comfortable level and the threatened rain held off until the race was finished. Following the race, the results were announced and discussed as usual in the comfort of the club lounge.  The race was won by Noel Cullen in a time of 32:04, 3 minutes ahead of second placed Dave Brennan (35:02) with William Stafford 17 seconds behind (35:19). William recorded a good time - probably because he was hurrying off to be ready for his early flight to France where he was competing in an international swimming competition, fair play to him!  As was to be expected with a race of this size, the field was well spread out.   There were some who didn't finish including Colin Coyne, who had been challenging Noel Cullen earlier in the race but unfortunately had knee trouble.

  Of the runners in the Grand-Prix Competition, the fastest was Dave Brennan with 35:02 (5pts), William Stafford was second with 35:19 (3pts) and Tom Monks was third with 37:05 (1pts).  The Handicap went to Richard Connolly (20pts) with Shay Byrne second (19pts) and Pat Devitt third (18pts).   The Grand-Prix Leaderboard saw further changes with Richard Connolly regaining the Yellow Jersey on 117 points, with Dave Brennan in second on 105.5 points and Dylan Ahern in third on 103.5 points.   Dylan is away now for the rest of the competition, so the table should see some more changes in the coming months.  Our thanks to the organisers/officials who helped out on the night and to Pat Bonass for sponsoring the event.  Next race - Saturday, 27th September 11:30 a.m. in Malahide Castle for the Ahern Cup/10 Mile Club Championship race.