SUCCESSFUL MINNIES SUMMER RUNNING LEAGUE CONCLUDES.
The ever popular Minnie’s Running League came to a very successful conclusion last Tuesday night in the grounds of the Friary College. After nine consecutive weeks, we witnessed many personal goals being achieved, we saw some record personal bests with their times, we watched as many who were completely new to the running scene persevere with the task and to come out trumps as they managed to run a lap or two without stopping. This is what the Minnie’s League was all about, encouraging and motivating people to come along and to give it a go and we can honestly say that among all those who did so, everyone was glad that they did and we have no doubt that they will be back for more. The league was by no means a race of a competitive nature, but an opportunity to promote fitness and well-being in an organised fashion and the newcomer was as welcome to the league as the seasoned runner. The club would like to take this opportunity to thank all those that took part each night of the league and your participation greatly added to the success of the league. On Friday night the prize-giving for the winners of the various divisions in the league was held in Minnie’s Bar and a great night was had by all. We were all well looked after by the O’Brien family whose usual excellence in hospitality and good food was ever present.
Paddy O’ Brien presented the various winners with their prizes and a great night was had by all. Thanks to all who turned up on the night and we hope to see you and plenty more for the next league in the club’s very busy calendar, the TQS League, currently being held in the Friary College on Tuesday nights at 7 p. m. See you all out there.
The following are the various winners in the Minnie’s League.
ONEL LAP.
Diane Chizhikovc won on nine points with Wexford woman Ann Wall claiming second spot with eighteen points.
TWO LAPS.
Yevgeniy Chizhikovc managed to hold on to the top spot here on 6 points with Joe Barry in second place with ten points.
In Division 2 Pearse Moloney had a tough battle on his hands and managed to hold off the late challenge of Noel Mckenna who was only 2 points behind Pearse’s 48 points.
Division 3 saw Deirdre Cunningham claim the honours with 87 points and not too far behind was Michelle Mullaney on 96 points.
Niamh Budds had a comfortable win in division 4, she must definitely be training with hubby Liam!
THREE LAPS.
Johnny O’ Connor was always in contention for the top spot in the three lap league with Pat Early in second place.
In division two Martina Ryan had a fantastic final night performance and became leader of division 2 for her efforts.
FOUR LAPS.
Raivis Zakis, for the second year running won the four lap league and is looking forward to the treble already. Sean Stilwell was in second place, a mere two points behind Raivis.
Pat O’ Riordan won division 2 on 39 points with Liam Budds only trailing by 4 points.
In division three, 68 points was enough for Corinna to take the top spot ahead of Sinead Crotty with 74 points.
Division 4 couldn’t have been closer with both Earl Navin and Richie Kelly ending up with equal scores, 91 points each. With a faster finishing time, Earl claimed first place with Richie in second place.
In Division 5, Ray Burke had a great win to finish with 118 points. Paddy Power had a great run on the final night and it paid off by leaving him 4 points to spare ahead of Jason Dee in division 6. Sean Dwyer is one whose training is really paying dividends and was a very deserving winner of division 7 on 190 points with Triona Wall on197 points. Retirement must definitely be suiting Paschal Proctor as he was winner of Division 8 on score of 222.
THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS
We would like to sincerely thank the O’Brien family of Minnie’s Bar, Abbeyside, for their generous sponsorship of the league. It is due to their support that the club is in a position to hold such successful leagues on an annual basis.We must also thank event organiser in chief Tony Ryan for all his work in organising yet another successful club event, Thanks to all who helped with timing and putting out course markers etc, Finally much thanks to Norma Wall and Ann Dunford who put many hours into looking after tables and notes each week of the league.
Well done to all those that took part in the Minnie’s League and we invite you all to come along to the Friary again on Tuesday nights for the very enjoyable TQS League which will be held every Tuesday night for the duration of the Summer.
T Q S LEAGUE.
The ever popular TQS League will be held every Tuesday night for the duration of the Summer. It is a running league, unique in the fact that the winner is not the fastest runner but the person that runs the closest to their predicted time. If you have run the Minnie’s League then this is the perfect opportunity to keep up your level of fitness. If you have never run before then this is the league for you. There is no time limit whatsoever in this league and like all our leagues everyone is quite welcome to walk some or part of the lap and run whatever they can. Your goal then would be to increase the distance you run by a few metres or so and before you know it you will be running a lap at your ease. It really is that simple. Bring along a friend or two for support if you like. The clock will begin at 7 p.m. and works in reverse. If you think that you will run one lap in 15 minutes, then when the clock reaches 15 minutes you will then begin your run. You need not worry about all those running around you, everyone’s goal is to reach the clock at 0.00 and not before it. There may be one or two ahead of you but there is every chance that they will reach the finishing line before the clock reaches 0.00 and they will have run too fast which is not the aim of the league. There is a choice of one, two, three or four laps on offer and you may run whatever takes your fancy. Each lap is 1.2 miles long, so if you’re a newcomer the advice would be to run one lap and you can always increase the number of laps you do as time goes on. This league is very enjoyable and with the past few years it seems to be the newcomers that prove more accurate at predicting their time than the regular runners so you’d never know, next Tuesday at the Friary it could be you, you know till you give it a go! Entry fee is just €2 each night and you don’t have to run every night, just do what you can. See you all out there. Registrations will be taken at the van from 6.30 p.m. onwards and water will be available at the finish for all runners.
14th ANNUAL DUNGARVAN LEADER DROMANA 5 THIS FRIDAY.
FOR THE MICHAEL C. NAGLE MEMORIAL TROPHY
The 14th Annual Dromana 5 road race takes place this Friday the 6th July at 8 p.m.starting in Villiarstown and finishing in Cappoquin, the club are delighted that again this year the Dungarvan Leader, will be our race sponsor and we are very thankful to Colum, Linda, and all at Dungarvan Leader for their ongoing support. An added attraction to this year’s race is that it will be one of the very first events on the very ambitious and varied programme of the Cappoquin Cornerstone Carnival 2007 and we are delighted to be part of this weekend of fun and games for all in the locality. Please note this is the last opportunity to enter this years Ger Wyley Sports /Nike summer series as entries close at this race.
There will be a large array of prizes on offer for the race with the 1st 10 men, 1st 3 men’s teams of 4, 1st 5 ladies and 1st ladies team of 4,A 100 Euro bonus will be awarded to the first Man to break the course record of 23.49 and another 100 Euro will be awarded to the first Lady to break the Ladies record of 29.08.The usual spot prizes will also be given out at the presentation to the winners which this year will again be held at the central bar Cappoquin by kind permission of Danny and Nora Flynn,also shower facilities will be available for all here. Our race directors for this event Trevor Mason and family along with the McConnell Clan have everything in place for what will be another great night’s sport and fun. Please note a bus will depart from the Cappoquin G.A.A. club grounds at 7.00 sharp on Friday evening to the start line in Villiarstown for any one who might like to leave their car at the finish in Cappoquin.
SHANAGARRY 5 MILE ROAD RACE.
BRALITIS CLOCKS UP ANOTHER WIN AS BUDDS BREAKS THE 30.
The second of the four races in the Ballycotton summer series the Shanagarry 5 took place last Thursday evening with a record turn out of 279 athletes. Not the flattest of the four races, non the less Shanagarry always has a special attraction to it and always brings out one of the largest fields each year in this series and as mentioned above last Thursday a record turn out of athletes participated in the race. It was a memorable night for some of our Club members with Sandis Bralitis recording another victory with a time of 25.48 from St.Finbarr’s Cathal O’Connell. Also in the winner’s enclosure were our Senior Men’s team who recorded an excellent team win over many of our Cork cousins, the team consisted of Liam Budds, Joe Kelly and Ray Dwyer. Liam Budds had a stormer with a time of 29.59 dipping under the 30 minute mark,”a second is a second” Liam is running in creditably well all of this year and breaking the 30 minute’s on this course as he also did in the Clashmore 5 recently is rewarding for the big effort he is giving to the sport presently. Joe Kelly had a very good run too and was also under the 30 with 29.11 very consistent running from the Abbeyside pharmacist, Ray Dwyer another knocking on the 30 minute door, (Its only a matter of time) He will defiantly be a sub 30 minute man over the coming two or three races in the Ger Wyley /Nike series, keep an eye out for his times, I’m never wrong. Joe Gough took the over 50 prizes with a flying 31.11,gret running as usual from Joe and he was just four seconds ahead of team mate Michael Dwyer who is on a short break from the states. Then we had four athletes breaking the 35-minute mark with Paul Brunnock 34.36 and plenty more in the bag, me thinks his holding out for “Rathgormack”. Our Ladies set out their stall before the off with Anne Dunford deciding to having a real go at breaking the 35 minute mark and this she duly did with a time of 34.57 along with Norma Wall 34.56 and Pat Dunford also helped along the way with the pacing 34.58.James Veale is out of retirement once again and he made yet another come back and was clocked at 35.51 with John Fennell next 37.50 Michael Mc Carthy ran a good 38.13 and the other Michael, Hennessey 38.52.Ballycotton series would hardly go ahead without Ray Curran who rarely misses any of the races there, and he finished with a time of 39.08.Inese Melne will be happy with her time of 42.51 while Dana Larsa who was attempting the 5 miler for the first time finished in 46.51.Well done to all.
West Waterford finishers at Shanagarry 5 mile road race.
Pace
Place Time Name Team Race Age Category min/mile
1 0:25:48 BRALITIS, Sandis West Waterford AC M 05:09.5
2 0:29:11 KELLY, Joe West Waterford AC M 05:50.1
3 0:29:59 BUDDS, Liam West Waterford AC M 05:59.7
4 0:30:45 DWYER, Ray West Waterford AC M40 06:08.9
5 0:31:07 DWYER, Michael West Waterford AC M 06:13.3
6 0:31:11 GOUGH, Joe West Waterford AC M50 06:14.1
7 0:34:36 BRUNNOCK, Paul West Waterford AC M 06:55.1
8 0:34:56 WALL, Norma West Waterford AC F 06:59.1
9 0:34:57 DUNFORD, Ann West Waterford AC F40 06:59.3
10 0:34:58 DUNFORD, Patrick West Waterford AC M40 06:59.5
11 0:35:51 VEALE, James West Waterford AC M45 07:10.0
12 0:37:50 FENNELL, John West Waterford AC M 07:33.8
13 0:38:13 MCCARTHY, Michael West Waterford AC M45 07:38.4
14 0:38:52 HENNESSY, Michael West Waterford AC M55 07:46.2
15 0:39:08 CURRAN, Raymond West Waterford AC M40 07:49.4
16 0:42:54 MELNE, Inese West Waterford AC F 08:34.6
17 0:46:51 LARSA, Dana West Waterford AC F 09:22:0
GER WYLEY/NIKE SUMMER SERIES RACE NUMBER 8.
GLAXOSMITHKLINE 5.
Preparations are at an advanced stage for the 8th Annual GSK 5 mile road race on Friday week July 13th. This is race number 8 in the Ger Wyley sports/Nike summer series.
The race kicks off at 7.30 pm for walkers and 8.00pm for runners. Changing facilities and race entry will be at Dungarvan Crystal Sports Centre from 6.30pm with entry fee on the night €8.00.First 300 entries will receive a GSK goody bag and T-Shirt. Prizes this year include:
· First man/lady to break course records receive a cash bonus of 100 Euro.
· Winners in all the usual categories
· First 5 GSK male & female runners
· Spot prizes including spots for those taking part in the walk.
The presentation of prizes will take place in Dungarvan Soccer Club after the race where refreshments will also be served.
All monies form this race will go to a charity to be announced in next week’s notes.
SYMPATHY.
West Waterford Athletic Club extends sincere sympathy to the family of Mrs Stella Dee Kilmacthomas. Who passed away last week. May she rest in peace.
RUNNING QUOTE.
Running is the greatest metaphor for life because you get out of it what you put into it. Liam Budds.
ROWERS HOME SAVE AND SOUND.
Congratulations to local runners Derek Lyons Brian Fahy and Tony O’Mahony on their epic voyage which ended last Monday.The three boys took on the challenge of rowing around Ireland by Kayak and after a marathon 5 weeks completed their journey last weekend when they proudly rowed into the Quay in Dungarvan to be greeted by family and friends.Well done to all three on completing the Marathon of all Marathon’s.
CLUB TRACK AND FIELD NEWS.
WEST WATERFORD GET FLYING START TO E.S.B. NATIONAL LEAGUES.
The first round of this years E.S.B.National league took place last Sunday in the R.S.C.Waterford and Senior club Track and Field co-ordinator Tony Ryan had possibly the strongest West Waterford AC team ever to compete at the national leagues with both a full strength Men’s and Ladies team’s competing. In Navan on the same day the clubs from up the country were competing also with the best eight from the two venues going through to the finals. With the second round of this league down for decision on July 29th next in Cork and the fact that the points attained last Sunday will carry over to round two, the club are in a good position in both the Ladies and Men’s categories, both teams are competing in the 1st division.Many of our younger athletes were competing at this level of Senior competition for the very first time they mixed in well with the older Senior members of the squad and all bar none acquitted themselves admirably The club fielded athlete’s in all events in both the Men’s and Ladies and much credit must go to Tony Ryan,Michael Tutty and Br Patrick Lennon who got the team together for the leagues and were great support to the team on the day,thanks to Emer Scanlon also who was our tally Woman checking up our scores on the day in Waterford .Our Men’s are in pole position after the round in the R.S.C. with an excellent 12 wins on the day and 3 seconds.A total of your best 15 event’s count this leaves us on 129 points with the second placed club St Abbans on 115 points,there were wins for Padraig Healy 3.000 walk in 17.7,Dzintars Klava 1.500 Meters 4.15.1,Alan O’Brien 400 Meters in a time of 52.3,Sandis Bralitis 5.000 Meters 14.50.7 ( The race of the day),James Ledingham 800 Meters,Raivis Zakis 3.000 Meters Steeplechase in 9.37.6,Donnie Rockett Hammer 49.46 and 56 lb distance 5.25,Liam Houlihan Pole Vault 4.40,Frank O’Brien Discus 35.68,Stephen Dunne Javelin 46.03 and our 4×400 relay team Joe Gough,Sean Stilwell,James Ledingham and Alan O’Brien recorded a terrific win with an impressive 3.42.9.We had second placings from Liam Houlihan 100 Meters Hurdles 17.8 and High Jump 1.80,and Michael Morrissey in the Shot 11.23,also, picking up points were J.J.Devine 100 Meters,Sean Stilwell 400 Meters Hurdles and our 4×100 team recorded a time of 49.8 and consisted of Liam Houlihan,J.J.Devine,Sean Stilwell and Joe Gough,and finally Alan O’Brien in the 200 Meters.All in all a terrific performance from our Men’s squad and we are eagerly looking forward to the next round in Cork,where the points from Sunday are carried over.
Our Ladies also put up a great display and are in with a real chance of qualifying for the finals,at this stage last year after round we were in 6th place,this year after round one we are in the top four with a better points tally,Of course we are awaiting the results from Navan here also.Clare O’Sullivan got the day off to the ideal start with a win in the Pole Vault with a vault of 2.40,there were very good seconds from Sineád Crotty 3.000 Meters with a time of 10.40.5. and an impressive display by Triona Wall who finished 2nd in the 1.500 Meters walk,Third placings were recorded by Sandra Brazil-White 100 Meters with a time of 13.4,Emma Dunne 100 Meter Hurdles with a time of 20.4.,Norma Wall 1.500 Meters in a time of 5.35. Corinna Walsh 800 Meters,also competing and picking up valuable points on the day were Ellie Walsh 400 Hurdles,our 4×100 team of Claire O’Sullivan,Sandra Brazil-White,Emma Dunne and Emer Scanlon,Maggie Walsh 400 Meters,Susie Lonregan Discus 19.08 and Ellie Walsh Triple Jump 9.88 to take third,and Again Emma Dunne in the Javelin and High Jump competed well.Our Ladies 4×400 team were Ann Dunford,Corinna Walsh,Emma Dunne and Ann Dunford also acquitted themselves well.
ATHLETE WHO PARTICAPTED IN WATERFORD WERE
J.J.Devine,Sandis Bralitis,Alan O’Brien,Seán Stilwell,Liam Houlihan,Padraig Healy,Joe Gough,Donnie Rockett,Stephen Dunne,Frank O’Brien,Michael Morrissey,James Leddingham, Dzintars Klava, Raivis Zakis,Emma Dunne,Ellie Walsh,Maggie Walsh,Sandra Brazil-White,Sineád Crotty,Susie Lonregan,Corinna Walsh,Ann Dunford, Emer Scanlon,Clare O’Sullivan, Norma Wall, Triona Wall, Hope I got everyone?
MENS RESULTS AFTER ROUND ONE.
1ST West Waterford 129 points
2nd St.Abbans 115 points
4th Kilkenny City Harriers 64 points
5th Athletics Wexford 63 points.
6th Riocht 45 points.
WOMENS RESULTS AFTER DAY ONE.
1st Tullamore 130 points
2nd Raheny Shamrocks 95 points
3rd St.Abbans 90 points
4th West Waterford 83 points
5th Kilkenny City Harriers 77 points
6th Limerick 63 points.
MARK SHALLOE COMPETES IN 56TH CORK CITY SPORTS.
The 56th Cork City Sports at UCC Sports Grounds The Mardyke just about had everything, with excitement, drama and world class competition from the start to the very finish.From the clubs view it was great to see the club vest on the shoulders of Mark Shalloe who took part in the Junior Mens 1.500 Meters.Mark ran well despite the strong wind and will learn from the experience of competing in such an event.
There were some very happy athletes heading home from the Mardyke and a few that would have wished for a different result.Local heroine Derval O’Rourke could only finish third in the 100m hurdles, stating afterwards that she hadn’t even settled in her blocks before the gun went. Sarah Claxton from England, her arch rival over the years in Cork, won a dramatic sprint in 13.04, with Toyin Augustus from Nigeria second in 13.05 and the Leevale woman third in 13.13.Things were worse for European indoor 400m champion David Gillick. All the athletes were under a warning after a false start, but disaster struck for Gillick when he false started. He knew immediately that he was a fault, slapping the track with the palms of both hands and the usual utterance that goes with knowing the penalty. He was out, but put a brave face on things afterwards. This was, he said, the first time he ever false started a race in his entire career, and he was disappointed that it should happen in his only 400m race in Ireland this season.Paul Hession was one of the happy group who left the Mardyke. Running just the 200m he was always ahead and crossed the line in 20.44,The only down side of the meet was the turn out of spectators which was disapointing to say the least,of course the weather didn’t help here.But one wonders if the organisers went back to the evening meet when the atmosphere was magic in the Mardyke would it rekindle the huge crowds of that aera.
DAVID MC CARTHY RECORDS NEW PERSONAL BEST TIME IN WATFORD.
West Waterford’s David McCarthy was in Watford .England last Saturday evening for the British Milers Club meet.Racing the 1.500 meters David finished 2nd with a new personal best time of 3.47.27 and was beaten by just 200 of a second by English athlete Ricky Stevenson 3.47.25.This is yet another move in the right diraection for the Ballinamult youngester who heads of this weekened to take part in another big meet in Belgium again in the 1.500 meters.David is then two weeks later running the European Juniors in Hengelo,before taking up his post for the next four years in Providence College where he will be heading on an athletics scolarship.
