West Waterford Athletic ClubWest Waterford Athletic Club

Notes August 23-09

  GER WYLEY SPORTS/NIKE SUMMER SERIES 2009

THE SERIES IN REVIEW

The Ger Wyley Sports/Nike sponsored Summer Series came to an end with the recent running of the Ardmore 5 Mile Road Race. This, the only running series in the country that involves 10 races, began with the 6 mile Marine Climb back in April and concluded last weekend in Ardmore.  In between we had the 10k run in Butlerstown with a record entry of 313 which saw 220 men and 93 ladies participating and the even longer 7.5 mile race from Waterford to Tramore which also saw a record entry of 356.  Here 236 men toed the line and 120 ladies, helped in no small way by the Waterford Road Runners involvement in the Waterford Winter League which has rejuvenated running in Waterford city.  We had the fast and furious Touraneena 5k, the hills of Clashmore, Ballymacarbry and Dromana, the sand and sea at the beautiful Cunnigar and the fast course at G.S.K. Record entries were recorded once again in 2009 at Butlerstown and Waterford to Tramore but a new record of 238 runners participated in Ardmore made up of 69 ladies and 169 men.  If record numbers of runners were present it was records of a different kind that lit up this series.  Course records came under threat from the very first race when Siobháin O Doherty of Borrisokane and Pauline Lambe of Tullamore both recorded a time inside the old record set by Jackie Carty in 2005. Pauline Lambe went on to break records in every race she ran except Ballymacarbry including Butlerstown, Waterford to Tramore, Ring and Clashmore.  In Ardmore Madeline Loughnane of Thurles Crokes had reason to celebrate when she broke the existing record set by Lucy Brennan in 2007 of 29.31.  Madeline knocked off 25 seconds in the process.  Not to be outdone Raivis Zakis equalled the time in Ring as did Pauline Lambe and Sandis Bralitis fittingly lowered the Ardmore record also.  Local man William Harty set this record in 2001 when he ran the 5 mile route in 24.43.  In 2009 Sandis took this down to 24.35 taking 8 seconds off.

ORGANISATION AND RESULTS

Every event has to be organised and under the watchful eye of Gerry Cantwell, our Road Racing co-ordinator, everything ran smoothly.  Gerry will be the first to admit that behind every man there’s a good woman and Breda has been a tower of strength organising entries and helping with results.  Great credit is also due to all our other officials including Megan, Bernie, Kathleen, Mary, Colleen and Liam.  We would like to express our sincere gratitude to all these people as without them our races would not take place.  Thanks also to everyone else who assisted over the year. Our thanks also go to our outdoor staff of Tony, Michael, Jamie, Conor and Albert, well done on organising the signs, P.A. and the lead car.  All these people give of their time in the interest of athletics and do a multitude of jobs over the year. Speaking of a multitude, our sincere thanks goes to Ann Dunford who had the arduous task of keeping track of the scores from each of the races and tallying up the league tables weekly and as always with Ann a great job was done. Ann also organised the prizes for the races and I’m sure you’ll all agree that she’s a fantastic shopper and no doubt will be glad to have some space in the boot after the summer! After each race, it’s not long before there’s a huge array of photos on the website, action photos, photos of the presentation etc and this takes a lot of time and effort and this is all down to James Veale on the camera and to Andrea on the computer. Their time and dedication is appreciated very much.  Thanks also to the Gardai for their help and co-operation at all 10 races.  To the local stewards in all the places we visited over the summer we are extremely grateful for your time and assistance. Thanks to each and every one of the runners who made the series the success that it was, it was great to see you all at the races and we are already looking forward to 2010. Finally thanks to all the runners and club members who helped in any way at the races.

SPONSORSHIP

Events cannot be run without sponsorship and backing and in Ger Wyley and Nike we have two of the best in the business.  We very much appreciate Ger taking time to come out to Ardmore to present the prizes and for his kind words to the club. Ger congratulated all prize-winners and remarked on the 15th year of the series and the strength and success of each race. Ger takes a great interest in all aspects of the summer series and is always present on the night to help with the results.  Thanks again to Ger for all his help.At each of our 10 races we have individual sponsors who support the races and keep them going with their sponsorship.  For this we are also most grateful.  To all the clubs who allowed us to use their facilities over the summer, a big thank you and to all the establishments we visited over the course of the series that provided teas, coffee and refreshments to tired and weary runners also, we wish to put our thanks on record.

SANDIS RETAINS MICHEÁL O HOGÁIN CUP

In 2008 Sandis Bralitis took victory in the Summer Series with 8 points from his club and countryman Raivis Zakis who finished with 9.  That victory was hard fought with only one point separating the two athletes at the finish.  This year however both men competed in the Paris Marathon which changed their training schedules and meant that they had different priorities over the spring time.  Sandis joined the series and ran the minimum 6 races over the summer.  But 6 races was enough for Sandis as he took victory in all the 6 races that he ran and finished with the minimum of 6 points to take the series for the fourth year in a row.  Sandis took victory from a very promising young athlete in the club, Rory Moloney, who also ran the minimum 6 required races and finished with a points total of 21.  Rory had his best race in Dromana where he finished in second place and had third place finishes in Clashmore, Ballymac and Ardmore.  He finished 4th in Touraneena and also took 6th place in G.S.K.  In third place this year was Sean Stilwell who ran 7 races and had his best finishes in Butlerstown, where he was second and the Cunnigar where he also took second.  Sean finished with 26 points in total.  Another West Waterford athlete was in 4th place and everyone is delighted to see a return to form for Philip Harty who ran 9 out of the 10 races and would have made it 10 had he not picked up an injury during the Ballymacarbry 5 where he failed to finish.  Philip finished with 30 points, 14 points ahead of the 5th place finisher Frank Quinlan from Waterford A.C.  Another West Waterford athlete P.J. Guinan took 6th spot with 57 points, which incidentally was 2 points less than he had last year when he filled 5th spot.  Martin McCarthy has shown this year that he is in the form of his life and he took 7th place with 68 points and just missed out on the 10 races when he missed Ardmore due to illness.  Eighth place in 2009 went to the man who filled 7th spot last year, St Joseph’s athlete Larry Lacey.  Larry is a great supporter of all our races and is running as well as ever.  He finished with a best of 72 points just 1 more than he had in 2008!  Two more West Waterford athletes filled the 9th and 10th positions with Tralee man Johnny O Connor finishing with 74 points from 6 races and Shane Power on 77.  Well done to all the top 10 and it’s interesting to note that 23 points separated them from the 11th place finisher whereas in 2008 the 9th place finisher had 112 points and 10th finished with 114.109 men entered the summer series and exactly 80 ran all 6 and appeared on the final tables and took a €25 voucher for their efforts.  Of this 80 eighteen ran all 10 races and they took a €75 voucher.  Well done to all who completed the series and congratulations to all prize-winners.  For the record the 18 who completed all 10 were:

Alan Lyons

Tommy Falconer

Kenneth O Donnell

Yevgenniy Chizhikov

Tom Leahy

Tomás Coleman

Sean Mc Carthy

Mark Cliffe

Anthony Dwyer

Eamonn Flavin

Luke Cunningham

Conor Dunne

Pat Morrissey

Pascal Proctor

Michael Deegan

Tommy Lehihan

P.J. Curran

Vincent Tutty

DIVISIONAL WINNERS

In 2008 we changed the system of giving prizes to age categories and instead went for prizes for the top 10 men and every 10th man after that.  This ensured an equal distribution of the prizes and meant that runners were watching the tables at each race to check their progress.  In order to figure in the Summer Series you had to have entered the series and the cut off for entry was at the Dromana race.  This is the procedure each year and after this it is your best 6 finishes that count with lowest points being best as we see with Sandis Bralitis who finished with 6 points from 6 to take victory. In 20th position this year was another popular winner, Tommy Falconer of Carrick on Suir A.C., who finished with 172 points.Colin Lyons is another who is beset by injury lately but this did not stop him from taking 30th place with 252 points.Clonmel A.C. featured in 40th place with Gary Grant doing the business here with 327 points.West Waterford’s Mark Cliffe may be new to running but he completed all 10 races in 2009 and finished with 448 points and took 50th place.Michael Wade started off the year with some injuries and ill health but he finished the year with a bang and had his best time of the year in Ardmore.  Michael finished in 60th position in 2009 with 570 points.Another west Waterford athlete, Martin Veale who is really returning to form and who also had a great run in Ardmore filled 70th place. Martin finished with 696 points.The winner of the short course in the Winter League, John Foley filled 80th place with 949 points.Congratulations to all prize-winners and all who completed the 6 races.

PAULINE TAKES LADIES TITLE

In 2009 we perhaps had one of the best ever competitions in the ladies events.  As we told you earlier it got off to a cracker at the Marine Climb where Borrisokane lady Siobhain O Doherty took victory from Tullamore A.C.’s Pauline Lambe.  Tullamore is a long way to come for the Summer Series but Pauline showed she meant business and she ran 7 out of the 10 races taking 5 race wins and 2 seconds finishing with 7 points from her best 6.  Last year’s winner West Waterford’s Corinna Walsh ran all 10 races this year and took second place with 10 points from her best 6. Corinna had 2 wins in Touraneena and Dromana and 4 seconds in Clashmore, Ring, G.S.K. and Ballymac.  In third place in 2009 was Waterford A.C. athlete Sylvia Malone who has really improved this year and was rewarded for all her training when she finished with 27 points from her best 6 races.  In 4th position this year was Berlin bound Norma Wall who had her best series to date when she finished with 30 points from her best 6 races. Clonmels A.C.’s Mary Molloy who finished with 33 points from her top 6 completed the top 5.48 women entered the Summer Series in 2009 and 34 featured on the final tables.  These 34 athletes all received €25 vouchers and of this 34 a total of 9 went on to run all 10 races.  Once again congratulations to all who completed the series and all the prize-winners.  The 9 who completed the series and secured the €75 voucher were:

Corinna Walsh

Norma Wall

Ann Dunford

Sharon Duggan

Josie Ui Chuirrin

Bernie Prendergast

Hillary Collins

Claire Walsh

Catriona O Brien

DIVISIONAL WINNERS

In the ladies, we presented prizes to the athletes who filled the 10th, 15th 20th etc positions on the final tables.  West Waterford had a clean sweep here with the following taking prizes:

In 10th place in 2009 was Ann Whelan, sister of our race sponsor Ger Wyley who finished the series with 76 points.  15th spot went to another West Waterford athlete, Karen Ryan who is also training hard at the moment for Berlin and finished with 106 points.In her first year running the Summer Series, juvenile athlete Edel Roche finished in 20th spot with 167 points.Catriona O Brien was rewarded for her participation in all 10 races when she took 25th place with 188 points.Ann Massey took the 30th place with a point’s total of 290 so well done to Ann.Finally congratulations to all the prize-winners and a big thank you to everyone who ran over the course of the summer.  Without runners there would be no races so thanks to everyone in West Waterford who supported the races and also our many friends in other clubs who also participated.  We are delighted to welcome runners from all corners of the land and roll on 2010 when we will once again take to the roads of the county!

SUMMER SERIES CLUB CHAMPIONS

As another successful summer series concluded in Ardmore, our own club champions for 2009 were declared. In a best 8 out of 10 race competition the new winners were as follows:

Senior: Phillip Harty

0/35:    PJ Guinan

0/40:    Michael Dunford

0/45:    Martin McCarthy

0/50:    Gerry Cantwell

0/55:    Joe Gough

Junior:

Ciaran Lane


In the ladies categories the winners were as follows:

Senior: Corinna Walsh

0/35:    Brigid Coffey

0/40:    Ann Dunford

0/45:    Josie Uí Chuirrín

0/50:    Helene Hayes

0/60:    Terry Gough 


Well done to all concerned and it’s encouraging that our membership is strong enough to hold such a championship annually, here’s to 2010.

AMBER PETROLEUM FIT4LIFE LEAGUE

ALL DOWN TO THE LAST NIGHT

The Friary College was the place to be once again last Tuesday evening for the eighth and final round of the very popular Amber Petroleum Fit4Life Running league.  This league really is the one where anyone can be a winner as each week the 3 people who finish on the right side of the clock all received a prize.  Prize-winners this year came from all four distances that the runners could chose from: one, two, three or four laps.  They could change their distance each week and it would not matter as long as they could get close to their time and in the process secure points for the Champions League Table.  As the weeks went by runners were becoming more adept at predicting their times which made it all the more entertaining.

CLAIRE CLAIMS VICTORY ON FINAL NIGHT

I’m not really sure what exactly happened last Tuesday evening as the number of people who finished too fast or before the clock reached zero was amazing.  Each week we see that the winner usually comes from around the middle of the pack, someone in the middle of a large group of runners.  This week however 32 runners were gone through the tunnel before the winner entered the finishing tunnel.  On this occasion the 33rd person was Claire Murray who was just 7 seconds slower than her predicted time.  Claire had become somewhat of an expert at this league as she was second in week 5 and also had a third place finish in week 3.  Only 5 people were behind Claire on the night and indeed Niamh Budds who finished second also recorded the exact same time as Claire.  Niamh also has run a very consistent league where she has finished in fifth spot on three occasions in weeks 2, 5 and 6.  That’s great pacing indeed from Niamh. Conor Blackwell was delighted to finish 14 seconds outside his predicted time and this gave Conor a third place finish on the night.  Fourth place went to Libby McGinn Murphy who was 29 seconds slower than the time she set herself for the night.  Diana Chizhikova was also delighted to finish just 31 seconds slower than her predicted time and took 5th place. Catriona O Brien was next to finish and her time was 1.26 slower than she predicted. 

MARY GOES CLOSE

Mary Riordan was the athlete this week to come closest to taking a win on the final night only for victory to be taken from her grasp as she finished just 1 second before the clock struck zero.  Last years winner of this league Yevgenniy Chizhikov also came close to a victory on Tuesday evening as he ran 5 seconds faster than his predicted time.  John Foley is also very good at these “predict your time” runs as he has proven in this year’s Winter League and he too almost got it spot on once again when he was just 5 seconds out also. Finishing just before John was another very consistent performer in this league and he’s also a leading contender for Athlete of The Year; Michael McCarthy.  Michael picked up points on each night of the league including 4th in week 2 and 5th in week 7 and was just 8 seconds out. Grace Downey is getting her pacing almost spot on too as she showed on Tuesday when she was just 13 seconds outside her predicted time.  Others to come close were Gráinne Ni Fhoghlu (0.16), Mary Foley (0.17) and Mark Cliffe (0.17).

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE TABLE

Last week we told you that it was getting very tight at the top of the Champions League Table, well, it got tighter still after last Tuesday as some of the most consistent runners in this league including some of the top 5 failed in their bid to land any points which meant that the chasing pack had their chance to stake a claim for victory, if they could get a decent points haul.  With just 6 people finishing on the right side of the clock the maximum of 30 points went to Claire Murray with 29 going on this occasion to Niamh Budds and 28 to Conor Blackwell. Eamonn Flavin the leader from week 7 and Norma Wall who had been the leader over the first 6 weeks both finished way too fast and got no points. 

We will have a full report on how the Champions League Table finished up next week.

SPONSORS AND PRIZEGIVING NIGHT

The Prize giving night for this league was held on Friday night last August 21st after the race proceedings in Ballinameela were over.  A large crowd of prize-winners and league participants were in attendance which was great to see.  All enjoyed an excellent night and we would like to thank Joe Duggan for his hospitality.  Tony Ryan our Cross Country Co-Ordinator acted as M.C. and Pat Keane from Amber Petroleum Garage was present to hand out the prizes.  Indeed we would like to thank Pat and his wife Marion for their attendance on the night.  Without sponsors it would be very difficult to hold such events. Finally well done to everyone who took part in the league and we hope to see you all back for the Elite Paintball 1 Lap Challenge starting on September 8 and the Garvey’s Supervalue Dungarvan Autumn League which begins on September 10

WHAT TO DO NOW THAT THE SUMMER LEAGUES ARE OVER

To all those that completed in the various leagues that were held over the summer months, the Minnie’s League, the Green Mile League and the Amber Petroleum League, thanks so much for coming along and participating. We know that you all enjoyed yourselves immensely and are delighted with the progress you have made both with fitness levels and running times. That’s the beauty with running, unlike any other sport or activity, it’s possible to see results in a very short time and it’s so enjoyable seeing as each individual is able to run at their own pace with the club’s strong policy of catering for all abilities. With the conclusion of the summer leagues last week many have been asking what’s next on the programme. The Autumn Leagues will be starting shortly and these leagues like the summer leagues cater for all runners. The first of these leagues is the Elite Paintball One Lap Challenge and starting in the same week is the Garvey’s Supervalue Autumn League.

ELITE PAINTBALL ONE LAP CHALLENGE

 

This league is ideally suited for beginners who might be a bit intimidated by seeing people running lap after lap of the Friary College and think “I could never do that”.  Well in association with Fit 4 Life and kindly sponsored by Jeff Allen of Elite Paintball we have a league for you.  This is a one lap league, so if you walk and jog and walk again then this is where you can meet other people starting on a fitness regime just like you. So many people are aware of the Winter League and would love to give it a go but feel that they might not be able for it. Every year for the Autumn Leagues those who start off with the Autumn League are more than capable by the time it comes to the winter league, so this may be exactly what you need. If you’re still not convinced why not come along and just watch for the first night and join in whenever suits you. The league is also open to regulars who want to see what time they can cover the 1.2 mile course in.  The league will commence on Tuesday September 8 and will run for 5 weeks taking in September 15, 22, 29, and October 6.  The start time for this league will be 7 o’ clock with registration taking place at the van from onwards. The entry fee is €2 each night and you may leave your keys and jumpers in the van while you are running. We will also provide water at the finish for all the participants. Please note that you do not have to be a member of the club to take part.

GARVEYS SUPERVALUE AUTUMN LEAGUE

The second league, the Garveys Supervalue Dungarvan Autumn League will commence on Thursday 10 September at at the Friary College Dungarvan.  It will follow the same format as the One Lap Challenge but it has an earlier starting time of . This is because there is a choice of 1, 2, 3 or 4 laps of the Friary, with each lap being 1.2 miles. Registration will commence at 6.15 at the club van.  Once again the Friary College have given us permission to use their fine facilities, which are second to none.  For this we are extremely grateful as few clubs in the country have access to off road facilities of such quality.  Newcomers may ask as to how this is suitable for them and it is in that they may do one lap of the Friary whereas those more used to running may choose to do some more laps. It couldn’t be easier really! When you find that you are more comfortable with doing one lap then you may move onto two laps or you may stay with one lap, the choice is yours.  This league will be held on 5 consecutive Thursday nights, September 10, 17 and 24 and October 1 and 8.  Once again we would like to thank Garvey’s Supervalue Dungarvan and

Coolagh Road

for their continued support and their sponsorship of this league. The entry fee for each night will be the usual €2 per athlete and all are welcome. Please note that you don’t have to be a member of the club to come along, all newcomers are most welcome.

BALLYCOTTON 5 2008

 

The fourth and final race of the Ballycotton summer series takes place tomorrow night, Thursday August 27 and has an earlier starting time of . All athletes that compete in all four races will have guaranteed entry to the Ballycotton 10 subject to the closing date. The club has 7 athletes in total on target for doing all four races and it is their cumulative time over the four races that determine their position on the league tables and they are as follows:

 

18 Joe Kelly                1.31.20

55 Richie Kelly           1.40.44

64 Tony O’ Mahony   1.42.21

93 Eamon Flavin         1.48.03

 

Ladies 

13 Josie Ui Chuirrín    1.53.15

15 Brigid Coffey        1.53.29

96 Onra Power            2.10.44

 

Prizes for the Race

First 10 men (M); First 3 M40; First 3 M45; First 3 M50; First 2 M55; First 2 M60; First M65; First M70; First 2 under 20 (MJ). First 2 AAI club teams (first 3 finishers on team to score)

 

First 6 women (F); First 2 F35; First 2 F40; First 2 F45; First 2 F50; First F55, First F60, First F65.

First AAI club team (first 3 finishers on team to score)

BLARNEY HALF MARATHON

 

The St. Finbarr’s AC organised John Buckley Sports Cork Half Marathon will be held again this year in Blarney and will as it has in previous years host the Munster Half Marathon championships as part of the race on the day. It will be held on Sunday 13 September at Athletes may pre-enter for the race at a cost of €20 up to September 5. It’s possible to enter on line at www.stfinbarrsac.com and athletes may also enter on the day but the entry fee increases to €25

 TEMPLEDERRY

FOUR MILE ROAD

RACE

The inaugural Templederry 4 Mile Road Race will take place this coming Friday night, August 28th at . The race sees Pat Keane, one of the chief organisers of the Touraneena 5k take on the mantle of organising a similar event in his new home village of Templederry in Co.Tipperary. Pat reliably informs us that Templederry is roughly 90 minutes from Dungarvan and 20 minutes outside of Thurles. Like all events organised by the hand of Pat Keane this promises to be another top notch night and  will be well worth a visit, the prize categories are generous and they are as follows:

 1st Man €200, 2nd man €100 and 3rd man €50

1st lady €200, 2nd lady €100 and 3rd lady €50

There will also be a Time Bonus of €100 for the first man to break and €100 for the first woman to break 23:00.There will also be prizes for the first male & female finisher from each of the Zodiac star signs. The entry Fee is €10 with entries taken at the Fr Kenyon Centre from onwards. A 2 mile walk gets under way at and a “Guess Your Finish Time Event” will also take place in conjunction with the 2 mile walk. The winner here is whoever finishes closest but not faster than their predicted time. No watches or mobile phones allowed. The entry fee for the walk is €5.Tea & refreshments will be provided for all participants. There will also be a free spot prize draw for an 18 speed mountain bike plus spot prizes galore. For further details – contact Pat Keane at 087 6380649

 ALAN EVERETT

5 MILE ROAD

RACE

The annual Alan Everett Memorial 5 mile road race was held last Sunday in Woodstown, Co. Waterford and Corinna Walsh notched up yet another win when she took the ladies title in a time of 31.04. Alan Everett was a fantastic supporter of all our races and the large crowd in attendance was a great tribute to him and his family. Others that represented the club on the day were Jim Fleming, Michael Wade and Michael McCarthy.

 BRALITIS BEST IN BALLINAMEELA

Last Friday night’s Ballinameela 5 Mile Road Race provided the participants with a super fast course that produced a winning time of 24.53 which belongs to the in-form Sandis Bralitis, who was a most impressive winner on the night.Sandis ran his usual hard race from the gun and his times of 4.55 (1 mile), 9.49 (2 miles), 14.48 (3 miles), and 19.53 (4 miles) ensured that he was well clear of the field at the finish.  Long time supporter of road races in the West Waterford area, Noel Curtin (Youghal A.C.) was a deserving second place in 28.14 while Shane Power (West Waterford A.C.) produced his best performance ever to claim 3rd spot in a very good 28.52.  This was Shane’s first time finishing in the top three in a West Waterford event. The next 6 places were all occupied by West Waterford members with fine runs being recorded by Padraig Healy (29.00), Johnny O Connor (29.33), Michael Dwyer (30.01), Gerry Cantwell (30.22) and especially by Gary Collins who ran an impressive personal best of 30.26.

CORINNA WINS LADIES RACE

Corinna Walsh continued her splendid form this summer with a clear cut win at a venue which was very close to home ground for her. Corinna finished 17th overall running 6 minutes 19 seconds per mile pace to finish over 1 minute clear in 31 minutes 40 seconds.  Mary Molloy from Clonmel was second in a fine time of 32.47 with West Waterford’s Ann Dunford in third place in 35.02.

RACE CATEGORIES

The race categories produce their own interesting battles and the winners were as follows: (all West Waterford unless otherwise stated)

MEN

0/40     Johnny O Connor (29.33)

0/45     Owen Palmer (30.28) Waterford A.C.

0/50     Gerry Cantwell (30.22)

0/55     Joe Gough (30.32)

LADIES

0/35     Brigid Coffey (36.02)

0/40     Onra Power (41.03)

0/45     Josie Ui Chuirrin (37.09)

0/50     Bernie Prendergast (38.18)

Junior Emer Scanlon (35.41)

The Wheelchair category winner was Gerry Forde from Blarney in a time of 38.18.

WELL SUPPORTED

 West Waterford members supported the event well with the following club runners not named so far recording the following times on Friday night.

Yevgenniy Chizhikov (31.16), Sean Dwyer (31.37), Dermot Dwyer (32.04), Kenneth O Donnell (32.07), Tom Leahy (32.31), Tom Moroney (32.42), Jim Fleming (32.45), Liam Kavanagh (33.13), Earl Navin (33.17), Dermot Ryan (33.48), Eamonn Flavin (34.02), Mark Cliffe (34.20), Micheál Callaghan (35.35), P.J. Curran (35.39), Martin Veale (35.59), Shane Flanagan (36.33), John Foley (38.30), Pascal Proctor (38.31), Michael Mc Carthy (39.58), Michael Deegan (40.17), Vincent Tutty (40.18), Paul Mc Grath (40.22), Catriona O Brien (41.25), Linda Bradfield (43.28), Vince Donovan (44.39), and Ann Massey (45.54).  Among others, impressive times here were recorded by Sean Dwyer, Tom Moroney, Micheál Callaghan, Martin Veale, Shane Flanagan and Catriona O Brien.

RACE ORGANISATION

The organising committee of this race can be well satisfied with their first venture into staging a road race with over 100 participants in total which is a good entry.  The Community Centre was an ideal and impressive venue and the stewarding around the course was top class.  Our thanks are extended to the catering ladies after the race and indeed everybody who made our club feel so welcome on the night.  As already noted, the flat course is a major plus for this race and runners who record fast times will return to such an event. Thanks to all our own club members who assisted in the organising of this race led by our Road Racing Co-ordinator Gerry Cantwell.  The entries were taken by Breda and Megan with Liam looking after the results and Liam also made his debut with the camera.  Tom Scanlon was a most impressive race commentator ably assisted by Michael and Albert.  Gerry organised the presentation of prizes and Conor and Jamie as usual ensured the smooth finishing of the race.This event has brought to a close our evening Summer Road Races since the Marine Climb and an enjoyable and busy season has been the order of the day for all.  Here’s to 2010.

RUNNING QUOTE

Runners just do it: They run for the finishing line even if someone else has reached it first.

BRAVE DISPLAY BY JAMIE COSTIN AT WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS IN BERLIN.

As the Van the Man said in his song “there be days like this“.West Waterford’s Jamie Costin gave what can only be described as a gutsy performance at last weeks 50k walk at the World championships in Berlin, Despite not making it to the finishing line. Indeed it wasn’t a great day for either of our two 50k walkers as both Jamie and Ballinamore’s Colin Griffin didn’t make the finish line at the Brandenburg gates after a tough day at the office in very warm humid conditions, The men’s 50km walk was the feature event on the morning of the seventh day and what greeted the strong men of the 50k walk was 75 % humidity and scorching sunshine. The pair were among 19 of the 50-strong field that did not finish the event, Griffin had no more to offer after 28k of intense walking while Jamie had taken a more conservative slower pace for the first half and was making his way nicely through the field having come from 29th position to 18th when he started to experience Stomach problems which was to end his participation in the event with the finish line in sight. Unfortunely as many of us know especially those involved in marathon running when you experience these kind of problems in such an event and it becomes impossible to hold down your fluids the body shuts down very quickly and refuses to let you continue, such was the case for Jamie who was bitterly disappointed at not being able to finish the race and most certainly gave it his all in what is the longest event in the world championships events list, But we can be sure the Ring man will drive on from here and will soon after a well deserved rest period take up his next challenge and hopefully we will see him on the start line in Barcelona next July for the European Champions when hopefully the gods will look more favourably on this most dedicated and professional athlete. The winner of the race for the record was Russian Sergey Kirdyapkin who regained the title he won in Helsinki four years ago,The Russian did not finish the race in last year’s Beijing Olympic Games,He had no such problems in Berlin as the 29-year-old clawed back a 36-second deficit to rejoin the leaders at the 35km marker and went on to win comfortably in a time of three hours 38 minutes and 35 seconds. Kirdyapkin, whose time was the fastest in the world this year, was followed home by Trond Nymark in a Norwegian record of 3hr 41min 16sec with Spain’s Jesus Angel Garcia finishing a further 21 seconds behind. From an Irish participation  point of view it was one of our walkers who preformed best when Olive Loughnane took a superb silver in the Ladies 20k walk and Corks Derval O’Rourke finished a very close 4th in the Ladies 100 meters Hurdles final, David Gillick reached the final of the 400 meters finishing 6th. The event itself was superbly organised and it was certainly evident that the German’s certainly love their sport. Role on Barcelona 2010.

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