Castleshane man John Moen did Ireland proud once again when for the 3rd year in succession he was the first Irish finisher in the 2019 BMW Berlin Inline – Skating Marathon last Saturday afternoon. In a race with over 6,000 competitors from every corner of the globe entered and mainly dominated by professional Olympic speed skaters, John Moen who only took up the sport four years ago gave a rousing display for the Irish supporters by leading the Irish contingent home in a time of 1 hour 58mins 11 seconds followed home by Birmingham based Gareth O’ Reilly 42 seconds behind.
The race was held in dreadful conditions with heavy rain making the smooth road extremely treacherous, Moen took the first half of the race cautiously and at the half way stage he registered 60 minutes on the clock passing many of the casualties who had risked the wet conditions foolishly. As conditions eased Moen was able to pick up the pace finishing the second half of the race in 58 minutes at an average of over 22km per hour. Speaking with John after the race, it was a mixture of emotions for him as he was happy…
