I was wondering what heading to put on this story, and this is the only one that seems to fit! Runners love their numbers and and as a group they probably like statistics more than most. Finish times, chip times, interval pace, last year's times, next year's predictions, kilometre splits, wind speeds.. you get the idea. Streets runner Gerard Conway took up the challenge and created a web analysis app: http://ondemand.spotfire.com/public/ViewAnalysis.aspx?file=/Users/TIBCO-....

The winners of our bonus prizes for the best performance on the night, using the World Masters Association Age Grading tables, are David Rooney and Maria McCambridge. Young athlete David still manages to beat the field though veteran Martin McEvilly is not far behind. The men's top 10 also has Eugene Moynihan, Damien Martin and Sean Doyle in there too. The women's table has less of a shake-up, looking very similar to the official prizewinners, but with positions interchanged. Here's the top 10 men and top 8 women:
The Men
David Rooney Senior Raheny Shamrocks AC 00:23:55
Martin McEvilly M60 Galway City Harriers AC 00:24:07

The 2010 Streets of Galway 8k Road Race took place on Saturday evening last from Southpark in the Claddagh. This was the 25th anniversary of this road race around the city’s streets, which is organised and hosted by the local Galway City Harriers Athletic Club. The event was first staged in 1986 as an initiative of Cospoir, the predecessor to today’s Irish Sports Council, with organisers Jack Mahon and Mick Roche among others. The ethos from the start to the present day has been “sport for all”, and today the race attracts runners of all standards and ages from all over Ireland - from elite international athletes, to athletic club runners, competitors from other sports, joggers and walkers. 2010 entries were a sell-out and a massive 2144 official finishers were recorded crossing the line at Nimmo’s Pier.

When the bus full of stewards, each with their map and instructions, left the Claddagh at 6:15pm the excitement was starting to build. Warm-ups were underway, the weather was great and the place was abuzz. Oliver Geraghty and Eamonn O’Donnell began the job of getting the runners to the start on time, and at 7:00pm sharp the gun was fired.

Men's Team
1. Raheny Shamrocks AC, 27 (1,4,8,14) - David Rooney, Cillian O'Leary, Simon Reede, Damien Martin
2. Galway City Harriers AC, 52 (5,12,15,19) - Matthew Bidwell, Robert Staunton, Tony Scanlan, Barry Davey
Women's Team
1. Sportsworld RC, 198(55,66,77) - Aoife Brady, Crona Brady, Lucy D'Arcy
2. Raheny Shamrocks AC, 203 (33,56,114) - Patrycja Wlodarczyk, Aoife Talty, Annmarie Hickey
Senior Men
1. David Rooney Raheny Shamrocks AC 00:23:57
2. Sergiu Ciobanu Clonliffe Harriers 00:24:17

Please find attached a list of provisional Streets of Galway finishers with the finishing postion sorted by chip time. These are not race results and are for personal interest purposes only.

It’s full steam ahead for Saturday’s 25th Streets of Galway Road Race. Final preparations are being put in place by the organisers and the participants alike. A sell-out of over 2500 entries have been processed and race-packs prepared.

The Met Eireann forecast for Saturday in Galway is a mixed bag of sunny spells, cloud and scattered showers. Runners will be hoping for the prevailing wind, the South Westerly, to prevail on the night and help with some fast finishes through Salthill and down the Claddagh.

At the business end, this year’s race promises to be an exciting affair. Will we have two new champions in 2010?

...the Streets Of Galway 8K Road-Race (by The Unknown Marshall)

Some miscellaneous facts about the annual Streets Of Galway road-race, held in early August every year:

1. The race-route (although it has not changed significantly since the race-start/finish de-camped from Eyre Square to the Claddagh in 2004), is measured and marked again uniquely every year. This is to allow for any changes in road-surface (through re-surfacing, change in road-camber, etc.) that may have taken place in the intervening period.