Catherine Whoriskey closing in on Waterside Half Marathon history!

Catherine Whoriskey could be set for Waterside Half Marathon history this weekend by becoming the first lady to win the event five times.

The Derry mum has been an elite athlete locally for years, and has made the Waterside Half event her own in recent times, winning last year’s event in a time of 1:20:02. Last year’s victory took her level with Half Marathon greats Moira O’Neill, who won the event in 1983, 1985, 1986 and 1988, and Anne-Marie McGlynn, who won in 2013, 2014, 2018 and 2019. Catherine is now on course to create history however and stand alone as the first five-time winner should she succeed this Sunday, having already won the event in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2022.

Local race organiser and City of Derry Spartan Gerry Lynch, who has been a part of the Waterside Half Marathon in some capacity for decades, believes a Whoriskey victory is the most likely outcome, and he is hoping that there will be a first time win for another local runner in the men’s category.

“Catherine won it last year in 80 minutes, 2 seconds, which is a couple of minutes off her PB,” he said. “Because of the nature and difficulty of the course, even if the conditions are perfect, I would say that beating 80 minutes would be a major achievement.

“Her closest challenger could be one of the girls from the Road Runners club, who has a 78-minute PB. Apparently, she’s in good form at the moment, but I can’t see anybody, other than that, posing any challenge, and I would say that the fifth WHM individual winner should be handed to Catherine on Sunday.

“Declan Reed, who has now turned 50 last month, is defying injury and lining up again, and he is the guy who has more runners-up medals in the Waterside Half than anybody else. It’s unbelievable. He always seemed to come up against a top African or a top guy from Ulster over the years. He would seem to me to be one of the guys who will be up there for a top place.”

There certainly seems to be a real opportunity for local runners this week, with some of the big hitters from recent years unable to travel to Derry this time around.

“The entry list shows that the heavy hitters that would have been around for a lot of years aren’t really there, and that sinks down to a combination of factors,” Gerry explained.

“One is that the National Half Marathon was last weekend, as was the half Marathon in Antrim. The Waterside is this weekend and next weekend is the Belfast Half Marathon and there is also the Laganside 10K on this weekend in Belfast, so there are a lot of demands on the runners and the dates don’t obviously suit.

“It could be a repeat of last year when, in the Mens’ team race, it was a straight fight between local clubs Foyle Valley and City of Derry, and I think it will be the same again this year. You’re looking at a big opportunity for the local clubs. The danger would come from the Road Runners club, based around Dromore, as they have two guys who finished fourth and eighth in last year’s race, so they could come into the equation.”

“In the women’s team race there could be a repeat of last year, where you had Foyle Valley, City of Derry, Finn Valley and Inishowen. Road Runners have a decent female team and Tafelta are a decent Derry/Tyrone team which has been developing well over the last couple of years so they would be my choice for the team winners in the womens’ race.”