West Waterford Athletic ClubWest Waterford Athletic Club

Two in a row for Raivis at Mallow 10

  10 MILE MUNSTER CLASSIC SERIES.

RAIVIS ZAKIS RECORDS HIS SECOND VICTORY AT MALLOW 10.

Race number one in the 2008 John Buckley Munster 10 mile classic series kicked off last Sunday with the Marathon Deliveries sponsored Mallow 10.Despite the rain coming down as the runners made their way around the single loop course there was a great days racing for the record entry of 521 runners who completed the race getting the series off to the best start the organisers could hope for. West Waterford were well represented with 34 runners making the journey to the Country Cork venue, The inform Raivis Zakis was the man of the day taking his second Mallow 10 victory in a row with an improvement of 20 seconds on his winning time of last year This was one of Raivis’s best ever victories as competition was of a very high standard. Right from the off Limerick’s John McDonald raced into a commanding lead of 200 meters or so, But a solid group of four very seasoned athletes chasing always had him within their sights,Raivis was in this group along with  Wieslaw Sosnowski Eagle AC,Colin Merritt Togher AC and Donal O’ Callaghan Riocht AC.After 5 miles the Limerick man was still holding the same lead which wasn’t increasing in distance,The following group of four running together and sharing the pacing at the front then upped the tempo on the back road home and quickly were on the shoulder of the early leader, Running through 8 miles the four chasers were locked together after dropping the tiring early leader McDonald, Polish native Sosnowski then made his move opening up an 80 meters gap on the three others on an uphill section of the course, However when Raivis tried to real the leader back both Merritt and O’Callaghan faded leaving him to do the hard work himself,At nine miles Raivis found fresh legs and was soon on term’s with Sosnowski and they ran shoulder to shoulder for the next half mile or so when Raivis made the decisive and race winning  move with quarter of a mile to go the Eagle man had no answer and Raivis came home alone a clear 7 seconds ahead to claim a famous second Mallow 10 victory. Colin Merritt was to claim third 53.29 and Donal O’Callaghan 4th 53.55 early leader John McDonald did hold on for 5th 54.04,The Ladies race was won by Madeline Dorney Thurles Crokes 63.41 from Mary Sweeney St.Finbars 64.21 with St.Senans Adele Walsh third in 64.41.West Waterford’s Diane Behan was a deserving winner in the over 35 Ladies section while she didn’t have it all her own way in a battle right to the line, the strong finishing Diane used all her strength to take the prize by the smallest margin of 1 second from Nollaig Hunter Leevale, 65.39 for Diane and 65.40 for Nollaig, Team mate Ann Dunford was also in the winners enclosure taking second Lady over 40 in a time of 73.55 another good run form the Kilgobnet Lady who also finished second last year, and likewise in the Men’s over 60 section Pat Connaughton was second with a time of 76.30.So all in all another successful day for the club and well done to all participants and to those who recorded personal best times on the day. All is now set for the second race in the Munster 10 mile series the Dunphy Vivas Health Dungarvan 10 on Sunday February 3rd at 1 PM.Get your entries in Lads and Lassies.Congratulations to the organisers Mallow AC who despite the huge increase in participants still managed to have full results available on the day and all went off superbly well.

The full West Waterford AC results for the Mallow 10 were as follows.
1st Raivis Zakis  53.15
10th Declan McGrath  57.26
23rd Sean Stilwell  59.48
41st Martin McCarthy  1.01.26
67th Trevor Mason   1.03.21
68th Gerry Cantwell  1.03.15
96th Martin Hayes  1.05.39
97th Diane Behan  1.05.39
98th Philip Harty  1.05.40
109th Johnny O’Connor 1.07.10
122nd Colin Lyons  1.07.19
129th Pat Dunford  1.07.33
138th Garret Byrne  1.108.15
139th Vincent Tutty  1.08.17
160th Anthony Dwyer  1.09.51
173rd Michael Wade   1.10.45
176th Liam Kavanagh  1.10.52
178th Paul Brunnock  1.10.54
187th Richard Finnegan 1.11.18
200th Ray Power  1.11.46
217th Kieran Russell  1.12.35
240th Richie Kelly  1.13.30
250th Tom Moroney  1.13.53
251st Noel Drohan  1.13.54
253rd Ann Dunford  1.13.55
260th Regina Byrne  1.14.10
283rd Michael Tutty  1.15.22

289th Michael Deegan 1.15.40
309th Pat Connaughton 1.16.30
335th Triona Wall  1.18.26
356th Brigid Coffey  1.19.56
386th Michael McCarthy 1.21.24
395th Pascal Proctor  1.22.28
419th P hilip Cleary  1.24.16
517th Helena Morrissey 1.44.49

DUNPHY VIVAS HEALTH DUNGARVAN 10.

RACE ENTRIES STREAMING IN.

Were delighted to report that the entries for our upcoming premier road race of the year the Dunphy Vivas Health Dungarvan 10 are steadily coming on a daily bases. With just 4 weeks to go now before the big day, if you haven’t entered yet please do so over the next two weeks. Entry forms are available for downloading on www.westwaterfordathletics.org For those who have been out of the country these past few weeks and didn’t hear, the race is on Sunday February 3rd next at 1 PM,and  is a pre- entry race again this year. Entry is €15 if you enter pre -race and €20 if you leave it till on the day of the race. We had a terrific response at the Mallow 10 miler last Sunday when we had over 150 runners pre register for the clubs premier road event.This was well up on the entries received last year at this event, so all argues well for what we hope will be our biggest and best 10 miler to date. The organisers would again appeal to all local runners especially 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. Entry forms are available at Ger Wyley Sports —All Rounder Sports or it can be down loaded from the club web site as given above and entries will be accepted at the Winter league also, Indeed Entry forms will be available tonight and for the next three weeks at the winter league. Your entry must include the entry fee of €15.If entering by post return your entry form to club treasurer, Denise Regan, Ballinamuck.Dungarvan, Co. Waterford.

DUNPHY VIVAS HEALTH DUNGARVAN 10 MEETING.

Our next meeting for the sub committee organising the Dunphy Vivas Health Dungarvan 10 will take place this Thursday evening at 8 pm in Minnie’s Bar, Abbeyside.All those interested in giving a helping hand with this big event are most welcome to come along to this meeting. The monthly club committee meeting will be held immediately after the race meeting.

WEST WATERFORD A.C. CLEAR THE BOARDS AT MUNSTER INDOORS.
  .
Our Masters were in Nenagh for the Munster Masters indoor championships last Sunday and all who made the journey were not disappointed indeed all four athletes brought home gold medals for their efforts. Eibhlis Ní hAodha took a gold double in the Ladies over 45 800 meters and 1.500 meters great running from Eibhlis. Sandra Brazil- White was also in terrific form when winning the 200 meters in the over 35 for the second year in a row Sandra also added a silver in the 60 meters the same silver she claimed in 2007 in this race. That Woman among Women Terri Gough added more Munster medals to her vast collection when taking gold in the 800 meters and silver in the 1.500 meters over 60.and Joe Gough was our fourth athlete competing and he claimed gold in the 800 meters over 50.A great days competition all round congratulations to all.

ANNUAL TIME OF YEAR.

It’s that time of year again when we put pen to paper for the clubs yearly Annual indeed the upcoming edition will be the clubs 5th edition. This year’s publication is currently in the early stages of production. Its editor Dermot Dwyer is hoping to have the first copies of the 2007 Annual rolling off the presses in a couple of week’s time. Dermot and his team have been working away over the last couple of weeks on this year’s production. Articles are coming in to him presently and we urge anyone who wishes to write an article on any aspect of the club or running in general to have shot at putting pen to paper or if you like finger to computer. We also include our Juvenile members here of course; I bet there are many budding athletics writers out there waiting to be discovered. Dermot would love to include any articles written by our Juvenile members, come on boys and girls, lads and lassies get out the old pen and paper, don’t leave it to others get involved. This Annual is for everyone, you included, and we await your articles. It would be a help if you your piece were saved on computer you might E Mail it the club on jveale@cablesurf.com and it will be forwarded to Dermot.

ALL ROUNDER SPORTS WINTER LEAGUE.

IT’S BACK TO BUISNESS.

The first round of the Winter League for 2008 began last week. There was a slightly different format from other nights. The runners were sent off in two different groups. The 3 milers were sent off at 0.00 and 10.00 and the 6 milers were sent off at 1.00 and 11.00. For tonight, we will be back to the usual handicap times. With 7 nights remaining in the league, we will have another “Colligan Cup” system whereby you must predict your time. There will be more on this at another stage. Also, the format for the divisions have now changed. Since the beginning of the league, it was customary that after Christmas, the runners were put in to groups of ten and you remained in that division, regardless of how many points you accumulated. This year, in an effort to spice things up, runners are put in to divisions of five.
There is also movement between divisions. What this means is that you may be at the top of a division e.g. division 5. A great run by you might move you up in to division 4. After a few weeks you may move back down to division 5 again or continue to move up to division 3. It not only depends on how you run but it also very much depends on the performance of all those in the same division as you and also those in the divisions above and below you. Exciting times ahead!! This applies for both routes.

PADRAIG BATTLES THE WIND TO RECEIVE MINIMUM POINTS

On a night in which the wind was a major factor, Pádraig Healy had a great run indeed and was the first man home for round 8 of the league. In fact, there were many great performances on the night, the Christmas festivities were a thing of the past and all were intent on improving their time each week. Seán Stilwell was only four seconds behind Pádraig, recording 35.38. Áine Kelly will be well pleased with her time, getting very close to 54 minutes, clocking 54.16 exactly. Andrea Gaffney was well under 53 minutes for the route, finishing with a time of 52.47. Patrick Lannen had a fine run and was unlucky not to dip under 47 minutes, clocking 47.05. Without the wind, he would have been well and truly below 47 minutes. The ever-improving Alan Hickey will be thrilled with his time of 38.50 and no doubt will have a sub 38 minute run as his goal before the league concludes. Carol Whelan had plenty to spare in her bid to run under 49 minutes, finishing with 48.44. Camille Mulhearne and Tracy Dwyer had a great run and encouraged each other all the way and both recorded 47.29 each. Great running girls. Pat Moore is well on the way to running sub 56 this week, having recorded 56.05 last week. Well done to all and we hope to see you all and many more tonight for round 9.

FIONA AND TOM LEAD THE THREE MILERS HOME.

The three milers were all business for the first round of the league after Christmas and well done to Fiona Sinnott and to Tom Lonergan, a great run by both saw them leading the pack home in a time of 23.25 each. Colette Bannon also produced a great run and recorded 24.34 for her efforts. Cora Cummins obviously didn’t let the training regime slip over the holidays and clocked 23.39 for the route. George Tutty had a fine run and was unlucky not to record a sub 18 minute run, finishing with 18.03 in the end. Another two athletes on the verge of breaking 18 minutes were Geoff Bullen and Mark Cliffe, both of them finishing with 18.01. They will surely be well under 18 minutes tonight. Fiona Crossan must certainly be delighted with her time of 25.05 and will be well under 25 minutes tonight. Joan Navin is making great strides at the 3-mile route and for round 8 recorded 20.28, a few weeks will see Joan breaking twenty minutes at her ease.

SEVEN WEEKS REMAIN IN WINTER LEAGUE.

Although there are only seven nights remaining in the league, it’s not too late to join. In fact, we expect to see many more new faces over the next few weeks. It’s a fantastic way to help you stick to those New Year’s resolutions regarding exercise and fitness. Registration begins each Wednesday night from 6.45p.m. Onwards and the entry fee each night is €2 for members and €3 for non-members. So come along and give it a go.

MUNSTER AWARDS BANQUET IN DUNGARVAN.

The Annual Munster Star awards are being held in Lawlors Hotel on Saturday February 9th next. Tickets available from the county board.

ANNOUNCING THE MICHAEL ROCHE CARPETS SPRING SERIES.

The 16th Annual Michael Roche Carpets spring series swings into action with the Kiely Monumental Colligan Cup Sunday January 27th at 2 pm. This series has something to suit runners of every standard. As in previous years, the series will cater for regular runners and beginners with prizes on offer for all levels of competitors. The series entries will open at the Colligan Cup on Sunday and close at the Dunphy Vivas Health Dungarvan 10 mile road race on Sunday February 3rd. Entry to this year’s series is set at €5. Once again West Waterford Athletic Club thanks Michael and Bridget for their continued support to the club by sponsoring this series now in its 16th year. As always we urge or members to support all our sponsors when appropriate.

RACE 1. -20th Annual Kiely Monumental Colligan Cup Handicap race January 27th 2PM.
RACE 2. –17th Annual Dunphy Vivas Health Dungarvan 10 Sunday February 3rd at 1pm.
RACE 3. –4th Annual Bausch and Lomb Kilmacthomas 5 Sunday 24th February at 11 AM.
RACE 4. -26th Annual Eason Dungarvan 10 k Sunday March 02nd  at 2pm.

Divisions will be set up and prizes will be awarded at the final race on March 02nd . Please note your best three races count from the four in the series.

RUNNING QUOTE.

Second place is not a defeat. It is a stimulation to get better. It makes you even more determined. Paul Hansbury.

JAMIE COSTIN CLAIMS HIS 3RD PARK HOTEL AWARD.

Congratulations to club race walker Jamie Costin who it was announced last weekend won the Park Hotel sports star of the month for December. This was the third occasion that Jamie has won this monthly award. The Ring athlete took the Irish national 30k race walking championship gold during the month in the Phoenix Park and is currently on a very heavy training programme with the upcoming Olympics in Beijing in August utmost on his mind, as he has qualified for the 50k race. Well-done Jamie on yet another athletics award and all the very best of luck over the coming months with your training.

ANNEVALLEY 5

The second Anne valley 5 Mile run will take place on Feb 17th next in Dunhill, Co. Waterford. This is a unique course with nice challenges! This year it is in aid of Our Ladies Children’s Hospital, Crumlin.Registration will be from 10.30 at Harneys Pub. The race will start at 1 o’clock. Lots of category prizes and cash prizes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd male and female.

PAT AT 40.

Congratulations to club member Pat Earley on reaching the ripe old age of 40 over the Christmas period. Now that your have reached the masters categories the real running begins Pat.

THANKS FOR YOUR HELP.

Liam Kavanagh organiser of the Wren day which was held in conjunction with the charity run at Dungarvan G.A.A.club St.Stephens day wishes to thank Seamus Connolly for all his help with the music on the day and to Ann Moroney for all her help with the collection also. The total collected this year was 2.800 Euro.

WEST WATERFORD AC AT THE BALDY MAN.

The Annual Baldy Man run across Tramore beach took place on December 30th last and there were a number of West Waterford athletes among the prizewinners. In the Juvenile 2 mile run Kate Veale recorded her third win in this particular race in a row, Defending champion Raivis Zakis was to settle for second behind Raheny’s Mick Clohessey.Mick wining time was anew course record of 29.42 with Raivis finishing in 31.08.Mark Shalloe finished well up the field of 203 runners when coming in 6th overall with a time of 35.32.Mark took the second Junior prize here, P.J.Guinan was next in 13th place 36.22,We had three club members finishing together after P.J.Jim Fleming 23rd 37.33 followed by Diane Behan 24th 37.46 Diane was second Senior Lady. Junior Joe Conway was next 25th place with a time of 37.54.John Heffernan finished in 46th place 40.30 and another of the clubs Juniors Brian Hallissey was next 49th in 40.46 .Joe accompanied Eibhlis Ní hAodha around the course, Eibhlis in 50th place recorded time of 40.47.Michael McCarthy was our next finisher in 96th place 45.46 with Terri Gough 167th with a time of 52.50.well done to all.

SYMPATHY.

West Waterford Athletic Club extends sincere sympathy to the family of Mrs Kathleen Casey. Old Road.Kilmacthomas who passed away last week. May she rest in peace.

WEST WATERFORD TEAMS FOR MUNSTER SENIOR AND JUNIOR CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS.

The following are the club teams for the Munster Senior and Junior cross country championships which are being held next Sunday January 13th in The Turnpike, near Cashel.Co.Tipperary.Transport will leave the Park Hotel at 10.30 AM sharp.

SENIOR MEN.Raivis Zakis, Sandis Bralitis, James Ledingham, Kevin Kenneally, Padraig Healy, Declan McGrath, Sean Stilwell, Trevor Mason, Johnny O’Connor.

SENIOR WOMEN.Corinna Walsh, Diane Behan, Norma Wall, Brenda Hunt, Eibhlis Ni hAodha, Ann Dunford, Anne Whelan, Triona Wall, Brigid Coffey, Judy Hanrahan.

JUNIOR MEN. Rory Moloney, Mark Shalloe, Brian Hallissey, Joe Conway, Darragh O’Riordan, Lughaidh O’Mahoney.

JUNIOR WOMEN.Elma Nugent, Jenny Hurley, Edel Roche, Rebecca Maher, Claire Collins, Kate Kenneady, Stacey Lyons.

MOUNT SION 5.

The Annual Mount Sion 5 mile road race is on Sunday next 13th January with a 12 noon starting time. Entries from 10.30 are at the Mount Sion G.A.A.centre.showers teas and sandwiches after race. Entry fee is 8-euro Senior and 4 Euro for juniors. All proceeds from the race will be donated to The Waterford Alzheimer’s Society. Prizes 1st 3 Men and Women.1st Junior man and Woman.1st Man over 40 and 45 and 1st Woman over 35 and 40.

Upcoming Events