THE 10th ANNUAL AHS TUNING IRELAND BALLINROAD 5K .
The clubs summer road racing programme for 2025 got off to the proverbial flyer last Friday evening with the staging of 10th annual AHS TUNING IRELAND sponsored Ballinroad 5k.The weather was ideal, nice and sunny and calm for the big number of runners and walkers who were in good spirits which made for a great night’s athletics for all who came along. The evenings racing was got underway by our Juvenile club who for the first time ever at one of our road races had a juvenile club 1km run which saw great numbers participating, so well done to our Juvenile committee for this initiative and hopefully we will see many more of these events going forward. The club were delighted again this year to be involved in this event with proceeds going towards the local Ballinroad AFC who are always working to put improvements in place at their fine grounds which in turn will always benefit the community in the Ballinroad area for the generations to come.Both clubs put in a great amount of work pre-race for the event and this paid dividends as a field of 275 runners and a large group of walkers took part. Our sincere thanks to all who helped with the race especially our race sponsor John Coleman and family of AHS tuning Ireland for supporting our club event. To all our stewards who once again did a terrific job on the night, To Jamie and John and crew on traffic management duty another splendid job, to our registrars and timing personnel, finishing area team especially ,Tom, Declan,Shirley,Ray,Sharon . To Liam O Donnell on van duty, Thanks to the Beresford family crooked bridge for their help with the event, To all at Ballinroad soccer club a big thanks and well done to you on your efforts, keep up the great work the club is doing for the Ballinroad community. To Ann Dunford our club secretary who looked after the series entries and race entries and to all at Ballinroad soccer club a big thanks and well done to you on your efforts. Thanks to the parish for the use of St Laurence’s hall. Finally a special mention to those runners who were completing their first 5k Friday evening keep up the good work and we hope to see you throughout the Summer running more of the clubs summer races .Next race in the summer programme is The 28th Annual Round Tower Hotel Ardmore 5 mile on Friday May 23rd at 7.30 pm.
NEW COURSE RECORD FROM EVAN FITZGERALD.
It’s that name again and what a run he produced Friday evening last in the glorious sunshine in Ballinroad for the AHS Tuning Ireland 5k now in its 10th year .Evan Fitzgerald gave a masterful display of 5k running when from the gun he had only one thing on his mind, winning yes and doing it in a record time and this he did in style breaking the Magic time to which needed to be broken 14.50 and he did it with 1 second to spear 14.49 and picked up a nice course record bonus for doing so. Evan is on a hot streak presently having won the previous week Portlaw 5 mile also. Evan was well clear of the field within 400 meters of the race start and try as they did to close that gap it was to no avail as once Evan had that lead it wasn’t going to be relinquished too easily.2nd place and he ran a brilliant race was Waterford AC athlete Pat Fitzgerald who recorded a time of 15.37 which was half a minute faster than the race winning time in 2024. Aidan Connell West Waterford AC finished runner-up last year and this year was again on the winning podium in 3rd place with a time of 16.08 a full 12 seconds faster than his time from 2024.Another West Waterford athlete Damien Murphy will be delighted with his 4th placing last Friday evening recording a time of 16.10, Damien is living in Zurich and made the trip home for the race. Conor Kavanagh Waterford AC was running this race for the first time and he made his mark taking 5th place overall in a time of 16.21.The racing was of the highest order last Friday evening with 10 athletes under 17 minutes and 17 athletes under 18 minutes and 24 under 19 minutes ,great times all round. Well done to all who ran with many super performances and pb’s recorded on this fast flat course.
MENS RESULTS.
1 Evan Fitzgerald West Waterford A.C. 14.40 ( course record)
2 Pat Fitzgerald Waterford A.C. 15.37
3 Aidan Connell West Waterford A.C. 16:08
4 Damien Murphy West Waterford A.C. 16:10
5 Conor Kavanagh Waterford AC 16.21
LAURA BEHAN SECURES VICTORY IN LADIES RACE.
It was great to see the talented Laura Behan Ind back in action after some years side-lined from the sport. The former KCK athlete is now living and working in Dublin and is back running really well again, a former European cross country athlete back in who represented Ireland as a junior in 2010 in Albuferia and on the senior team in 2012 in Budapest. Laura finished in 21st place last Friday evening in an excellent time of 18.24. A recent winner also at the Ballyneal 5k in Carrick we hope to see and hear a lot more about this fine athlete going forward. We know of the heroic recent marathon and John Treacy success of one Feraghal Curtin Youghal AC ,well last Friday evening it was the turn of his younger sister Trish Curtin who had a fine run to take the runners up spot in a time of 19.16,Trish was an excellent Javelin thrower as a junior and has now turned her efforts to Running and doing pretty well at the discipline also. Our 3rd Lady was West Waterford’s Angela Tobin in 19.31 ,a super run by Angela to clock such a time and well under the 20 minute mark ,Natalie Sheehan was 4th in 20.02 ,no stranger to the podium Natalie put in a superb run Friday also. And our 5th athlete was Eveleen Drohan 20.47,creeping ever so close to breaking the 20 minute barrier Eveleen is shortly going to put this one behind her, the way she’s improving presently ,its only a matter of time.Well done to all our female competitors in Ballinroad we hope to see you throughout the summer running more of the clubs summer races.
LADIES RESULTS.
1 Laura Behan IND 18.24
2 Trisha Curtin Youghal A.C. 19.16
3 Angela Tobin West Waterford A.C. 19.31
4 Natalie Sheehan West Waterford AC 20.02
5 Eveleen Drohan West Waterford A.C. 20.47
YOU CAN STILL ENTER THE SUMMER RACE EVENTS.
We are delighted to have our summer race programme uop and running last Friday evening with a highly successful Ballinroad 5km which was race number 0ne in the clubs 6 race events over the summer months ,now if you haven’t entered the event yet you can still do so by logging on to the link below. You can still enter the remaining 5 of the races individually for 10 euro per race online. Individual race entries will open two weeks before each race. If you come along on the night of any race it will be 15 euro so get your online entry is the answer here. See you in Ardmore on Friday 23rd May.
Ardmore 5 Miles 23rd May 2025
Dromana 5 Miles 6th June 2025
Ballymacarby 5 Miles 27th June 2025
Dungarvan 10K 4th July 2025
Ballinameela 5K 18th July 2025
ONLINE ENTRIES HERE.
https://eventmaster.ie/event/OmQnupmH0Z
28th ANNUAL ROUND TOWER ARDMORE 5 .
After a terrific race last Friday evening at race 1 in the clubs summer race programme the Ballinroad 5k our focus now will turn to race 2 the 28th Annual Round Tower Ardmore 5 mile. Once again this year we are delighted that Aidan Quirke of Round Tower Hotel has agreed to sponsor the event as he did last year for the first time. Our sponsor Aidan and his team lead up a family run business Round Tower Hotel which is located in the beautiful village of Ardmore. Round Tower Hotel is a Fáilte Ireland approved 3 star hotel. The hotel offers guests and visitors the opportunity to enjoy their break in one of Ireland’s oldest Christian settlement villages. The race will be held on Friday May 23rd at 7.30 pm. The Ardmore 5 is one of those races which we love heading to with ease of mind because as has been the case for many many years we knew that Michael Hennessey, and all the team in Ardmore always had all pre-race work in place. But alas this year will be a very sad occasion for everyone involved as 3 of our main race organisers and helpers with this great event have gone to their eternal reward, Bernie Stilwell, Matt Faherty and Michael Hennessey RIP all three leave a terrible void in the village and indeed will be sadly missed by us all when we head to the village of St Declan and the round tower this year. But we are delighted once again this year that Richie Stilwell will keep the flag flying and he along with his team will make sure the memory of the great men mentioned will continue for many years to come. The course will remain the same as previous years with the 2 lap circuit. Registration and changing will be at the Ardmore GAA club pavilion ( by kind permission ) and we sincerely thank Ardmore GAA for the use of their fine facility as they have done now for many years. Prizes will be awarded to the top three male and female athletes and after that prizes will be awarded to the following age race categories.Men-Junior,40,50,60 Women-Junior,35,40,50.Entry to this race is only 10 Euro if you enter online, at Eventmaster.ie and our course if you leave it until the night of the race to enter the fee will be 15 Euro, so get your online entries in ASAP. See ye at the round tower guys.!!
ENTER 28th ANNUAL ROUND TOWER HOTEL ARDMORE 5 ONLINE NOW.
Online entry for the 28th Annual Round Tower Hotel sponsored Ardmore 5 is now open on Eventmaster.ie and the Cost is only €10.00. Numbers can be collected on the evening of race. It is of great help to us the race organisers if you can please enter online and it will save you time queuing on the night. If you come to entry on the night it will cost you 15 euro, so get your online entry in today.
https://eventmaster.ie/event/preview/k45RcK2TA2
KILLEAGH 4 MILE ROAD RACE.
The Killeagh 4 mile road race was held last Thursday evening and a field of 311 competed on the night in what were idea weather conditions for the event. The race saw Michael Harty, East Cork AC (19:33) and Tamzin Muldowney, East Cork AC (15th – 23:56) take the men’s and Ladies titles this year. West Waterford AC was well represented at the race and we had 2 athletes among the prize winners Ray Hahesy was 1st over 60 and Melanie Kelly was 2nd in the Ladies over 60 categories. The following were our full club results. Well done to all.
Ray Hahesy 25:42
Stephen Shasby 27:48
Cliona O’Keeffe 32:16
Onra Power 33:17
Susan O’Mahoney 33:39
Martina Beechinor 33:39
Melanie Kelly 34:50
Patricja Daly 35:30
John Leonard 37:18
SUCCESSFUL DAY 2 FOR WEST WATERFORD AC ATHLETES AT COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIPS.
Day 2 of the county track and field championships were held last Sunday morning at the RSC track Waterford with a full juvenile junior youth and senior programme of events. In the Senior Men 800m there was a one two for the club with Gary Cantwell taking gold from team mate Damian Murphy. In the 3.000 meters for senior men Damien Murphy took gold with Raivis Zakis winning silver and Gary Cantwell bronze. In the Ladies 3.000 meters gold went to Kelly Fitzgerald and Natalie Sheehan took the silver. Pat Kennedy was in action in both the Hammer and Shot and took silver in both throwing a distance of 26.30 in the hammer and 9.09 meters in the shot. In the relays we had two teams competing men’s and Ladies with the senior men’s winning gold while our Ladies took silver. Well done to all who competed at day 2 of the country track and field championships
KATE VEALE SELECTED ON IRISH TEAM FOR EUROPEAN CUP OF RACE WALKING IN CZECHIA THIS WEEKEND .
Congratulations to West Waterford AC race walker Kate Veale who was announced as a member of the Irish race walking team heading to the European cup in Czechia this weekend 18th May. Kate throughout her career is the holder of 26 Irish national senior titles and has deservedly been selected to wear the Irish Singlet once again at the championships. It’s a great honour for the Club to have yet another of our athletes representing the country on the International stage.We also wish race walking coach and honouree club member Jamie Costin the clubs best wishes for the championships as he is involved with the coaching of no less than 3 athletes named on the Irish team.The following athletes have been selected for the European Race Walking Team Championships taking place in Podebrady (CZE) on May 18th 2025.
Seamus Clarke U20 Men 10km Moy Valley AC
Matthew Newell U20 Men 10km Tuam AC
David Kenny Sen Men 20km Farranfore Maine Valley AC
Matthew Glennon Sen Men 20km Mullingar Harriers AC
Kate Veale Sen Women 20km West Waterford AC
Aisling Lane Sen Women 20km Mullingar Harriers AC
Joe Mooney Sen Men 35km Adamstown AC
Brendan Boyce Sen Men 35km Finn Valley AC
MICK COMPLETES BLUEWAY MARATHON.
Club member Mick Concannon was on marathon duty last Saturday when he completed the Marathon Club of Ireland Blueway Marathon from Clonmel to Carrick On Suir and back. 32 ran the event with Mick completing the race in a time of 4.10. Mick is out again this next Weekend he ups the ante at Johnstown House Wexford where the distance is 50k.
