Great battles expected for GloHealth National Road Relay honours

The GloHealth National Road Relays return once more to the roads of Raheny in Dublin where another great day of racing is expected this Sunday (April 17).

Leevale will be the red hot favourites in the women's race with Rio Olympic qualifiers Lizzie Lee and Michelle Finn set to return for the Cork outfit. Alongside Carol Finn last year, they blitzed to the gold medals in record time in 20:39 in the 1-2-1 mile (4 miles) format. Leevale also have some other strong entries for their B team with Sinead O'Connor and Rhona Pierce listed.

Other teams amongst the 14 senior women's team entered that should feature include Crusaders and Sli Cualann. Orla Drumm should spearhead the Crusaders team on the 2 mile leg as should Deirdre Byrne for Sli Cualann who has been in excellent form of late finishing second in Dunboyne and at the Great Ireland Run 10k which incorporated the national 10k championships.  

There should be a great battle in the men's race with Donore Harriers looking to retain the title they won last year in 37:52 over the 2-1-3-2 mile (8 miles) format. John Travers will run in the 3 mile leg once more having sharpened up for the race with victory in the elite men's mile at the Great Ireland Run last Sunday. Raheny Shamrock will look to return to the top of the pecking order on home road with Mick Clohisey leading their attack on the 3 mile leg. DSD will have a strong team with Brandon Hargreaves and Joe Sweeney amongst their ranks while Rory Chesser will aim to keep Ennis Track on the podium. Kilkenny City Harriers also look like a force to be reckoned with as Eoin Everard, Brian Maher and Peter Lynch are listed.  

There are 33 teams entered to date for the popular event where the Masters will also do battle for glory in what will be another carnival atmosphere. Newbridge have another strong team in the M35 section while Raheny Shamrock may have to do without their lynchpin Mick Traynor in the M50s. Raheny's women will look to Annette Kealy once more to help them retain their W35 title while Clonliffe Harriers will bid to repeat in the W50 section. 

Provisional road relay entries list subject to team declaration on the day HERE