Munster Masters Cross Country Championships – Ladies Win Individual And Team Medals

The club also had one Juvenile who made the trip to Clare and indeed he made it a worthwhile trip. Kieran Lane put in a terrific run to take the Bronze medal in the boys under 19 race. Kieran finished 13th in the equivalent race last year so well done to him on this marked improvement.

In the Men's race our over 35 team finished 4 th behind East Cork, 27 points, Kilmurray/Ibickane 58, Dundrum 3rd on 100 points and ourselves 105 points. The club team here were Jim Fleming, Vincent Tutty, Michael Tutty, Conor Murray, Garry McCormack and Johnny O'Connor. In the men's over 50 we also finished outside the medals in 4 th position with Coolquill winning on 100 points from Eagle AC 115 with St.Finbarrs 3rd with 117 points. Our points total was 152 .The team consisted of Joe Gough, Michael Deegan, Paddy Power, Richie Power, Colin Lyons.
Well done to all the Men who traveled to wear the club vest at the championships.

The club did see much success in the Ladies race when all those who traveled came home with Munster medals. In the over 35 race, our team of Ann Dunford, Anne Whelan and Brid Veale won team Silver behind winners Ennis Track who finished on 43 points against our 50 with Kilmurray/Ibrikane 3 rd on 60 points. The two Ann's and Brid also took county silver here for Waterford.
Turning to the over 45 Ladies, the club also took a good silver behind St. Finbars AC. The team of Terri Gough, Helene Hayes and Jacinta Shiel were the scoring members. The same three also won silver county for Waterford. To round off another good day for the club Helene Hayes took an individual bronze over 50 while Terri Gough who the previous day captured three gold medals at the Munster Indoor championships won yet another Munster gold medal in the over 60 category. Congratulations to all and to cross Country coordinator Tony Ryan for all his work in ensuring the club fielded teams in all categories of the championships.

All roads lead to Colligan Wood this Sunday January 28th by kind permission of Coillte, for the 19th Annual Kiely Monumental Colligan Cup with races for Adults and Juveniles. The five-mile adult run will start at 2 pm and it will be preceded by the Juvenile event over a distance of 2 km at 1 pm.

The Colligan cup this year is the first race of the four race Michael Roche Carpets Spring Series. Please note you can enter this series when registering for the Colligan cup on Sunday with the entry fee set at 5 Euro. There are three more races to follow in the series the Glaxosmithkline 10 on Sunday February 4 th at 2.PM. The Bausch and Lomb Kilmacthomas 5 on Sunday February 25th and the Eason's Dungarvan 10k on Sunday March 11th. We urge all going to Colligan on Sunday to please allow plenty of time as parking will be restricted on the road to one side. Please do not park where your car might obstruct the flow of traffic or interfere with the runners.

This is a great family event with something for everyone. The Colligan cup itself will be awarded to the winner of the Senior race, while the Shield will be awarded to the first Lady finisher. Likewise the Juvenile Shield will be presented to the Juvenile winner.

The beauty of this race is that anyone of the participating runners could win. You don't have to be the fastest runner in the whole world and this is what makes the event so unique. Why not give it a go, you could go down in the Annals of local athletics history with the select few who have already won the cup and have your name inscribed on that beautiful piece of granite kindly erected in the wood some years ago by our sponsor David Kiely of Kiely Monumental works.

Remember the Junior race organized by the club's Juvenile section over one lap of the Colligan circuit gets under way at 1pm Sharp and this too is a guess your time handicap event. All are welcome to participate.

The race system, which was devised by Victor Mullins some years ago, is quite simple to understand. Those who are running our Winter League will by now be familiar with the system as we have used it recently at the league.

The run begins when the clock starts with the time of the slowest predicted runner, say 55 minutes. As the clock counts backwards down to zero every runner begins when his or her predicted time shows up on the clock. The runner with the fastest predicted time will be the last runner to start the race. The winner of the Colligan Cup is the runner who is the next person to cross the finish line after the clock reaches zero-it is that simple. All you have to do is get your prediction right. Remember, no watches allowed.

The presentation of prizes will take place in Quills the Pike after the event with the Juvenile prizes being presented at the wood.

1993 Alan Moore.
1994 Darren Harty.
1995 Ronan Dennehy.
1996 Rosemarie Curran.
1997 Dervla O' Connor.
1998 Rosemarie Curran.
1999 Brian Kelleher.
2000 David Buckley.
2001 Natasha Behan.
2002 Mary Ryan.
2003 Lorraine McCarthy.

2004 Sarah Flavin.
2005 Michelle Norris.
2006 Lughaid 0'Mahony

The Colligan Cup has been sponsored by David Kiely Monumental Works since 1993 and West Waterford Athletic Club is very grateful to the Kiely family for their continued support of this great unique event.

Our thanks also to Ger Wyley who has sponsored a pair of running shoes every year to be raffled among all the participants in the adult race. Ger very kindly has sponsored these running shoes from day one and we are also very grateful to him for this and for his continued support of our club.

The entry fee to Sunday's adult race is €7 or €12 if you are also entering for the Michael Roche Carpets spring series.

Time is "running" out for those interested in pre registering for the up coming Glaxosmithkline 10 mile road race on Sunday week next February 4 th at 2 PM.Entry forms can be had from Ger Wyley Sports or you can enter at the All Rounder Winter league tonight or you can download the entry form from our club web site www.westwaterfordathletics.org. It’s 10 Euro to pre register and 15 Euro to enter if you leave it until the day of the race. All postal entries can be sent to Denise Regan, Ballinamuck, Dungarvan Co. Waterford. It would be of enormous help on the day of the race if the organisers had all the local participants entered. Your help in this matter would be much appreciated.

The race as well as being the first race in the Michael Roche carpets spring series is also race number two in the John Buckley Sports sponsored Munster 10 mile classic series. All finishers of the Glaxosmithkline 10 will receive the now famous West Waterford AC goody bag and shower facilities will be available at the Crystal sports centre where entries will also be taken. Presentation of prizes will take place at the Dungarvan Soccer Club by kind permission, where teas and sandwiches will be provided.

The course used for this race taking in the Canal circuit is regarded as one of the fastest 10-mile courses in the country. If it's your first attempt at a 10 miler or if personal bests are your goal this race is the one for you, over a fast course at the classic 10-mile distance. The event organisers are delighted to announce that Glaxosmithkline have come on board to led their financial support for the event and we thank them for doing so, with this in mind we must not let the opportunity go without thanking Waterford Crystal who for 15 years sponsored this race up until the untimely closure of the factory in Dungarvan. Nonetheless their support was welcome over those years.

This year's race will see substantial cash prizes for the top runners with the first Lady and Man getting 250 Euro each and second in both codes receiving 100 Euro with third getting 50 each. There is a huge array of prizes on offer in all categories and of course as I already said the famous goodie bag will be given to all participants.

The upcoming Waterford Crystal 10 is the clubs top-billing event and has grown into an event of huge proportions with well over 400 runners expected on Sunday week February 4th. If you are not taking part in this race the club could do with your help on the day, we all get much enjoyment from the 55+ organised club events each year and we are not called upon too often to give a little back.

We appeal to anyone not participating on this day if they could come along for a couple of hours it would be much appreciated by the club. We will also be looking for people to make a few sandwiches if anyone could help with this matter it would also be much appreciated another huge undertaking for this event is stewarding the course for the race if your available for this Tony Ryan is the man to contact, again a.s.a.p.

The club's eagerly awaited social is being held on Friday March 30th at the Park Hotel Dungarvan with music by "Never Heard of them". The ticket price is 30 euro per ticket and they will go on sale at the All-rounder winter league tonight and for the next three Wednesday nights.

Ann Dunford is handling the ticket sales and you can also purchase them from her. Tickets will be sold on a first come first served bases, so don't leave it too late for the club's social event of the year.

Yes the plot is certainly thickening at the All Rounder Sport winter league with just four nights remaining after tonight. An interesting pattern is starting to emerge as those vying for divisional wins and indeed overall success as champion for this years league is staring to take shape ,The time has come now for those runners to show there hand as the next few weeks wind down. However all that said it is still quite difficult to pick the winners. The Weather last week was as has been the trend this year, pretty bad with a nasty wind out on the course greeting the runners, however the rain did just about hold off for the duration of the league which I suppose was something, Tonight Wednesday with the Colligan cup on next Sunday in mind, we return to the popular guess you time handicap run where everyone has a chance of finishing first. This event has had a bearing other years on the overall winner of the various tables in the league and this year it could again very well determine the winner or winners of some of the divisions as runners can get it very right or on the other hand some could get it very wrong also. Please note the clock starts at 7.15 sharp so please come along that little bit earlier.

For those who don't know how the handicap guess your time system works here's what happens. This system has been used for the Colligan Cup race for many years and will again be used on next Sunday 28 th for this year race, the same system we will use tonight for the winter league and it is quite simple to understand. The run begins when the clock starts with the time of the slowest predicted runner, say 55 minutes. As the clock counts backwards down to zero every runner begins when his or her predicted time for the distance shows up on the clock. The runner with the fastest predicted time will be the last runner to start the race. The winner is the runner who is the next person to cross the finish line after the clock reaches zero- it's that simple. Now all you have to do is get your prediction right. Remember strictly no watches allowed for this one.

Normally when West Waterford A.C. travel away to competitions we usually err on the side of quantity.however, last saturday the club reversed that policy decision and decided to go with quality! This we did with outstanding success .The venue was the Master Indoor Championships of Ireland in Nenagh where we had 3 athletes competing.

First out of her blocks was the great Terrie Gough who dominated the 0.60 category by winning the 400 meters dash . Terrie who lives in Rathgormack with her marathon husband James works as a theatre nurse in the Waterford Regional Hospital then went on to win gold in the 3,000 meters.Not content to be satisfied with two national titles Terrie , who origionally hails from Callan,Co. Kilkenny,demonstrated her strength,stamina and tactical skill by beating the best in Ireland, in her age group,by capturing her third title in the 800 meters .A great day for her was further under lined by a fourth medal , a silver , in the 200 meters. What a glowing day for our golden Terrie.

We are fast learning the talent that Sandra Brazil-White has. We know she is a sprinter of quality, who takes her sport seriously, trains under the tutelage of Dick Murphy of Waterford and is destined for international success in Master Athletics. This view was further highlighted when she won for the first time the 0.35 60 meters dash in Nenagh beating those who had defeated her last year. Showing a never say die attitude and demonstrating a self believe which all sprinters need to possess in order to reach the tape first . Sandra did it with style and panache.

Her confidence at a high Sandra prepared for the start of her the race -the 200 meters . Lined up along side her were athletes from all over Ireland representing clubs from Trim , Dublin, Bandon, Blackrock and elsewhere, but they didn’t have what it takes to stop our Sandra win her 2nd gold medal and the clubs 5th of the day when she stormed to a sensational victory culminating in a great day for her and her club.

Before the curtain was to close on these years championships it was the turn of the men over 50 to race in the 800 meters and our sole club representative in this event was the current champion and record holder Joe Gough. Having never lost a 400 meter race in his category in Nenagh Joe was not in the mood to relinquish this hard won record . Even though athletes from Ballymena, Cork .Dublin and Kilkenny chased after him he was not going to be caught and as he breasted the tape he realised the 6th gold medal was won for the club and his tally of nationals titles now stands at 41. Almost one for everyone in the audience !