Notes August 15-10

GER WYLEY SPORTS/ NIKE SUMMER SERIES

SUMMER SERIES CONCLUDES AT “AN TOBAR ARDMORE 5”

The prestigious and highly popular Ger Wyley Sports/Nike summer series came to a conclusion in the village of Ardmore last Friday night with the staging of the An Tobar sponsored Ardmore 5 mile road race. This race has been held annually over the last fifteen years and thanks to the dedication and organisation of Michael Hennessy and his crew, the crowds returning to Ardmore every August just get bigger and bigger. No stone was unturned in the preparation of this race by Michael Hennessy whose attention to detail regarding stewards, the course and all other aspects of the race certainly contributed to the massive success of the race. It was a well-marshalled course thanks to all the locals who were involved and thanks to everyone for giving of their time on the night. This is the second year in a row that the numbers have exceeded 200 and it’s a just reward for the hard working crew in Ardmore. Ken Pallister of “An Tobar” bar in the village once again sponsored the race and he and his staff ensured that all the runners were well cared for with plenty of food and refreshments. We are very fortunate each year to have the support, generosity and sponsorship of Ken which contributes so much to the success of the race and all at the club were very grateful as were the athletes with the fine array of prizes that were on offer, courtesy of Ken’s sponsorship. Many locals turned up to see the runners and they weren’t disappointed as they watched the magnificent display put on by the runners and the battles they fought towards the finishing line. Our sincere thanks goes to Ardmore GAA for the use of their facilities for taking the entries and parking, it was much appreciated. Our thanks also goes to Matt Faherty who was present on the night to present the Noel Faherty cup to the winning lady and also to the Ryan family who presented the first man with the Veronica Ryan memorial cup. We’ll certainly look forward to the 16th staging of the race next year. Our background crew of Megan, Breeda, Kathleen, Bernie, Shirley and Liam were as efficient as ever with the entries and the finishing times and results. For each of the ten races, they have been there to ensure the smooth running of the race and it’s fair to say at this stage that they have if off to a fine art! They are working well before the race and after it too and indeed during the race and we really and truly appreciate their help, support and expertise. Thanks so much to you all. Thanks also to Jamie and Conor for traffic control and parking and to Tony, Michael and Albert in the club van; many hands make light work as they say! Finally, thanks to Ann Dunford who looked after all the prizes on the night.

BRIAN MURPHY IS TRIUMPHANT AT “AN TOBAR ARDMORE 5”

It was a sweet finish to the summer series for Carrick athlete Brian Murphy as it was at Ardmore last Friday night that he recorded his first ever victory in the summer series. Brian literally burst onto the road-racing scene at the start of the year and it’s a just reward for all his diligence and commitment that he recorded a fantastic win for the final race. Throughout the series he finished either second or third for the majority of the races so it was a delighted Brian that crossed the line first. A mile into the race Brian made the decisive move and pushed the pace and finding himself ahead of the group he battled as hard as he could and over the final mile the race was his as he was well clear of the field but at the same time he never once eased off the pace concentrating now on getting one of his fastest times ever for five miles and so he crossed the line with the clock reading 25.36, well outside the course record set in 2008 but that won’t bother Brian as he will revel in this win for a long time to come. In second place was Raivis Zakis and in third place was Martin Bradshaw of Bilboa, Co. Limerick. Rory Moloney finished in 5th, Kevin Kenneally in 7th and Declan Power who was the first junior on the night finished in 10th spot. A total of 33 broke the 30 minute barrier which included the first two ladies, Pauline Lambe and Martina O’ Dwyer. Last year only 28 broke 30 minutes so an improvement in the standard was great. The weather conditions were ideal on the night once again; we really have been so lucky with the weather for the series this year, which really helped all those in pursuit of good times. Indeed, there were some great tussles throughout the race with many giving it all they had for the final race. Luke Cunningham and Liam Budds pushed each other all the way with Luke finishing just one second ahead in the end. Gerry and Gary McCormack also had a battle going on with Gerry being victorious with a second to spare. There’s nothing like a bit of motivation near the end of a race especially if you are in a group and it worked wonders for Martin Mullarkey (33.31), Ray Burke (33.31), Justin Coonan (33.36) and Richard Kelly (33.39). Mark Cliffe and Paul Brunnock have kept each other motivated at every race, which more than helped them to be well under 34 minutes, recording 33.48 and 33.49 respectively. A little further behind Liam Kavanagh and Martin Hayes both clocked 34.04. Billy Coleman clocked 36.17, Trevor Walsh 37.18 and Vincent Tutty 37.19, well done lads. The prize-giving for the Ardmore race is different to other races as in order to spread the prizes around prizes are awarded to the top three men and then the first man home in each of the star signs so in total 15 prizes are awarded in the men’s section.

WINNERS

1st Brian Murphy Carrick AC  25.36 
2nd Raivis Zakis West Waterford AC 26.08
3rd Martin Bradshaw Bilboa   26.20
Leo:   Cormac Delahunty
Virgo:  Tadhg Vaughan
Libra:  David Waters
Scorpio: Joe Walsh
Sagittarius: Michael Murphy
Capricorn: Gary Cantwell
Aquarius: Kevin Shelly
Pisces:  Tommy Falconer
Aries:  Danny Smith
Taurus: Kevin Kenneally
Gemini: Rory Moloney
Cancer:  Yevgeniy Chizhikov

 
PAULINE LAMBE RECORDS ANOTHER WIN

Pauline Lambe once again dominated at the Ardmore race last Friday night with another comprehensive victory to finish with a time of 29.11 for the 5 mile distance. This is Pauline’s second year competing in the summer series and it’s a sure testament to her talent that she has won every single race she has competed in with the exception of two races, the Ardmore race last year being one of those races as she was beaten by Madeline Loughnane of Thurles but this year Pauline more than made up for this with a fantastic run which saw her finish just 5 seconds outside the course record which was set by Madeline Loughnane. This time of 29.06 is one of the fastest times for 5 miles and no doubt Pauline will give it another go next year and will have the course record for Ardmore to her credit along with all the others. Pauline went into the lead from the starting gun and like so many athletes on the night, recorded a very fast first mile and from there on it was a race against the clock for the remainder of the race. The downhill section of the last mile was a welcome relief for all the athletes and Pauline really pushed on over the final hurdle to get that course record but unfortunately she was just outside it but had a very clear win nonetheless and will be delighted with her performance. Pauline was presented with the Noel Faherty cup, which is awarded to the first lady finisher of the Ardmore race, and it seems certain that it won’t be the only time that her name will appear on the cup. Martina O’ Dwyer added another sub 30 minute run to her credit by finishing in second place, overtaking Laura Behan of KCK over the latter stages of the race. Laura was also the first junior lady on the night. Karen Ryan had a great run on the night, running close to her pb for this year which was a nice way to finish the series. Josie Ui Chuirrin was well under 36 minutes, Clare Walsh had seconds to spare in her bid to break 40 minutes, Caitriona Kiely was delighted to get under 41 minutes. Anna Ballot and Helene Hayes kept each other motivated and so were well under 44 minutes, which was great running indeed. After the first three ladies, prizes were awarded to the first woman in each of the 12 star signs.

WINNERS

Pauline Lambe  WAC  29.11
Martina O’ Dwyer  Carrick AC 29.58
Laura Behan   KCK  30.33
Leo:   Karen Ryan
Virgo:  Joanne Dunford
Libra:  Diane Behan
Scorpio: Tara Rhatigan
Sagittarius: Norma Wall
Capricorn: Triona Wall
Aquarius: Kate Nolan
Pisces:  Corinna Walsh
Aries:  Mary O’Keeffe
Taurus: Nora Moore
Gemini: Joan Mahony
Cancer: Anna Ballot
A full report of the summer series will feature in next week’s notes.

WEST WATERFORD LADIES FOURTH IN NATIONAL LEAGUE FINALS

Tullamore was the venue for the All-Ireland National Track and Field finals which was held last Saturday and West Waterford ladies travelled in the hope of making it to the top three. Only the top 8 teams from the previous two rounds made it to the final and West Waterford ladies entered the final as the club with the most points, just one point ahead of Clonliffe Harriers in Dublin. Lisa Houlihan got the day off to the perfect start with a convincing win in the 100 metres hurdles in a time of 15.58. She added another win later on in the day when she cleared 3.10 metres in the pole vault and she finished third in the triple jump in a very close contest which saw her lose out on second place by a mere centimetre. Zoe Scanlon who has been competing every single weekend over the summer added another first place by winning the shot event with a throw of 10.08 and she was second in the javelin with a throw of 30.48 metres. Norma Wall was 4th in the 3,000 metres and Triona Wall had her best performance ever in the walk when she knocked another 25 seconds off her time for the 1,500 metres walk. Claire Collins had a super day with a win in the high jump but was unlucky in the 400 metres hurdles but then had a great run in her leg of the 4x 400 metres relay. Eadaoin Ashe was well pleased with her throw of 26.51 metres in the discus and she was also part of the 4x100 metres relay. Michelle Kenneally earned further valuable points for the club by finishing third in the hammer event with a throw of 36.76. Claire Morrissey who was a guest for the club from KCK had a busy day as she competed in the 100 and 200 metres sprints, the long jump and the 4 x 100 relay and thanks to her from all the team for travelling on all three days. Galway County were the winners on the day with Kildare County taking the silver medals. These two teams were in the position of picking the best athletes from all the clubs in their respective counties whereas club teams were limited to just the athletes from their club which makes the performance of the West Waterford ladies all the more remarkable. Clonliffe Harriers finished third with only a few points between them and West Waterford. It was the first time that the ladies ever made it to the final and now that we have and have certainly proved ourselves capable of mixing it with the rest of the country it’s onwards and upwards from here on with the ladies team and maybe next year we can go one step better. Thanks to all that made the effort to travel on all three days to represent the club and thanks also to Mary Ashe and James Veale who looked after the team on the day.

AMBER PETROLEUM FIT4LIFE LEAGUE

IT’S ALL DOWN TO THE LAST NIGHT!

The 7th and penultimate round of this Amber Petroleum Fit4Life league took place at the Friary College grounds (by kind permission) last Tuesday evening on once again a very warm evening for running. Last night was our last outing in this league and then we will have a break until the Elite Adventure and Development League starting on Tuesday September 7th at 7pm and the Garvey’s Supervalu Autumn League which starts on Thursday September 9th at 6.30pm.  Full details on these leagues are available on our website www.westwaterfordathletics.org and as always we welcome and encourage newcomers to all our leagues.

JIM FIXED IT THIS WEEK!

This was an unusual outing in this league where out of the 63 participants an unbelievable 47 of these runners were too fast.  We’re quite used in this league to around half the field in when the clock strikes zero but here around three quarters of the field were in the finishing tunnel when the winner was announced and this week that lucky person who was just home from the European Athletics Championships was Jim Fleming so well done to Jim on being the 7th winner this year.  Right behind Jim was Patrick Riordan who has nearly always been on the wrong side of the clock but this week he got it almost right and was just 1 second outside his predicted time.  Grace Downey (0.02) runs almost all the leagues in the Friary now and was rewarded for her efforts as she took third spot this week while Vincent Tutty was most unlucky at just 2 seconds out also. Tom Leahy is there or thereabouts every week and this week was only 3 seconds behind his time while Jackie Tobin and John Foley were both just 4 seconds slower than predicted.

SHANE JUST ON WRONG SIDE OF CLOCK

Shane Power invested in new runners this week and maybe these were to blame for ending up on the wrong side of the clock and a second too quick.  Micheál Callaghan almost took a second victory in this league when he too finished a second too quick while Vince Donovan also was only a second too fast.  This week out of the 63 runners, 57 crossed the line within a 2 minute period which once again made it tough on our finish line crew of Liam, Tony, Michael and Shirley but as always they were well up to the task so once again a big well done to them all.

LEAGUE SPONSORS AND PRIZEGIVING

Pat and Marion Keane of the Amber Garage on the Youghal Road are our sponsors for this league and we are extremely grateful for their support.  The prize giving for this league will take place in the Ballimameela Community Centre after their 5 Mile Road Race on Friday August 20th.  The race commences at 7.30 and the prizes will be presented after the race at approximately 9pm. The following are the prizewinners who will be receiving prizes on the night and remember there will be prizes also for the top 5 on the Champions League Table.  It’s very unusual that the only repeat winner so far this year is Caroline Lenihan who came third on 2 occasions but with our club policy of one prize per athlete this brings Paddy Power into the prizes in week 4. 

WEEK 1 1. Anna Ballott,  2. Onra Power,  3.Caroline Lenihan
WEEK 2 1. Micheál Callaghan, 2. James Veale, 3. Richie Power
WEEK 3 1.Liam Sandford, 2. Tina Kenneally, 3.Vincent Tutty
WEEK 4 1.Michael Deegan, 2. Karen Coleman 3. Paddy Power
WEEK 5 1.Declan Hayes, 2. Colleen Hayes, 3.Michael Foley
WEEK 6 1.Josie Harty,  2. John Foley,  3.Kevin Walsh
WEEK 7 1.Jim Fleming, 2. Pat Riordan,  3.Grace Downey

AMBER GARAGE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE TABLE

They just can’t be separated at the top of the Champions League Table where Anna Ballott and Onra Power are now on the exact same total of 131 points going into the last night of this league. They run together each week so it’s going to go right down to the wire next Tuesday evening. The big mover this week was Tom Leahy who jumped 3 places from 6th to 3rd overall when he took 26 points.Liam Sandford dropped down to 5th when he finished too quick and gained no points while Paddy Power did not run so he remains on 106 points and dropped from 4th to 7th. Catriona Kiely too moved up the leader board when she took 17 points and went from 5th to 4th. 
The top 10 after week 7 is as follows:

NAME   POINTS

1. Anna Ballott  131
2. Onra Power   131
3. Tom Leahy   120
4. Catriona Kiely  112
5. Liam Sandford   111
6. John Foley   110
7.Paddy Power  106
8. Josie Harty   105
9. Vincent Tutty  104
10. Tomás Coleman  94

WHAT TO DO NOW THAT THE SUMMER LEAGUES ARE OVER

To everyone who took part in the Summer leagues, the Minnie’s League and the Amber Petroleum League, thank you all for coming along and participating. We hope that you enjoyed yourselves immensely and are delighted with the progress you have made both with fitness levels and running times. That’s the beauty of running, unlike any other sport or activity; it’s possible to see results in a very short time.  With the conclusion of the summer leagues many have been asking what’s next on the programme. The Autumn Leagues will be starting shortly and these leagues like the summer leagues cater for all runners. The first of these leagues is the Elite Adventure and Development One Lap Challenge and also commencing in the same week is the Garvey’s Supervalu Autumn League.

ELITE ADVENTURE AND DEVELOPMENT ONE LAP CHALLENGE

This league is ideally suited for beginners who might be a bit intimidated by seeing people running lap after lap of the Friary College and think they may never achieve that level of fitness. Well, in association with Fit 4 Life and kindly sponsored by Jeff Allen of Elite Adventure and Development we have a league for you. This is a one-lap league, so if you walk and jog and walk again then this is where you can meet other people starting on a fitness regime just like you. So many people are aware of the Winter League and would love to give it a go but feel that they might not be able for it.  Well this is where you can get ready for the Winter League. If you’re still not convinced why not come along and just watch for the first night and join in whenever suits you. The league is also open to regulars who want to see what time they can cover the 1.2-mile course in.  The league will commence on Tuesday September 7 and will run for 5 weeks taking in September 14, 21, 28, and October 5.  The start time for this league will be 7 o’ clock with registration taking place at the van from 6.45 pm onwards.  The entry fee is €2 each night and we will provide water at the finish for all the participants. Please note that you do not have to be a member of the club to take part.

GARVEYS SUPERVALU AUTUMN LEAGUE

The Garvey’s Supervalu Dungarvan Autumn League will commence on Thursday 9th September at 6.30 pm at the Friary College Dungarvan.  It will have an earlier starting time of 6.30 pm.  Registration will commence at 6.15 at the club van.  There will be a choice of 1, 2, 3 or 4 laps of the Friary, with each lap being 1.2 miles. When you find that you are comfortable with doing one lap then you may move onto two laps or you may stay with one lap, the choice is yours.  This league will be held on 5 consecutive Thursday nights, September 9th, 16th 23rd and 30th and October 7th.  Once again we would like to thank Garvey’s Supervalu Dungarvan and Coolagh Road for their continued support and their sponsorship of this league. The entry fee for each night will be the usual €2 per athlete and please note that you don’t have to be a member of the club to come along, all newcomers are most welcome.

JOHN FOLEY WINS ATHLETE OF THE MONTH FOR JULY

Congratulations to John Foley who has won the club’s athlete of the month award for July on a total of 11 points. Onra Power actually had the highest points for the month but as Onra has already won a monthly award the club policy is that the award goes to the person with the next highest score, which was John. Onra had 12 points, John had 11 points, Josie Ui Chuirrin had 10 points, Paul Brunnock and Triona Wall were both on 9 points and Brigid Coffey, Caitriona Kiely, Johnny O’ Connor and Trevor Walsh all had 8 points each which is very high scoring indeed. Next week we will provide you with the top ten up to the end of July.

BALLYCOTTON 5 2010

For those of you that run the Ballycotton summer series, the final race will be held next Thursday night August 26 and it has a 7.30 p.m. start. There are quite a few West Waterford athletes that have run the previous three races and so we should be well represented on the night.

RUNNING QUOTE

So much in life seems inflexible and unchangeable, and part of the joy of running and especially racing is the realization that improvement and progress can be achieved.

 

WOODIES DIY MASTERS TRACK AND FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS.

WEST WATERFORD ATHLETES EXCEL.

The Woodies DIY national Masters track and field championships were held in Tullamore last Sunday and the small contingent of West Waterford athletes who travelled brought home a bag of medals. Joe Gough was in great form in the over 55’s when he took a double in the 800 and 400 meters running a seasons best to claim his 52nd All Ireland title,Corinna Walsh also did a double when she won the 400 and 800 over 35 Ladies.Corinna clocked 2.31 for the 8 and 66 seconds for the 400 excellent running.Terri Gough brought home 3 medal’s also ,gold in the 200 and Javelin and silver in the 100 meters over 65,Harry O’Brien took silver in the 800 meter’s with an impressive 2.13 and finished 4th in the 1.500,Frank O’Brien was back in action after an injury lay off and he was in sparking form winning the over 40 men’s Discus with a throw of 36 meters, Finally Michael Tutty added to his all Ireland medals collection with a bronze in the Javelin over 45 with a throw of 29.12.
Well done to all who travelled to represent the club.

CORK GRADED TRACK & FIELD

The fifth and final round of the Cork County Board AAI Graded T&F League took place at the CIT track on Tuesday last and once again conditions were ideal for the athletes, some of whom travelled from Waterford, Kerry and Tipperary.
The three 800m races were the best supported with the second graded event having 16 competitors. Matt Kearns from Eagle AC won this race but there was an outstanding performance in second by former world masters’ champion, Joe Gough from West Waterford. Joe finished in a time of 2:12.2, which was just a half-second slower than the winner in the recent European Veterans’ Championships held in Hungary. Well done to you Joe. Harry O’ Brien also finished second at the same event in the Grade A 800 metres in a time of 2.10.5.well done to both.