Notes November 29-09

 

West Waterford’s Corinna Walsh gave a masterful display of cross country running to capture the Munster over 35 Ladies gold medal at last Sunday’s Munster  championships in Moyglass Co.Tipperary,Held on a real testing course which was heavy going under foot after the Munster Juvenile B’s had finished their programme leaving the course very testing indeed for the Masters races. The Ballynonty club who played host to the event had the course well marked and the event was well stewarded also. West Waterford kept it’s great tradition of filling team’s in this particular competition with both a Ladies and Men’s team competing. Pride of place for our Ladies must go to Corinna Walsh who put in a great performance to clinch a gold medal in the over 35’s when she finished 2nd overall in the race with Kerry’s International Niamh O’Sullivan  winning by 20 meters from the Modeligo Woman, Corks Carmel Crowley was third. Corinna also lead the county to gold in the inter county event. Our Ladies team in the club’s section finished just outside the medals in 4th place with some very good running from Ann Dunford 31st,Berni Prendergast 32nd and Josie Uí Chuirrin 34th.Congratulatins to Berni Prendergast who took bronze in the Ladies over 50 section. Well done also to Waterford AC who claimed club team silver here from St. Finbarrs who took the gold medals.

TWO IN A ROW FOR HARRY O BRIEN.

It was yet another good days cross country running for Harry O’ Brien who was to claim his second individual bronze medal in the over 45 category in as many years, 

Harry who is a coach with our Juvenile athletes and puts in untold hours with them finished in 20th place overall last Sunday, As well as his individual bronze Harry also brought home to Ballyduff a county team bronze medal as both himself and Trevor Mason were scoring members along with members of Waterford AC on the county team, The race saw a battle all the way to the line between two Cork athletes Trevor Woods and Donnacha O’Mahoney with Woods pulling out all the stops in the sprint finish to clinch gold from O’Mahoney with Tipperary’s Pat Ryan taking the bronze. East Cork continued their dominance of the club team award with St. Finbarrs 2nd and Ennis Track third. West Waterford kept our fine tradition of fielding teams in the Men’s master’s event intact with good solid performances all-round. Trevor Mason as mentioned above finished 56th and was a scoring member of the Waterford county team who won bronze team medals, Tomas Mahony was our next finisher in 60th place just one ahead of Yevgeniy Chizhikov, next was Kenneth O’Donnell in 65th place and Michael Wade and Richie Power were 81st and 85th respectively. So all in all a very successful day for the club and we wish to thank most sincerely all the athletes who turned out on the day and special thanks to Ann Dunford who looked after the logistics for the day. 

Eight weeks from next Sunday, West Waterford A.C. will hold one of the most prestigious ten-mile races in the country, the Quantum Life Dungarvan 10 mile road race.  As many of you will be aware, this race was launched in the sports centre recently with Mel Shanley of Quantum Life present along with Ann-Marie Rossiter, deputy Lord Mayor. With much of the background work done and the wheels well and truly in motion for the rest, it’s time for all of us to start our build up for the race. Each year we have many newcomers begin with the winter league and the following February they complete the ten mile race. Without question, it’s a challenge but one that so many have been capable of.  If you are looking for a challenge why not put January 31st in your diary and start your training now. There are many new people already signed up for the ten mile so why not join them. They also meet on a regular basis and train together. A group meets at the Crystal Centre on Monday evenings at 5.30 p.m., Wednesday night is the Winter League and there are two groups that meet and train on a Friday. The first group meets at 4.30 and the second group meet at 5.30 at the same venue. This training is not like the winter league where you are trying to improve your time each week. The pace is nice and easy with no pressure; you will be able to have a chat as you go around. It’s more about getting the miles in and increasing the distance very gradually and nobody worries about the time the distance is covered in. Albert McGrath is in charge of this training and will be available at the sports centre on any of these nights mentioned if you want to have a chat. Go on, give it a go; you’ll be glad you did. 

For the eighth successive year runners will have the opportunity to partake in the John Buckley Sports/Munster Ten-Mile Spring Classics Series as the four races in the area from January to April once again combine forces in this unique Series.

In the cycling world, the ‘Spring Classics’ are an integral part of the competitive year and seen as instrumental in the build-up to the more arduous tours later in the season.

The aim of this ten-mile Series is to promote each race at the classic distance of ten miles, while rewarding the runners who complete all four races with a specially commissioned long sleeved t-shirt. As well, there will be prizes for the leading male and female runners, decided on the cumulative times over the four races.

John Buckley Sports have again agreed to be overall sponsor of the Spring Series and if you wish to view their excellent website go to: www.johnbuckleysports.com.

The four races that combine to make the “Munster Spring Classics Series are as follows:

1. Kostal Ireland Mallow 10 mile                      January 10 2010 @12.30 p.m.

2. Quantum Life Dungarvan 10 mile                  January 31 2010 @ 1 p.m.

3. Ballycotton 10 mile                           March 21 @ 2 pm

4. Sonny Murphy Kilnaboy 10 mile                   April 11 2010 @ 2 p.m. 

There is no additional entry fee for the Series – just run the four races (however – your entry must have been accepted for Ballycotton). The organisers of the Mallow race have requested that as many runners as possible pre-register for the race. All you have to do is log onto the mallow ac website and submit your details. Then on the day of the race you will collect your number and pay the race fee of 12 euros. The fee is 12 euros for those that submit their details and if you leave it until the day of the race it increases to 15 euros. As with all the four races of the Spring Classic, a large crowd is expected and by pre-registering before hand it will help speed things up on the day. Your co-operation with this will be greatly appreciated.

Our friends in Mallow have asked us to notify our members of their upcoming Mallow 10 mile road race and of the changes to this year’s entry, The race is the first race in the 10 Mile Classic series with the Quantum life Dungarvan 10 race number 2.Mallow like ourselves are encouraging all runners to enter online before race day, While they will take entries on the day the organisers would hope the majority of runners would register using their club web-site. www.mallowac.ie Pre-registered entries are €12, while entries on the day will be €15. This year they have increased their prize fund to reflect the increased numbers. The race also has a special prize (€500) for the winning runner if they break the record for the course. (Men (49:40) / Women (58:47).So when your entering the Quantum Life Dungarvan 10 why not also kill two birds with the one stone and sent your on line entry for the Mallow race also. 

The All rounder Sports Winter League is now in full swing with a grand total of over 400 runners now registered, with 289 of these running in last week’s league. The conditions were ideal last week with many a fine run being posted by the runners. Last week the runners were sent off in 5 minute intervals which had the effect of making a lot of runners run faster which is the whole point of the league. From now until Christmas the starting times will vary from week to week so please bear this in mind and give yourself plenty of time to get to the centre. We will keep you informed in the local papers each week as to the starting times for each night. The various starting times serve to keep things interesting and entertaining in the league and with the significant improvement made each week the names of those at the top of the table are changing regularly and it will keep us guessing as to who the eventual winner will be.  The numbers taking part in this year’s league are on a par with other years which had record numbers participating and are testament to the popularity and success of the league. The beauty of the league is that all runners, regardless of their running background or experience, are all based on an equal footing and each person is trying to improve their time each week. Those who are well used to the running scene and that are capable of running fast times are the last to go off which makes it all the more difficult for them to improve while those that have started before them are doing their best to get to the finishing line before these people catch up with them. This is what makes the league so interesting and enjoyable and it also provides the incentive for us all to improve.  The faster you run, the later your starting time will be each week. Your starting time each week will be based on your fastest time to date so there’s no advantage of running fast one week and slower the following week. The best way to approach the league is to improve slightly week by week which is what so many have been doing already. We now have a significant number of newcomers that started this year’s league and who are now able to run the complete distance without stopping. This is a major achievement, made all the more remarkable considering the fact that the league is only five weeks in operation. Well done to all the newcomers that have persevered and no doubt you now have a new target in mind after having accomplished running the route without stopping. We may have almost 400 runners registered, but there’s plenty of room for more. The league is on every Wednesday night at the Sports Centre, Quanns, and we would love to see some new faces. The clock begins at 7.20 p.m. so those looking to register should aim to be at the centre about 7 p.m. The entry fee each night is just €2 for members and €3 for non-members. If registering for the first time, the fee will be €7 or €8; depending if you are a member of the running club or not. After tonight, there will be only two nights left before Christmas, December 9th and 16th and we will resume again on January 6th for the second half of the league where things will really begin to take shape. 

PADDY WAS “STREETS” AHEAD OF THE PACK

Week 5 saw a titanic battle among all the runners in the long route. The 5 minutes intervals saw the runners all gathering together with a mile to go and so it was up to everyone to drive on home to the finishing line to get to the line as quick as possible. Well done to Paddy Street who pulled off a great performance to be the first runner home on the night in a time of 50.46. Paddy really had to pull out all the stops as hot on his heels was John Power. In fact, both lads crossed the line in exactly the same time but it was Paddy who edged out to the front when it really mattered and so he picks up the highly coveted one point for his efforts which will serve him well on the division tables. Mark Nugent was the third athlete home on the night in 43.42 and Pat Tutty filled the fourth spot when he broke 48 minutes, clocking 47.56. The fifth finisher Michelle O’ Connell was just under the hour for the course a few weeks ago and now it seems likely that she will break 55 minutes before Christmas, judging by her run last week when she recorded 56.24. Tonight there will be 15 seconds between each group which provides added incentive to run faster as there will always be a group in front of you that you may be able to catch. Paul Dunphy recorded 53.19 last week and so tonight no doubt his target will be to dip under 53 minutes. Should Noel Drohan run 6 seconds faster he will dip under 42 minutes and well done to Phillip Cleary who managed to run under 48 minutes last week. Sharon Nugent was delighted to record 57.57 and Seamus O hAodha is edging closer and closer to 40 minutes which is great running indeed. Darragh Duggan need only run 5 seconds faster tonight to run 45 minutes and should Paul Grant run 20 seconds quicker he will reach the 52 minute mark. James Connor’s task tonight will be fairly easy given that he ran 42.01 last week so to run under this will be fairly achievable and likewise for Colin Lyons who ran 40.01 last week. The positions on our leader board have changed with Liam Power now holding the honours with 196 points. Brendan Donnelly currently holds the second spot on 227 with John Leahy in third spot on 238 points. Just three points behind John is Martin Houlihan on 241 and a further 17 points in arrears is Thomas Condon on 258. After tonight these may or may not change, we’ll just have to wait and see. 

DENNIS DENIES THE FIELD TO TAKE THE TOP SPOT

A total of 125 took part in the short route last week and it was smiles all round as many ran their fastest time to date. This is a sure indicator that you are getting fitter, faster and stronger and should you keep it up even more improvements are on the cards over the next few weeks. Anne Dennis claimed the top spot last week when she was the first past the post in a time of 26.49. Brian Hourigan had a great run and broke 18 minutes to claim the second spot and Andy Meehan who is getting close to 22 minutes bagged third place. Just one second behind Andy was Martin Curran who will be delighted to have finished 4th and the 5th best improver for last week was Sarah Hogan who was well under 23 minutes on the night. This improvement was mirrored by so many others last week. As you improve, your starting time for the following week also changes meaning  that you will be going off later than you would have been all along but this helps to drive you on all the more to catch all those gone ahead of you. With only three nights remaining before Christmas, I’m sure all will put the heads down and push that little bit extra each night. Johnny Tobin did just that last week when he ran a super time of 21.12 for the short route which has pushed him well up on the tables. There were many on the night that managed to run a sub twenty minute run, which in athletic terms means faster than 20 minutes. Among these were Darren O’ Droma, Brigid Coffey, James Ryan, Christopher Lawler, Mairead Foley, Eddie O’ Hara and Richard Harty. Those that have joined the ranks of the sub 21 minute group are Pearl Veale, Eda Costin, Adam Green, Caroline Lenihan, Ita Mason and Seamus Casey to name a few. Those in the 22 minute group- Eleanor Howard, Gillian Flynn, Pat Fitzgerald, Dearbhla Morrissey, Marie O’ Donovan, Tanya Kirwan and Treasa Milmoe will all be looking to join the sub 21 group in the near future and all will be well capable of rising to the challenge.  Like the long route, the names are changing weekly in the overall division tables. We have two new entrants to the top 5 overall after last week’s performances. Ray Power and Clive Kiely are still holding onto first and second place but Dean Wall has now moved into third place with very little between Dean and Clive so both will need to pull out all the stops tonight. Congratulations to Aisling Gleeson who is now in 4th spot and Pearl Veale is very close behind in 5th spot. 

STARTING TIMES FOR TONIGHT

Tonight, all runners will be going off in intervals of 15 seconds, yes that’s seconds and not minutes. It is each runner’s responsibility to check their starting time and to make sure that you are at the front door in plenty of time. It will be fast and furious with runners leaving every 15 seconds and with plenty of runners in front of you a fast time is guaranteed for all. We would also appeal to all runners to go off at their designated time, whether you have been running in the league already or have just started please go at the time we give you. We appreciate your co-operation with this.

NIALL COLLINS AND MARIE MURRAY WIN LUCKY DIP PRIZES

Congratulations to Niall Collins in the long route and Marie Murray in the short route both of whom finished in 25th position last week which was what was required to win the lucky dip prize. Just let us know at the desk tonight when you are registering and you may collect your prize. With today being the 2nd of December, those who finish in 2nd position tonight will be the winners, best of luck to you all. 

Just a quick reminder to you all about the importance of wearing your reflective bib while out training or at the league. We are glad to report that everyone taking part in the league does so but we would like to advise you to also wear it on your training runs.

The club’s AGM will be held next week on Thursday, December 10th at 8.30 p.m. in Minnie’s Bar, Abbeyside. All club members are welcome to attend. 

The Old Parish Turkey Trot will take place this year on Sunday December 20 at 11 am. It’s a 5 mile road race around the local area. Entries will be taken at the Marine Bar from 10.15 onwards. Last year was the first year of this race and it was a great success with a large sum of money raised for local charities. The club would love to see as many members as possible come along on the day and support the race. 

IRISH TEAMS ANNOUNCED FOR EUROPEAN CROSS COUNTRY.

Athletics Ireland last week announced their team for this months SPAR European Cross Country Championships, which takes place on December 13th next in Santry Park, Dublin. The team will be led by Mary Cullen (North Sligo AC) and Martin Fagan (Mullingar Harriers AC),Mary Cullen was most impressive in taking the Woodie’s DIY Inter County title last Sunday week on Kilbeggan race course, she will be joined on the women’s senior team by Sli Cualann duo, Fionnuala Britton and Deirdre Byrne. Dundrum South Dublin also has two representatives on the women’s senior team with Linda Byrne and Ava Hutchinson set to compete at the European cross country showpiece. The team is completed by Raheny Shamrock’s Orla O’Mahony.

Joining Martin Fagan on the men’s senior team is his Mullingar Harriers clubmate Mark Christie along with the top three from the Inter County Championships; Andrew Ledwith (Fr. Murphy’s AC), Sean Connolly (Tallaght AC) and Mark Kenneally (Clonliffe Harriers AC). A spot on the men’s senior team had been left open pending Alistair Cragg’s performance in last weeks 5km road race in San Jose as Cragg had expressed a desire to be a part of the Irish squad for the Europeans. The Thanksgiving Day 5km race saw the Clonliffe Harriers runner put in an impressive performance in what was a top quality field to finish 5th in a time of 13.45. This was Cragg’s first race since he competed in Berlin at the World Championships in August. The team management were satisfied that Cragg has proven his form and was duly announced as the man to fill that final spot.

The women’s U-23 team will be led by Sara Treacy (Moynalvey / Kilcloon AC), who took the U-23 title at the Inter County Cross Country in Kilbeggan. Treacy is named on the team along with the Dundrum South Dublin quartet of Bryony Treston, Maria Walsh, Breffni Twohig and Laura Huet, while Roseanne Galligan (Newbridge AC) completes the six. 

MC CARTHY OUT.

The men’s U-23 team will feature the Inter County champion Michael Mulhare from North Laois AC. Four Dublin athletes join Mulhare on the team with John Coghlan (Metro / St. Brigid’s AC), David Flynn (Clonliffe Harriers AC), David Rooney (Raheny Shamrock’s AC) and Brendan O’Neill (Dundrum South Dublin AC). The final member of the men’s U-23 team is North Belfast Harriers’ Stephen Scullion. One notable absentee is our own David McCarthy who was not considered for U-23 team selection following discussions with the athlete and his coach Ray Treacy at Providence, David is still fighting the after effects of a recent illness and also carries a slight calf strain, This is obviously a huge disappointment for the West Waterford AC athlete who had hopes of being in the shake up for individual honors here. 

In the women’s junior team all eyes will be on Lisburn AC’s Ciara Mageean. The World Youth 800m silver medalist looked so impressive as she won the Junior race by 20 seconds in Kilbeggan from Loughrea’s Laura Shaughnessy and Banbridge’s Emma Mitchell, who join her on the Irish team. Mary Mulhare (North Laois AC) is also named, as she joins her brother Michael on the Irish squad, along with Eimear Black (Ballymena & Antrim AC) and Dundrum South Dublin’s Charlotte Ffrench-O’Carroll.Irish team manager, Anne Keenan-Buckley, is happy with the team for Santry. “I am very confident with the team that we have selected. Aside from David McCarthy we have pretty much the team we wanted. We have tried to be fair in our selection and I think we have been so my job now is to try and improve the chances of each of the athletes when they take to the line on 13th December,” Keenan-Buckley said today.“Now that we know the athletes we have with us we can start working with them a bit more closely and try and make sure they stay fit and healthy. We have very strong men’s and women’s senior teams with both Mary (Cullen) and Martin (Fagan) in good form. To see Mary’s performance in Kilbeggan was very encouraging. The conditions were very tough but she showed a lot of character to win so well on the day and things have been going really well for her so hopefully she will bring that to the race next month. But across the board we have some great athletes and I think we could be in line for a great day for the Irish in Santry,” she went on to say. 

DROP IN TICKET PRICING.

Athletics Ireland Members can avail of half price special offer of €10 (full price is €20) until the 7th December and all Juvenile members go FREE. For the Juvenile FREE entry offer, the Juvenile members will be asked to show their membership card on entry. If you would like to avail of this adult special price there is also a button on the Athletics Ireland webpage that you can click through to purchase member tickets on Ticket Master. There will also be a direct sales line 01-8869961 open from 8am-4pm on Monday the 23rd of November to Friday the 4th of December (Mon-Fri), to allow Athletics Ireland members and clubs purchase tickets by cheque. Tickets will be dispatched on receipt of cheques.Please note the €10 special offer for members ends 7th December, ticket prices will be €20 after this date for adult members. The special offer Member ticket will also be available for purchase at the Woodie’s DIY Novice and Juvenile even ages Cross Country on the 5th of December. The SPAR European Cross Country Championships will take place in Ireland for the first time on the 13th December in Santry Demesne, Dublin. For more information and regular updates on the event and to sign up to the mailing list for the SPAR European Cross Country Championships then log on to www.dublin2009.ie. Athletics Ireland is supported nationally in running this event by the Irish Sports Council, Dublin City Council, Fingal County Council, RTÉ, Failte Ireland and Clonliffe Harriers. 

Senior Men

Andrew Ledwith (Fr. Murphy’s AC)

Sean Connolly (Tallaght AC)

Mark Kenneally (Clonliffe Harriers AC)

Martin Fagan (Mullingar Harriers AC)

Mark Christie (Mullingar Harriers AC)

Alistair Cragg (Clonliffe Harriers AC) / Mick Clohisey (Raheny Shamrock’s AC)

1st Reserve – Alistair Cragg (Clonliffe Harriers AC) / Mick Clohisey (Raheny Shamrock’s AC)

2nd Reserve – David Kelly (North Sligo AC)

Senior Women

Mary Cullen (North Sligo AC)

Deirdre Byrne (Sli Cualann AC)

Linda Byrne (Dundrum South Dublin AC)

Fionnuala Britton (Sli Cualann AC)

Ava Hutchinson (Dundrum South Dublin AC)

Orla O’Mahony (Raheny Shamrock’s AC)

1st Reserve – Rosemary Ryan (Bilbao AC)

2nd Reserve – Ciara Durkan (Skerries AC) 

U-23 Men

Michael Mulhare (North Laois AC)

John Coghlan (Metro St. Brigid’s AC)

Stephen Scullion (North Belfast Harriers AC)

David Flynn (Clonliffe Harriers AC)

David Rooney (Raheny Shamrock’s AC)

Brendan O’Neill (Dundrum South Dublin AC)

1st Reserve – Ciaran O’Lionaird (Leevale AC)

2nd Reserve – Aidan McGowan (St. Malachy’s AC) 

U-23 Women

Sara Treacy (Moynalvey / Kilcloon AC)

Bryony Treston (Dundrum South Dublin AC)

Maria Walsh (Dundrum South Dublin AC)

Roseanne Galligan (Newbridge AC)

Breffni Twohig (Dundrum South Dublin AC)

Laura Huet (Dundrum South Dublin AC)

1st Reserve – Frances Nic Reamoinn (Clonliffe Harriers AC)

2nd Reserve – Becky Woods (Clonliffe Harriers AC)

Junior Men

Michael McKillop (St. Malachy’s AC)

Liam Tremble (Metro / St. Brigid’s AC)

Ryan Creech (Leevale AC)

Emmett Jennings (Dundrum South Dublin AC)

Noel Collins (Omagh Harriers AC)

Ian Ward (Finn Valley AC)

1st Reserve – John Travers (Donore Harriers AC

2nd Reserve – Cian O’Reilly (Annalee AC)

Junior Women

Ciara Mageean (Lisburn AC)

Laura Shaughnessy (Loughrea AC)

Emma Mitchell (Banbridge AC)

Mary Mulhare (North Laois AC)

Eimear Black (Ballymena & Antrim AC)

Charlotte Ffrench-O’Carroll (Dundrum South Dublin AC)

1st Reserve – Tekea Gebrezgi (Celtic DCH AC)

2nd Reserve – Deirdre Doyle (Tinryland AC)

Commitment to the body machine. It was as critical as the commitment to the goal itself.