HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL 29th ANNUAL FORDE’S DAYBREAK WINTER LEAGUE.
It surly must go down as one of the best if indeed not the best Fordes Daybreak winter league ever as numbers were very high and one noticeable point this year the numbers taking part kept going right up to then final round with the drop off minimum, in fact we finished with the highest numbers of participants for ever for the event.. We had 10 rounds with one round missed due to the weather. The event not in its 29th year is still the oldest and original national winter league event in the country a fact we at the club are most proud off. The main stay of its success we feel is the fact that it’s open to all and brings together the elite as well as the fun runner and this is what has made it appealing for so many years, the league has never been won by the fastest runner in any of the 29 years of its existence. The prize-winners were presented with their prizes by league sponsor Kevin Forde of Fordes Daybreak at the presentation night in the Park Hotel recently where a great night was had by everyone who came. Our thanks to Kevin for his generous sponsorship of the league and for being available at the league presentation of prizes at the Park. Of course as we say time and time again we are so grateful to all our helpers and stewards that make these leagues possible. The overall winner of the short route for 2023/24 was Graínne Moore while the long route trophy was presented to Cathal Dwane. Our thanks to everyone for such a great turn out on the night, we hope everyone enjoyed the celebrations after 10 weeks of hard running. Once again well done to all the prize-winners and thank you all for your attendance at the presentation night and until next year keep up the hard work. To celebrate the participation in the league this year all runners who ran 7 nights of the league were rewarded with a nice long sleeved T Shirt. In this week’s notes we will have a look at the Long course league and the following week we will have the short course league report.
CATHAL DWANE IS OUR 29TH WINNER OF THE FORDES DAYBREAK WINTER LEAGUE.
Cathal Dwane is the name that will go down on the long list before him of the winners of the long course at the winter league for 2023/24,a very deserving winner Cathal is a regular at the league and is also a great supporter of all our events over many years, he is also a keen triathlete and is part of the local club tried and tested, At the league he was always from the get go in the hunt for overall honours this year’s as he was rarely outside the top 6 positions from round one, he moved nicely up to the top of the table and was in a very strong position over the final two rounds.Colm O’Connell filled 2nd place this year, Colm again like our winner is a regular club with our club and looked like he was going to possibly take the overall title as the league drew to a conclusion but just came up short on this occasion finishing with 1626 points only 54 points behind thewinner Cathal with 1680 points. In 3rd place was our highest finishing female Carol Gaffney who rounder off her league campaign with 1597 points.There were some great battles throughout the 11 divisions with only a point of sow between some top placings, in division 5 only a point separated Annabelle Hackett on 1293 points to Michael Dunford 1292 after 10 rounds, what a battle.Division 6 only 4 points between the top two Renz Comendador 1327 followed by Ray Hahesy with 1323points, and what a battle between Eamonn Curran 1137 and Pat Morrissey 1136 again a mere point between the lads a hard fought battle played out fair and square.A total of 49 runners did all 10 nights on long course which was a record number by far . So all in all it was another great league and the full list of our top 10 as well as our other divisional winners are listed below.
The top 10 were:
1 Cathal Dwane 1680
2 Colm O Connell 1626
3 Carol Gaffney 1597
4 Shane Flavin 1592
5 Jody Hynes 1506
6 Yevgeniy Chizhikov 1480
7 Sean Lennon 1465
8 Linda Bradfield 1462
9 John Coade 1460
10 Thomas Power 1453
Division 2.
1 Cathal E Gleeson 1412
2 Helen Keating 1373
3 David Mc Nally 1264
Division 3.
1 Caroline Russell 1351
2 Onra Power 1323
3 Emmet Gaffney 1320
Division 4.
1 Paul Mc Grath 1367
2 Helen Leahy 1313
3 Ann O Donovan 1298
Division 5.
1 Annabelle Hackett 1293
2 Michael Dunford 1292
3 Ian Cliffe 1207
Division 6.
1 Renz Comendador 1327
2 Ray Hahesy 1323
3 Fiona Ormonde 1206
Division 7.
1 Angela Bree 1246
2 Jack Nolan 1241
3 Madeleine Hearn 1177
Division 8.
1 Grainne O Brien 1187
2 Padraig Nolan 1130
3 Helen Ryan 1050
Division 9.
1 Eamonn Curran 1137
2 Pat Morrissey 1136
3 Éanna Farrell 1098
Division 10.
1 Kelly Mc Grath 1125
2 Martina Holmes 1071
3 Rosie Mansfield 966
Division 11.
1 Rebecca Hogan 1061
2 Mark Shalloe 1018
3 Lorraine Dixon 995
A RECORD 49 COMPLETE ALL 10 WINTER LEAGUE LONG COURSE NIGHTS.
It is a great achievement to get yourself out not for a few league nights over the winter but for them all, this year we had a huge record number of 49 runners on the long course completed all 10 nights of the league, a special well done to all of you. The four winners of the prize’s raffled among those 49 who completed each and every night was won by Michael Power,Caitriona Barry,Anne-Marie Power,David Moore
NIAMH AND T.J FASTEST MAN AND WOMEN ON THE LONG COURSE LEAGUE.
In this league we give a prize to the fastest man and women on both routes who participate for the mandatory 7 nights and appear on the league tables. On this occasion on the long course the very fast T.J.Crotty took the title of fastest man on the long route with a superb time of 30.59. Turning to the ladies long course, our fastest lady was Niamh O’Donovan with a time of 34.12 a great run by Niamh who was most consistent throughout the whole league.
LEAGUE STATS.
We had 284 runners sign up for the long route.Over the 10 nights of the league we had an average of 307 finishers per night over the 10 nights up from an average of 272 finishers per night last year! And higher than the last previous record of 302 in 2013.We had 187 runners complete at least 7 nights on the long route
NEXT LEAGUE IS THE POPULAR MARK MASON FINANCIAL SERVICES COLLIGAN LEAGUE.
The club’s next big local event is the 5 week Mark Mason’s Financial Services Colligan running league for beginners and regular runners and all are welcome once they are over 16 years of age. We would especially encourage newcomers to come along and join in this league in Colligan wood. For the complete beginner there is the option of doing two laps of the wood, beginning at the wooden bridge and finishing at the wooden bridge. This is 4.4 km in distance or 2.7 miles so it might suit all those that ran the short route over the winter league plus this route is more or less completely on the flat. Another option is to take part in the 3 lap which is 6.5 kms or just over 4 miles; this is 3 laps of the same flat circuit of the wood mentioned above. The final option is the 5 mile hill route which is one lap of the wood for starters and then up the first hill and down the hill and then across the road for the second hill and finishing in by the wood at the bridge. Entry will be online in due course. The league will start on Wednesday April 3rd and continue for five Wednesday evenings April 3rd,10th,17th, 24th and May 1st.Mass start each evening at 6.30 pm.
TOM BURKE RIP.
As we celebrated a great day at the recent John Treacy Dungarvan 10 mile news broke the following morning of the passing of one of our club members Tom Burke Hillside Clonea Upper.Tom loved to be out and about and especially loved running as he did right up until recent months,He was always one of the first members to pay his membership each year and ran many of the clubs races over many years, always an encouraging voice to all runners he was always abreast of club activities and when we met it would always be catch up on the Club.We extend our sincere sympathy to his beloved wife Marian and his sons Peter and Thomas, daughters Caroline and Orla, and his grandchildren, daughters-in-law, sons in law, his brothers and sisters, and extended family.May he Rest in Peace
MUNSTER MASTERS INDOORS.
GOLD AND RECORD FOR JOE AND 3 GOLDS FOR TERRI.
The club had two masters in action today on the newly laid track in Nenagh indoor arena Terri and Joe Gough.Joe Gough set a new Munster record in the over 70 800 meters event with a time of 1.04.08 while Terri Gough in the over 75 category took home 3 gold medals one in the shot with a throw of 5.93 and on the track over the 60 meters sprint Terri took gold in a time of 15.69 and to round off a day her day she also won the 200 meters sprint in 1.00.20 . Well done to Joe and Terri.
13th ANNUAL DONADEA 50K NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS.
SILVER FOR STEPHANIE ILSLEY
HUGE PB FOR PADDY BRUNNOCK.
The National 50k ultra championships were held last Saturday morning in Donadea Co Kildare and the largest fields ever for the championship faced the task of covering the ultra-distance when just under 400 participated. The event organised by Donadea running club had to use a slightly different course as part of the usual one was under water so a slight change was made, but of course none the less it was the full 50k distance. The club had three athletes taking part with one of these Terri Gough finishing after she had the marathon distance covered. In the main event the ultra-Stephanie Ilsley in the over 60 category finished a brilliant 2 and the silver national medal position with a time of 4.42.18 giving her 139th place overall a super run.This event as many will know was a firm favourite of the late Paul Brunnock a race he ran many times and was a popular figure at the event among his fellow runners. Paul introduced the event to his brother Paddy some years ago and having completed it three times Paddy was a proud finisher today in 116th place from the 400 starters Paddy had a personal best of 4.50 going into the race, well he truly smashed it today with a brand new personal best now of 4.29.51,now that’s what you call setting a PB and a half, Paul I’m sure would give the nod for that one. Well done to Stephanie and Paddy and their support crews who are so much part and parcel of such an event.
PAUL KENNEDY 3RD IN IMRA MOUNTAIN RACE.
Club member Paul Kennedy “was on the hills” last Saturday as they say when he competed in the IMRA event in Drimoleague West Cork, The Slí Chorcaí Trail Half-Marathon race is probably best described as suitable for ‘hard-core’ and ‘aspiring hard-core’ runners. The race is a 23.5km event with the route a mix of minor country roads, forest trails and tracks across open mountainside and is a race in the Munster half marathon league. Paul who is in terrific form of late had a brilliant run when finishing 3rd overall from the 100 limited field of starters with Nick Hogan winning from Henry Brown in 2nd place and Paul came home 3rd.Well done to Paul on a great performance in difficult conditions.
IRISH UNIVERSITIES INDOORS CHAMPIONSHIPS.
LUCY HOLMES 2ND IN 1500 METERS.
The National indoor universities championships were held last Saturday in Abbottstown Dublin where 550 student’s took part in the 32nd running of the event. West Waterford’s Lucy Holmes running for her college Munster Technical University Cork had another great day out when she ran a personal best 4.28.70 for 2nd place over 1500 meters with Eimear Maher UCC taking gold in a new championships record time of 4.27.19 with Kate Nurse 3rd in 4.13.17.Very well done Lucy.
1 Eimear MAHER 4:27.19
2 Lucy HOLMES 4:28.70
3 Kate NURSE 4:31.17
123.IE NATIONAL MASTERS CROSS COUNTRY .
JOE RETAINS MASTERS OVER 70 TITLE.
The Intermediate and Masters cross country championships were held last Sunday at the DKiT Campus Louth. The club had one athlete talking part when Joe Gough retained his masters over 70 title which he won last year with John Joe Murphy Tinryland AC 2nd and Martin Kerr Milford AC third. Well done on retaining your title Joe.
