MUNSTER INTERMEDIATE CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS.

DOUBLE SILVER FOR WEST WATERFORD AC TEAMS.

The Munster Intermediate cross county championships for Men and Woman was held in Carrig Na Bhfear Co.Cork last Sunday and a good days racing was had by all in good under foot conditions. Proceeded by the Juvenile championships uneven ages where the club was well represented with many returning home with Munster medals. Turning to the Intermediate event Tony Ryan fielded the clubs strongest possible teams available and all are to be commended on turning out for their club and wearing the club singlet.
The Men’s race was off first with quite a strong field of athletes, Ennis Track would have been near unbeatable on the day when winning with a very good 19 points team tally with West Waterford taking a deserving silver with 82 points and third were Dundrum who we just piped for silver as they had 83 points so it goes to show ever place does count. Our first man across the line was Alan O’Brien, and what a terrific display of cross country running the army man gave, Alan to be honest would be more at home in his favourite discipline on the track but when called upon by the club to take part, made the journey south and finished very strongly over the final half of the race, calling on all his track speed to take 7th place overall, Our next finisher was Kevin Kenneally who has improved this past two months or so two fold now that he is part of the “Stable”setup he is defiantly going in the right direction with his training, Kevin claimed 22nd place on Sunday. James Ledingham one of the clubs most consistent runners was next in 23rd place and gave his usual 100% team effort for his club. Young Padraig Healy is making great strides since moving to college Cork and is training consistently he finished in 30th place and was a key member of the team which took club silver medals for West Waterford AC.Every team game needs a full squad and athletics in no different. We also had on our team last Sunday Trevor Mason 48th Conor Murray 57th and Con Kelleher 60th well done to all.
The Ladies race also saw a good field and here too the West Waterford Ladies team performed well taking club silver team medals to add to the silver won two week previous in the Novice championships. Our first Lady finisher was Eibhlis Ní hAodha who gave an excellent display to finish 8th overall. Eibhlis has been involved with all the club teams at county, Munster and All Ireland level for many years and is running as well as ever presently, Cross Country running at team level is all about packing well and this our Ladies did on Sunday with our next three scoring runners finishing in 15th 16th and 17th position respectively. The Sunday morning long runs are playing an important part in the current fitness level of Ann Dunford who finished 15th and Brenda Hunt who only recently joined the team added another Munster medal to her Novice one of two weeks ago finishing 16th. Anne Whelan who is a vastly experienced cross-country runner at all level’s finished in that important 17th place. Like our Men’s team we had great team back up with Bridget Coffey again giving her all to finish in 24th place with the ever-present Judy Hanrahan 28th. Ennis Track took gold on the day with 35 points from West Waterford’s 56 and third were Clonmel on 64 points. Well done to both teams and team managers Tony Ryan and Michael Tutty.

SILVER FOR LADIES AT MUNSTER NOVICE CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS.

The results from the recent Munster Novice cross country championships have finally been posted up, and our Ladies team were once again in the medals, taking a deserved silver team behind winners Ennis Track, having won this title the last six years in succession our Ladies gave their all on the day and can be well pleased with their performances however they were up against a very good Clare team on the day, The final scoring was Ennis Track 21 points. West Waterford 57 points and third was Clonmel with 135 points. Well done to all our Ladies in Limerick and indeed all those from the club over the years who have brought great Munster honours? Cross Country co coordinator Tony Ryan also had a Men’s team on the day and here there were good performances all round, However we didn’t figure among the medals here amid a very strong field. Not to be outdone our Men’s team put in a huge performance for the club when taking an excellent silver team medal also with some fine individual performances all round leading to a very good team effort. Our first athlete home was Alan O’Brien, better known as a track athlete and a member of our national Track and Filed winning squad
ALL ROUNDER SPORTS WINTER LEAGUE.

OVER 300 NOW REGISTERED.

With just the second night completed in this year All rounder Sports winter league the number of runners now registered has passed the 300 mark with 256 of these running in last weeks league. The 5.7 mile course saw 135 participants and the 2.6 mile course had 121.All are to congratulated on getting out there and running the league each week, and there’s plenty room for more I might add, Pass on the word, we ask all participants to bring along a friend in the coming weeks and lead them into a healthier and fitter way of living over the winter months, they will thank you for it, This time last year (will we ever forget) after two rounds we had experienced terrible wet and windy weather on both nights which set a trend of bad weather for the duration of the league. This year we can report that we have had probably the best two nights ever witnessed for the league, hopefully by the time you read this the good weather will still be with us and we can enjoy the league for the coming winter months in drier conditions. How about the running then, Well already we are seeing some very fast times over both distances, On the 5.7 course, Sub 3 hour marathon runner recently in Dublin Declan McGrath was first home in a time of 34.42 he was followed by Paudie Crotty 38.41 and another man clocking good times considering his recent Dublin marathon exploits Ray Dwyer 41.14 was third. Fastest runner on the night was Raivis Zakis with a time of 31.18 and while our hands on sponsor Pearse Moloney was clipping his way around the 2.6 mile course his son Rory was keeping the flag flying for the clan on the 5.7 mile course recording the next fastest time of 32.10 proving that he really is an “All Rounder”Kevin Kenneally was next with a time of 33.40.fair going boys- fair going. Claire O’Reilly was our first Lady to cross the finish line with a good time of 43.29 this gave Claire a finishing position of 6th well done to her. Our next Lady to finish was Carol Whelan 50.07 in 13th place And third Lady finisher was Regina Byrne 23rd with a time of 46.32.The leagues handicap system will start to kick into place over the coming weeks and all will have the same chance of finishing well up the pecking order each week. Thanks once again to our stewards for all their help and time out spent on both courses all the runners of the league appreciate your help. 
The 2.6 mile course saw terrific running last week also with Abbeyside Man Brian Byrne leading the posse home with the fastest time recorded so far this year 13.43.He was followed in second place by Taught Occurring 16.18 and third home was Waterford United under 21 star Jonathon Shaw with a solid 16.32.good training for the off season. Brenda Hunt recent winner of a team Silver Munster medal at the Novice cross country championships was our first Lady finisher on the night with a very good time of 16.46,she was placed 4th overall, Stradbally’s Aoife Connors was second Lady home in 8th place 20.18,Ciara Duffin was third finishing 10th in 20.25.well done to all. It was noticeable that after only two rounds the improvement from round one for many of the 2.6-mile runners was evident last Wednesday with many improving greatly now that they have become familiar with the course etc. And I guarantee you all if you stick to the league you will see a vast improvement come Christmas and beyond but like the 5.7 milers we say don’t keep it to yourself, don’t even continuously tell your friend’s about it, go one better bring them along next week. Remember you can join the league at any stage and all are welcome once over the age of 16 years. Waddle on friends.
Remember too that you can see your finishing position and time each Thursday morning on the club web site log onto www.westwaterfordathletics.org   

IMPORTANT NOTICE TO ALL PARTICAPANTS.

Please run the route that you have registered for. If you wish to change the route, i.e., you are running the 2.6 mile route and you want to run the 6 mile, then you will need to be issued with a new number and likewise, if you are running the 6 and you wish to run the 2.7 you will need to be issued with a new number. This applies even if you only want to change for one night or a few nights. Just tell whoever is at the registration desk that you wish to change and they will issue you with your new number. This is a very important matter for the people who are doing up the results each week, your full co-operation here would be appreciated. Also a reminder to all that you must wear a proper Reflective running bib and always wear your number on the front of your bib. We also have some footpath repairs currently going on in Abbeyside ,so we ask runners to take extra care here.

    PENALTY POINTS.

There’s much talk about the penalty points and what’s it all about, here’s my effort to explain. If you are running the 2.7 mile league and ran it last year and you are more than 3 minutes slower than your best time last year you will be awarded penalty points each week that your slower than that 3 minutes, if there’s 150 runners you will receive 151 points and not your finishing position points and so will anyone else who is 3 minuets outside their best time from last year. If you’re running the 6 mile course you are allowed 6 minutes grace on your best time from last year again each week that your 6 minutes or more slower than this time you will receive maximum penalty points. Instead of getting your finishing position points you will receive the points total plus one of the amount of finishers on that night.eg if 180 runner take part on the night you will receive 181 points along with all others who are 6 minutes outside their late years best time. Penality points will be awarded each week but wont become apparent until the divisions are in place after the Christmas break. This system open’s up the competition to all levels of runners.

MC GRATHS NEWSAGENTS BRICKEY RUN IN ASSOCIATION WITH DUNGARVAN HOCKEY CLUB IS ON THIS SUNDAY.

All roads lead to Bushy Park Sunday next November 18th at 11am, for the 14th Annual Brickey run and Walk. All proceeds from the race thanks to our kind sponsor will be presented to the Dungarvan Hockey club on this occasion. There will be a 5-mile and 3 mile Run and Walk and entries will be taken at Bushy Park from 10am. By kind permission of Brickey GAA club. Entry fee is €7 Euro per person. The Martin Curran Perpetual Cup will be presented to the first man to finish, and the Jim Lyons Memorial Shield will be presented to the first woman to finish. There will be individual and weight categories for men and prizes. Individual prizes for Women. There will also be prizes in the 3-mile event. The weight categories are as follows: Under 40kg, 50kg, 60kg, 70kg, 80kg, 90kg, and 100kg and over 100kg. Presentation of prizes will take place during a social evening at Bridie Dees, Mary St. Dungarvan after the race. This years race will as in the past be kindly sponsored By McGrath’s Newsagents Mitchell St, We thank Albert and Patricia for their kind sponsorship of this event once again this year.

NATIONAL CROSS COUNTRY AT ST.AUGUSTINES COLLEGE.

The club applied some time ago to host the Woodie’s DIY Novice and Juvenile Uneven Ages Cross Country Championships of Ireland,We still await an official reply but through the grape vines we hear that indeed the championships will go ahead at the famed Friary grounds on Sunday 16th December.More anon.

WEST WATERFORD A.C. CLUB MEMBERSHIP FOR 2008.

The club’s yearly membership has been set for the coming year and is 25 Euro. As stated now by Athletics Ireland because of insurance reasons it has become compulsory that all running in club events be covered by insurance so with this in mind we urge all local runners to join West Waterford AC.
For those taking part in the winter league its practically fee membership as the league each night is 3 Euro for non members and 2 euro for members, over the period by saving the 1 euro each week of the league you would nearly have the membership paid when having only to pay 2 euro each night. Also if you join now you are a member up until end of December 2008.Michael Tutty is the clubs registration officer and he will be available each week of the league or any upcoming club event to look after your membership.

RUNNING QUOTE.

Just remember this: No one ever won the olive wreath with an impressive training diary.Alan Lyons.

SYMPATHY.

West Waterford Athletic Club extends sincere sympathy to our County board chairman Noel Power and his family on the untimely death of his wife Alvie which occurred last week.may she rest in peace.