36th ANNUAL KIELY MONUMENTAL COLLIGAN CUP
MELANIE KELLY WINS COLLIGAN CUP .
We kicked off the racing scene for 2025 in the club with the 36th annual Kiely Monumental Colligan Cup last Sunday on a morning which was ideal for the event, after many weeks of horrid weather last Sunday in the beautiful surround of Colligan woods the weather was calm ,mild indeed perfect and it was great for all to be able to get out for a bit of fresh air if nothing else.This race is now 36 years young and has had the same great sponsor Kiely Monumental and our sincere thanks to David and Margaret Kiely and family for their outstanding support and sponsorship for all of the 36 years, not many events can boost of a sponsor for this amount of years in any sport so we are grateful to the Kiely family for their support to our club.The days racing got under way with the McGrath newsagents colligan shield for juveniles and we congratulate this year’s winner Anastasia Ní Chochlain on her success here , a full report on this great event can be seen in this week juvenile club notes. So after the juvenile race finished it was onto the adult’s event, this race of course in unique in that all participants have exactly the same chance of winning as the next runner.The countdown clock was started at 60 minutes by Victor Mullins and Tom Leahy club chairman our timing scrutinisers at the stroke of 12 noon. It was then up to the runners themselves to start when they wanted with the aim being to be the first person to finish when the clock hits 0. At the end of the 3 and a half laps covering a total distance of 5 miles the runners were well and truly grouped together with a huge group heading down the wood for the final time on the last lap. This year we saw a good turn out when we had a great entry this year with 130 runners taking part . As it always is the case when the field of runners got closer and closer to the finishing line it was anyone’s guess as to who would be deemed the winner for the 36th time, and after the clock struck 00 our timing expert Victor Mullins informed the gathering that Melanie Kelly was deemed to be our winner for 2025 and she will now have her name inscribed on the famed Colligan plaque. There’s always many first in sporting events and last Sunday was no different as the famed cup was won for the first time by a medical doctor, yes Dr Melanie Kelly who resides in Kinsalebeg and recently became a member of West Waterford athletic club she was running the event for the very first time as well ,the Crystal Palace native was delighted to pull off such a great victory was she was very thankful of her running partners Michael, Martina and Patrycja who run and train with her regularly and she said her win was due in no small way and to be shared with these club mates in particular. Melanine now becomes only the 4th Lady to claim both the cup and shield in the 36 year history of the event.Well done also to our other prize winners who were ever so close on the day and who came so close to taking the title, Martina Beechinor was next just 1 second out very very close ,3rd place went to Eoin O’Riordan the first man on the right side of the clock only 3 second out and Michael Coakley was 4th only 4 seconds off winning and Padraig Healy was next in 5th place just 5 seconds of target with Lucy Holmes a further second out in 6th place and was this year’s winner of the Victor Mullins cup and was John Collins from West Cork and down on a visit for the weekend John so unlucky not to take the overall as he was just 10 seconds off his target time,There also was those who came so close but were seconds too fast on the wrong side of the clock and the included Donal O’Mahony 2 seconds to fast, Deirdre Hahesy 3 seconds to fast, and Sean Stilwell 5 seconds to fast. Next year lads. Here’s to the 37th year next year PG.
FIRST SIX
Melanie Kelly- Winner
- Martina Beechinor
3 Eoin O’Riordan
4 Michael Coakley
5 Padraig Healy
6 Lucy Holmes
COLLIGAN SHIELD ALSO GOES TO MELANIE.
For the 4th time in the history of this great event the cup and shield went to a Lady athlete Melanie Kelly, by virtue of winning the overall event also makes claim to the shield which is present to the first lady nearest her time on the right side of the clock.Our 2nd lady home and a running partner of our winner was Martina Beechinor who is a member of WWAC for a number of years ,Martina was just 1 second off winning indeed she and Melanie our winner ran the event together so it could have been either one on the day claiming the cup.In 3rd place was recent European under 23 cross country championships athlete Lucy Holmes who proved she knows a thing or two about pacing and she was only 6 seconds off taking the crown.4th Lady was Sareen Walsh a Clonmel athlete who came along to run the event for the first time and Sareen was 8 seconds out. Tara Ní Reachtaigain has been on the winner’s podium the past 2 years as last year she finished runner-up and this year she was 5tth. Our stats man tells me that it was 80 to fast and ahead of their predicted time last Sunday with 49 on the correct side of the clock. Well done to our prize winners and to all who supported the event.
Ladies Shield winners.
1st Melanie Kelly
2nd Martina Beechinor
3rd Lucy Holmes
4th Sareen Walsh
5th Tara Ní Reachtaigain
THE VICTOR MULLINS CUP GOES TO JOHN COLLINS.
Victor Mullins was the creator of this style of time handicap race as it was he who came up with the handicap timing system which has been used now for the past 36 years in this event. Each year Victor presents the Victor Mullins Cup and a prize to the first person on the right side of the clock that has never ran the Colligan Cup before. This year’s winner was John Collins, John was down with some friends over the weekend and took part in the race for the first time, but he is no stranger to running indeed is a former Cork county Novice road running champion and now he adds the Victor Mullins cup to his mantle. Our thanks go to Victor for his help and sponsorship of this element of the race and for his on-going involvement with this race each year.
MANY THANKS.
Our thanks to all who helped in any way to make last Sunday’s 36th Annual Kiely Monumental Colligan cup. Firstly a huge thank you to our loyal sponsors of 36 years David and Margaret Kiely of Kiely Monumental works. Many thanks to David who once again was available to present the winners with the famed Colligan cup and shield on the day.Our thanks also to Victor Mullins for all his practical help on the day and he also was on hand to present his cup the Victor Mullins trophy winner to this year’s winner. To the numerous people who looked after the entries and results especially Ann, Ray, Declan, Shirley, Tom,Mary Rose,Breda and thanks to Victor for looking after the timing, Thanks to Ann Dunford for looking after the prizes for the race and her work with securing the use of Colligan wood for the event. Thanks to Jamie Mills and Liam O’Donnell, Ger Wyley and Pascal Hosford for looking after the course preparation and to all on finish line duty and all for who helped with the stewarding on the course. Many thanks to Coillte for the use of Colligan, without their help we couldn’t have staged the event at all. Here’s to next year and the 37th year of the event in 2026.
EXCELLENT WIN FOR EVAN FITZGERALD IN FERRYCARRIG 5 MILE.
The Gallagher Ferrycarrig 5 mile road race was held last Sunday having been postponed from the previous week due to inclement weather and a field of 286 athletes competed on the day.Held in idea weather conditions West Waterford’s Evan Fitzgerald having finished runner up last year when incidentally another West Waterford AC athlete took the victory namely Dermot Cummins Evan had a brilliant run last Sunday to take overall victory in a good field with a time of 25.08,with Sergiu Ciobanu Clonliffe Harriers 25.35 and Sean Doran also Clonliffe 3rd 26.09.Evan who has been showing brilliant form the past number of weeks having broken our winter league course record on 3 occasions lead the race from gun to tape in Wexford,very well done to him and for the record the Ladies winner was Katie Wilson DMP AC 29.38 she was the winner of the Greenway half marathon in 2024.
FORDES DAYBREAK WINTER LEAGUE .
Due to the inclement weather last week’s round 8 of the winter league was cancelled. Were back tonight Wednesday 15th January with the usual handicap system in operation, clocks start at 6.40 pm.
33rd ANNUAL JOHN TREACY DUNGARVAN 10 MILE ROAD RACE
Were on full steam ahead now for the upcoming race of the year, the 33rd annual John Treacy Dungarvan 10. With registration completely full with over 3.750 places filled we are now nicely assembling a really top class field of elite athletes which will make for the biggest and best race to date. The race is on Sunday February 2nd at the starting time of 11.00 a.m. All finishers of The John Treacy Dungarvan 10 will receive the now famous West Waterford AC goody bag, plus a Nike dry fit running top will be awarded to all runners as they cross the finishing line. The top ladies and men’s finishers will be awarded their prizes at the finish line all other prizes will be sent out by post following the race. This year’s race once again will see substantial cash prizes for the top runners and bonus cash to the first athlete to break either course record. Substantial cash prizes will follow down throughout the categories. The club committee have been working hard to ensure that the day will go off without a hitch and our hope now is the man above will do his bit by giving us a good day weather wise for the race of the year.
YOUR HELP IS NEEDED FOR JOHN TREACY DUNGARVAN 10.
It’s that time of year again when we take on the mammoth task of organising the John Treacy Dungarvan 10 mile. We have been fortunate in the past to have had help from club members and also from many outside of the club circle who come along each year to give a few hours of their time. This year we are in need of that same help again, with a large field assembled this year we will be trying to make sure these visitors to our town leave with a good experience of what Dungarvan has to offer and we hope such will be the impression we will make on them that they will want to come back again to visit the town for maybe a longer stay. We will need stewards on the course so if you have a few hours on Sunday February 4th please contact stewarding coordinator Karen Ryan on 086-8245683.Support your local athletics club-Many hands make light work!!!!
2025 WEST WATERFORD AC FIXTURES
12th January 2025-Kiely Monumental Colligan Cup
2nd February 2025-John Treacy 10 Mile
2nd March Munster road championships
2nd April to 30th April 2025-Mason Colligan Hill League for 5 Wednesdays
21st April 2025-Aglish Fun Run
09th May 2025-AHS Tuning Ballinroad 5k
23rd May 2025-Round Tower Hotel Ardmore 5 Mile
6th June 2025-Dungarvan Leader Dromana 5 Mile
27th June 2025-Oriel Bar Ballymac 5 Mile
4th July 2025-Deise College 10 k
18th July 2025-Ballinameala 5k
30th August 2025-Eurofins Greenway Half Marathon
16th November 2025-Murrays Pharmacy Brickey 5k
05th December 2025-Turkey Trot
KATE VEALE MONTLY WINNER OF WLRFM GRANVILLE SPORTS START AWARD.
At a banquet at the Granville hotel last Saturday night West Waterford’s Kate Veale was presented with her monthly which she won for February last, Kate was one of two Females on the 12 monthly honours list and was one of two athletics award winners also, the other being Tom Barr Ferrybank AC who was also announced as the overall sports star of the year recipient of the inaugural event, congratulations.
CLUB MEMBERSHIP 2025.
The club membership for 2025 can now be paid. The club membership is for the calendar year January to December. The membership stays unchanged at 50 euro. You can pay your membership online by logging onto the athletics Ireland web site and just follow the instruction under membership.
SYMPATHY.
West Waterford athletic club extend sincere sympathy to the family and friends of Eileen Young Ballinagoul, Ring, who passed to her eternal reward recently, may she rest in peace.
