West Waterford Athletic ClubWest Waterford Athletic Club

Notes September 20-09

ELITE ADVENTURE AND DEVELOPMENT 1 LAP CHALLENGE
MANY MORE TAKE UP THE CHALLENGE
Round 2 of the Elite Adventure and Development League saw an excellent field of 48 runners take up the challenge of the 1.2 miles around the Friary College grounds.  Congratulations to each and every one of the participants and if it’s your ambition to run the distance in 6 minutes or 26 minutes then well done on achieving your goal.  There were more newcomers again last Tuesday evening and we are delighted to see these people achieve their ambition of running one lap of the Friary.  Remember you are more than welcome to come along and walk/jog/run at your own pace.  This league is about making a start to running so if you want to run for a while, then walk and maybe each week set yourself a goal to get a little further.  You can dip in and out of this league, so if you can’t make it this week, don’t worry you can run next week.  Remember it’s Tuesday evenings, registration begins at 6.45 at the West Waterford club van, it’s just €2 and we will provide water at the finish.  We are also available at any time if you have any questions with regard to running, just ask at the van.  The remaining 3 nights of the league are Tuesday 22nd,29th September and 6th Oct so hope to see you out there.
CORINNA LEADS THE FIELD HOME
When the 48 runners set off last Tuesday evening they were led out by Sean Dwyer, Yevgenniy Chizhikov and Corinna Walsh.  These 3 set a fast pace over the much improved ground conditions.  Sean led the group but as they quickened over the last 300 Corinna put in a sprint finish to come home first on the night.  Corinna improved her time from 7.31 from week 1 to 6.52 in week 2, which was all of 37 seconds.  Yev was just 2 seconds after Corinna and also improved his time by 11 seconds.  Sean’s time of 6.55 was also 26 seconds quicker than his previous time.  Fourth home on the night was Mark Cliffe who also improved his time by 11seconds running 7.21 on the night.  Trevor Walsh, Micheál Callaghan and Kevin Walsh all went under 8 minutes running 7.48, 7.52 and 7.54 respectively.  There were many other improvers on the night and these included Michael Mc Carthy who ran 8.27, an improvement of 27 seconds from week 1.  Andrea Gaffney will also be delighted to have taken 26 seconds off, running 9.09 on the night.  Declan Hayes and Grace Downey both went under the 10 minute mark running 9.41 and 9.48.  Sharon Nugent improved her time by almost a full minute from 11.10 to 10.24 as did Patricia Meehan from 12.46 to 11.33 and Alison O Brien dropped from 12.58 to 11.59.  Well done girls that’s a marvellous achievement.  
Well done also to Marie Kennedy and Noelle Conway who managed to improve by almost a minute and a half, while Ann Lyons, Carol Tobin and Mags Bowdren were all delighted with their efforts on the night.
Well done to everyone who took part, if you improved your time, well done and if not that’s ok too.  Don’t give up, stick with it because it will get easier.
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LEAGUE SPONSOR
Thanks once again to Jeff Allen of Elite Adventure and Development for his generous sponsorship and for coming out to the Friary to support the runners every night.

GARVEYS FIT4LIFE AUTUMN LEAGUE

85 ENJOY THE GARVEYS GALLOP 
Numbers were up once more for the most enjoyable Garvey’s Fit4Life autumn league last Thursday evening as 85 runners took part in round 2 of this popular league at the Friary College venue.  Once again we welcomed back some familiar faces from past leagues and some new ones who are just starting out on their running experience.  We hope that if you are a regular runner that you are enjoying the league and if you are new to running we say well done on making the effort to start a new fitness regime.  At this particular league we offer a choice of 4 distances: 1,2,3 or 4 Laps of the Friary College, which is a distance of 1.2 miles.  Everyone is more than welcome and as usual you can run/walk/jog, whatever you are comfortable with.  This league is running in tandem with the Tuesday evening league and they both continue for the next 3 weeks.  The remaining dates for the Garvey’s league is Thursday 24th September and 1st and 8th October.  As usual you can run 1 night or all 5 nights, so if you haven’t run already don’t worry it’s not too late to start.  Come along around 6.15, look for the West Waterford van and we’ll get you sorted.
RORY SWAPS THE BIKE FOR THE FRIARY
First home on Thursday evening in the 1 Lap League was a man who is no stranger to crossing the line in first place, although usually Rory Wyley is on a bike but this time he relied on his feet and didn’t hang around running the 1.2 miles in 7.58.  Lorna Dee was next home and she had a fantastic run taking almost a full minute from her week 1 time running 11.29 on the night.  In third place was Patricia Meehan who is showing great improvements in such a short time as she is taking part in both leagues and her time of 11.41 was also well ahead of her time in week 1.  Noelle Conway also showed that she is capable of improvements when she managed to take almost a full minute from her previous time running 12.29 while Carol Tobin kept up the good work of the Tuesday by returning on the Thursday for more.  Michelle and Mandy Dwane were accompanied by Maura Mc Grath and made the task easier by running together.  Well done to all who took part in the 1 Lap League and keep up the good work, you have made the start, the hardest part is over so don’t stop now.
PHILIP IN CONTROL OVER 2 LAPS
Everyone at the club is delighted to see the great improvements that Philip Harty made over the course of the Summer Series in 2009 which saw him return to the form of his youth.  Philip had to do it all alone on Thursday last as in finishing in a time of 14.10 he was a full 3 minutes ahead of the second place finisher.  John Downey only took running a short time ago and already he is showing a fantastic improvement in his times.  On Thursday his time was 17.35 which is excellent for the 2.4 miles.  Michael Mc Carthy seems to run just about every race and league in the area and beyond and he will be delighted with his time of 17.53 as he is only recovering from a recent injury.  Billy Coleman (18.28) whose injury is holding up as his times indicate taking over a full minute from his time in week one.  Pearse Moloney (19.59) will be delighted to dip under 20 minutes and Grace Downey (20.24) and Geraldine Barry (20.51) will be looking to drop under 20 minutes next week.  Caroline Lenihan (21.17) and Mairead Flynn (21.21) will both be delighted to have improved their times by over a minute as did Peter Barry (21.27) and Melissa Keith (21.57).  Pearl Veale (23.27) and Ita Mason (23.31) kept each other company on the course as usual and made the task easier.  Well done to everyone who ran the 2 laps as improvements were made by almost every runner on the night.
CIARAN TAKES VICTORY IN TIGHT FINISH
Spectators who witnessed the finish of the 3 Lap League witnessed a very tight race between 4 athletes who all recorded times of 22 minutes, but victory on the night went to Ciaran Lane in a time of 22.33 while vetern Joe Gough was close behind in 22.48.  Trevor Hennessy was also just 3 seconds behind Joe and Yevgenniy Chizhikov was also close in 22.57.  David Campbell made his debut in the league and ran a time of 27.32 while Paddy Power will be delighted with his time of 28.11.  League sponsor Liam Power stepped up from the 2 Laps to 3 and will also be happy to dip under 30 minutes in 29.37.  Eileen Carroll (31.12) and Onra Power (31.14) both came close to breaking the 31 minute barrier while Michelle Durand surely wins the prize for best improver when from a time of 35.07 in week 1 she dropped down to a time of 32.24 in week 2. Once again well done to all competitors and hope that next week times continue to improve.
KEVIN TAKES A STAGE VICTORY
Sean Stillwell (28.18) may have improved his time by almost 3 minutes from week 1 but victory still evaded him as on the night Kevin Kenneally came through to take the win in a time of 27.43.  Sean of course finished second and Des Feeney as the third man home also broke 30 minutes when he ran 29.46 on the night.  Denis Mc Carthy (30.30)is getting closer to that magic 30 minute mark for the 4 laps of the Friary as is Patrick Riordan (30.52) and we predict that they will both achieve this feat over the course of the coming weeks of this league.  Well done to Michael Whelan who improved from 37.20 in week 1 to 34.12 in week 2.  That’s great running Michael.  32 runners took on the 4 Laps or 4.8 miles and once again Micheál Callaghan improved his time to a best ever time in the Friary of 34.34 while Trevor Walsh also deserves great credit for improving his time from 37.21 in week 1 to 35.06 in week 2.  Thomás Gough (37.59) and Michael Tutty (38.26) will also be delighted with their improvements as will Micheál O Chuirrin, Angelica Bradatan and Pascal Proctor and who all broke 40 minutes.  Once again well done to all and keep up the good work over the next 3 weeks.
SPONSORS
This league is sponsored by Garvey’s Supervalu Dungarvan and Garvey’s Centra on the Coolagh Road and it is great to see Liam Power competing in and enjoying the League each week.
NO RECORD FOR HAILE BUT WEST WATERFORD ATHLETES PERFORM WELL.
On a very warm day for marathon running when the expected head to head between the great Ethiopian Haile Gebrselassie and Kenya’s Duncan Kibet didn’t materialise as the heat took its toll on the two world’s best inform marathon runners. However it was fellow country man Francis Kiprop who was to challenge Haile at least for the early part of the race. It was the three times winner Gabreselassie who was to claim  his fourth title in a some what slow time of 2.06.08 but his attempted world record set on this same course last year evaded him “I was very tired, I pushed too much,” he said immediately afterwards. Francis Kiprop of Kenya was second in a personal best of 2.07.04, Ditto Negari Terfa of Ethiopia was third in 2.07.40. From a club point of view it was Bohadoon’s Michael Dunford who was the first to finish with a splendid new personal best time of 2.54 with Gerry Cantwell who was incredibly running his 44th marathon. Garrett Byrne was determined to also run a personal best in Berlin and he duly did just that with 3.04 now his new standard. Some of our newer Marathon runners also performed well with Dermot Ryan a super 3.16, Richie Finnegan 3.17 and Norma Wall 3.24 in her first attempt. The pride of Tourin, Kenneth O’ Donnell also in his very first marathon performed admirably and will be delighted with his time of 3.29. All in all another very successful marathon trip for the club despite the unfortunate withdrawal of John Flynn due to an injury during the race. 
Michael Dunford 2.54
Gerry Cantwell 3.02
Garrett Byrne 3.04
Dermot Ryan 3.16
Richie Finnegan 3.17
Andrew Leary 3.20
Norma Wall 3.24
James Veale 3.26
Trevor Mason 3.27
Ken O’Donnell 3.29
Ann Dunford 3.36
Brian Barrett 3.46
Jim Fleming 3.44
Tomás Coleman 3.51
Karen Ryan 4.08


UPCOMING CHAMPIONSHIPS FIXTURES
The following championship fixtures for the Cross Country season were announced at the County Athletic Convention on Monday last in St Augustine’s College.
 County Championships 
4/10/09 Novice and boys and girls under 10,12,14,16,18.at 1 pm. 11/10/09. Senior, Junior and boys and girls Under 9, 11, 13, 15 , 17  at 1pm. 
15/11/09 Masters and B Juvenile boys and girls under 9, 11, 13, 15 at 1 pm. 
All the above three fixtures at St Augustine’s College Grounds Abbeyside.
 Munster Championships
 18/10/09. Novice, U/23 and   boys and girls U/10,12,14, 16, 18.   12 noon at St Augustine’s College Grounds, Abbeyside.  
8/11/09.  Intermediate and boys and girls under 9, 11, 13, 15, 17.  12 noon at Tralee Racecourse. 
29/11/09  Masters and Juvenile "B" Co Tipperary- venue to be confirmed. 
17/1/2010 Senior and Junior and juvenile Inter County Relays Cork venue 
National Championships
22/11/09  Inter Counties Senior and Junior and Juvenile boys and girls under 12, 14, 16, 18. 12 noon at Kilbeggan Racecourse. 
6/12/ 09 Novice and boys and girls under 11, 13, 15, 17,19. 12 noon in Coleraine, Co Derry.
03/01/2010 Munster Junior, Senior and Masters Indoors in Nenagh 
CLUB WEB-SITE
Just a reminder to all that our club web site is very busy with over 1.000 hits per week now the norm. You can log on at www.westwaterforathletics.org to keep up to date on all club activities on a weekly basis. As well as the happenings in both the Juvenile and Senior clubs there is a huge array of photos also posted on the site. So keep up to date by logging on.
RUNNING QUOTE.
There is no time to think about how much I hurt; there is only time to run.
WEST WATERFORD ATHLETES PERFORM WELL AT GREAT NORTH RUN IN NEWCASTLE.
The club had a strong representation across the pond at last Sundays Great North run in Newcastle. This prestigious race which had a grand total of 54,000 athletes taking part has fast become one of the most popular races in Europe and has earned the title of the biggest half marathon race in the world. Hardly a race goes by without the club being represented and this year we had our biggest number ever. While the club had a large contingent of runners at the Berlin marathon, this group of club members were in Newcastle to put the final touches to their Dublin city marathon preparations and all came through the event with flying colours with some excellent times recorded which augers well for the upcoming big day in the capital. 
Vincent Tutty  1.45
Angeline Drennan  1.46
Clare Walsh  1.53
Vince O’ Donovan  2.12
Tom Scanlon  2.20
Helene Hayes  2.24
Alice Shanley  2.36
Mary Harney  2.36
Sinead Moore  2.36
Jacinta Sheil  2.36
CROSS COUNTRY IN KILMACOW
The club’s cross country co-ordinator, Tony Ryan will be getting the cross-country season off to a start for the 09/10 season with the first outing to Kilmacow, hosted by St. Senans. We will be looking to maintain our usual high standard at this race and will field both a men’s and ladies team. For all those that are travelling, all athletes are asked to meet at the Park Hotel at 12 noon from where travel arrangements will be made. 
CLUB COMMITTEE MEETING
All committee members please note that our next committee meeting will be held on Tuesday night September 29th at 8.30 pm. 
WINTER LEAGUE
Plans are now well underway for the 16th winter league which will begin in 4 weeks time. On October 21st we will have what’s called the registration night. On this particular night all those interested in taking part in the winter league are asked to come along and register to get their number. You will be issued with a number for a cost of 5 euros. This number should be used on every night that you run. We will have people on hand at the sports centre who will be available to answer any questions you may have and we will also explain the rules and regulations of the league as well as the two courses of the league. The registration night will take place at the Sports Centre with the time yet to be confirmed. There won’t be any run on that night but you may run the course if you so wish but at your own risk as stewards will not be on the route until the first official night of the league which will be the following week, October 28th. For all those that won’t be able to make it to the sports centre on the first night, you may register and get your number on the following night. In fact, it’s possible to join the winter league at any stage throughout the course of the league. So for all those of you who may be thinking of joining the league, make a space in the diary for Wednesday 21st and 28th and indeed every Wednesday night after that until Christmas. The cost of the league is 5 euros once -off payment for your number and then 2euros for each night that you run. 

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