MUNSTER JUNIOR INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS.
DOUBLE GOLD FOR KATE VEALE AND SILVER FOR JOE CONWAY.
The Munster Senior and Junior Indoors championships were held last Sunday at the Nenagh indoor arena, The club had a small number of Junior athletes participating but with good success on that day. We got off to the proverbial flier with the Junior Walks where Joe Conway and Kate Veale were participating in the 5.000 and 3.000 respectfully. Kate just one day off her 15th birthday and still with 4 years remaining in this grade gave a masterful display of walking when taking gold in a time 14.24 just 3 seconds outside the long standing Munster record of 14.21 for this event. Next up was Joe Conway in the Men’s 5.000 and here too a good field assembled, Taking gold here was Niall Prendiville of Farrenfore/Main Valley closely followed home by Joe Conway in what was another step forward in Abbeyside man’s progression in the sport. Joe record a fine time of 27.09 for the distance. Declan Power was on the starting line next for the Junior Men’s 3.000 meters and this consisted of the largest field in any event on the day with 10 athletes taking part. Declan running his very first indoor championship race ever acquitted himself very well finishing in 5th place with some of the countries best Junior’s taking part. Our final outing for the day came from Kate Veale this time in the 3,000 meters again a good field of five Juniors and two seniors were left off together and Kate kept close contact with the leaders throughout the race. Still in contention with 400 remaining Kate made a move which was to completely split the field apart, and she plus one of the Senior athletes were left to battle it out right to the line with the older athlete taking the senior gold and Kate the junior Gold with a fine time of 10.49.So all in all a very good day of Indoor running and walking from our athletes and hopefully next year we can see a bigger contingent taking part from Deise side.
ALL ROUNDER SPORTS WINTER LEAGUE RESUMES TONIGHT
The second half of the ever popular Winter League resumes tonight, Wednesday 7th at the usual time of 7.20 p.m. It’s always at the second half that the league really takes shape and gets much more interesting. By virtue of the fact, that we are all improving week by week, there is and will be very little in the difference between people’s performances. Whereas, in the previous weeks there may have been a large gap between some people, the gap is now closing and the league is there for the taking by virtually anybody. We had eight consecutive weeks of the league before Christmas and including tonight there will be a further 7 nights of the league. The league will continue until February 18th 2009. The difference with the league now is that we have all been put into divisions, depending on our overall points accumulated since the start of the league. For the moment, there will be movement between divisions, which means that the more you improve the further you move up the ladder. After a few weeks, all runners will remain in a certain division and each person’s goal will be to get to the top of their division. Least points is best so therefore we all want to get to the finishing line each night before as many as possible and as least points is best the overall winner will be the person with the least amount of points accumulated throughout the league. The overall winner may come from any division in the league; last year’s winners in both leagues did not come from the top division which really proves that the winner can be anybody. Anyway, enough about the divisions, as they can look after themselves, we want to see as many as possible continue with the league tonight and to begin the year with good intentions to maintain their health and fitness. The clock begins at the usual time of 7.20 p.m. with the usual handicap times.
MAKE THE WINTER LEAGUE YOUR NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION
Now that the Christmas period and its festivities are well and truly over, it’s time to give a little thought on our New Year’s Resolutions. As the saying goes “Your health is your wealth” and the winter league hosted by West Waterford Athletic Club provides the ideal situation and opportunity to kick start your resolutions. Don’t be put off by the fact that the league was on before Christmas, it’s never too late to look after your health. Each year, we have lots of newcomers sign up after Christmas and after a few short weeks they are well and truly on the way to being healthier and fitter. Another thought springs to mind-“Don’t put off till tomorrow what you can do today”. There are many that think that they won’t be able to it or they will be out of their league, yet any newcomer yet to the league has never felt like that. We will be at the registration desk tonight and if you have any questions, we will be more than happy to help out. It’s a great idea to bring along a friend or two and if totally new to the running scene we suggest that you do the short route first. The majority of people begin walking a bit and jogging a bit which is the perfect way to begin and you will find with each passing week that you will be able to jog a little bit more. If registering tonight for the first time, please come to the sports centre before 7 p.m. as an application form will need to be filled in and we will issue you with your number. The entry fee for first timers is €7 for members and €8 for non-members. Every other night after that the fee is only €2 for members and €3 for non-members. See you there.
RULES AND REGULATIONS
Just a little reminder to you all:
- Please park only in the designated spots around the centre and to please obey the stewards on the course
- The use of mp3s and ipods are not allowed for safety reasons
- All runners must wear a reflective bib
- Even if doing a warm-up or cool-down before and after the league, we would ask that all runners wear a bib
THE LUCKY NUMBER SEVEN
As tonight’s date is the 7th, the seventh finisher in both the short and long route will be this week’s winners. The winners from the last night before Christmas were George Tutty in the short route and John Fitzgerald in the long route. When registering tonight, please make yourselves known to us and we can present you with your prize. Well done and best of luck to all runners tonight.
QUANTUM LIFE DUNGARVAN 10 MILE ROAD RACE
LOOKING FOR A CHALLENGE FOR 2009
If looking for a challenge for 2009, why not sign up for the Quantum Life Dungarvan 10 mile road race. We have had quite a few sign up for their first ten-mile and you could be one of these. We are available at the desk tonight at the league for help and advice or we can also be contacted at info@westwaterfordathletics.org. For those that have been training over the Christmas period, ideally you should be running up to 6 or 7 miles in one go but if not there is another few weeks to get the training in. Three weeks from Sunday is the day, so get on those runners and clock up those miles!
ON LINE RACE ENTRIES.
Were delighted to report that the entries for our upcoming premier road race of the year the quantum Life Dungarvan 10 are steadily coming on a daily bases. The decision this year to go with on line entries as well as postal is paying dividends as this form of race entry is proving very popular with entries reaching us online daily.
With just 4 weeks to go now before the big day, if you haven’t entered yet please do so over the next few weeks. You can enter on line or by postal entry with form’s available for downloading on www.westwaterfordathletics.org We would again appeal to all local runners to have their entries in before race day, as this will help with the logistics for those organising the race. Your co-operation with this matter would be appreciated.
ENTRIES TAKEN AT WINTER LEAGUE FOR QUANTUM LIFE DUNGARVAN 10 MILE ROAD RACE.
The deadline for pre-entry to the Quantum Life Dungarvan 10 mile road race is fast approaching and with this in mind, we will have an entry desk for three weeks at the winter league which will be tonight January 7th and also January 14th and 21st. After that date, it will be entry on the day of the race to which entry will close at 12 noon sharp. We will have the entry forms at the sports centre tonight so all you have to do is fill in the form and pay the €15 entry fee. This fee includes a substantial goody bag and a long sleeved running top, which is exceptional value, all of which will be handed out on the day of the race. If you are as yet undecided as to whether you will do the race or not, entry on the day is available for €20. league. Your entry must include the entry fee of €15.If entering by post return your entry form to Ann Dunford, The Green, Kilgobnet. Dungarvan, Co. Waterford.
RICHIE IN POLAND
Club member Richie Power who is currently holidaying in Poland has been keeping the club colours flying in that part of the world when he ran the Glebokie Lake 5 k recording a time of under 24 minutes and two days later he ran a 7.5k race through a wooded area with temperatures at minus 6 and snowing he recorded a time of 34.34.Well done Richie.
END OF YEAR RANKINGS
Athletics Ireland ‘Athlete of the Year’ Paul Hession, who has brought Irish sprinting to a new level, has ended 2008 with yet another accolade. The prestigious Track & Field News, the ‘Bible of the Sport’ has ranked Paul at Number 8 for 200m, giving him his first World top 10 ranking. T&FN’s 8th place ranking is one place higher than another equally prestigious publication, Athletics International who have ranked him at number 9. Both publications rank him at number 1 European over 200m, just reward for an exciting and brilliant year.
Two other Irish Olympians, Robert Heffernan and Olive Loughnane both make the top ten with both publications. After some tremendous performances Olive Loughnane is ranked at Number 6 with T&FN (5th European), one place higher than Athletics International, while Robert Heffernan is ranked at Number 8 (4th European) in both publications.
MALLOW 10 ON THIS SUNDAY.
Race on one in the John Buckley Munster classic series take place this coming Sunday January 11th when the Marathon Deliveries sponsored Mallow 10 miler take’s place. Starting at 12.30 pm a large West Waterford contingent is expected to make the journey for the race. Race two in this series is of course our own much-anticipated Quantum Life 10 on February 1st at 1 PM. The Mallow race Sunday has changing and shower facilities at the Mallow Youth Centre where the 10 Euro entry fee will be taken until 11.30 am. A non-competitive walk will take place at 12 noon with an entry fee of 5 euro.
The following are the Prizes on offer in Mallow. A cash bonus of 500-euro will awarded to the winner if the course record of 49.40 held by Gerry Ryan since 2005 is broken.
Men
First Five (150,100, 75, 60, 50 Euro)
1st, 2nd, 3rd, – Over 40 (50,40,30 Euro)
1st, 2nd, 3rd, – Over 45 – as above
1st, 2nd, 3rd, – Over 50 – as above
1st, 2nd, – Over 55 – as above
1st, – Over 60, 65, 70,
Junior (50 Euro)
Women
First Five (150,100, 75, 60, 50 Euro)
1st, 2nd, 3rd – Over 35 (50,40, 30 Euro)
1st, 2nd, 3rd – Over 40 – as above
1st, 2nd, 3rd – Over 45 – as above
1st, – Over 50, 55, 60, Junior (50 Euro)
WEST WATERFORD ATHLETIC CLUB TO HOST MUNSTER SENIOR AND JUNIOR CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS AT ST. AUGUSTINE’S COLLEGE.
The Munster Senior and Junior Cross Country championships along with a Juvenile inter county championship are down for decision on Sunday January 18th.The provincial’s biggest cross country event of the year for Seniors and Juniors is being hosted this year by our own club with the kind permission of St Augustine’s College. We are glad to report that the club will have teams in all four race’s senior and Junior Men’s and Women’s.
The following are the club teams for the Munster Senior and Junior cross-country championships
SENIOR MEN.Raivis Zakis, Sandis Bralitis, James Ledingham, Dzintars Klava, Kevin Kenneally, Padraig Healy, Sean Stilwell, Rory Moloney, Harry O’Brien.
SENIOR WOMEN.Corinna Walsh, Norma Wall, Eibhlis Ni hAodha, Brigid Coffey, Josie Uí Chuirrin and Karen Ryan.
JUNIOR MEN. Declan Power, Mark Shalloe, Brian Hallissey, Joe Conway, and Lughaidh O’Mahoney. David Earley.Eamonn Murphy.
JUNIOR WOMEN.Elma Nugent, Kate Veale, Edel Roche, Rebecca Maher, Claire Collins, Kate Kenneady, Clodagh Gallagher, Coffey
RUNNING QUOTE.
Recognize your victories.
COMMITTEE MEETING.
The first Senior club committee meeting of the new year takes place in Minnie’s Bar on tomorrow night Thursday 8th January at 9 PM.
