THE 7th ANNUAL AHS TUNING IRELAND BALLINROAD 5K .
The clubs summer road racing programme for 2022 got off to the proverbial flyer last Friday evening with the staging of 7th annual AHS TUNING IRELAND sponsored Ballinroad 5k,First and foremost it was great to be back racing on the roads again after missing two summer seasons with Covid pandemic, the weather was good the runners and walkers were in good spirits and a great Ballinroad community night was had by all who came along.The club were delighted to be back again and to be involved in this event with proceeds going towards the local Ballinroad AFC who are always working to put improvements in place at their fine grounds which in turn will always benefit the community in the Ballinroad area for the generations to come.Both clubs put in a great amount of work pre-race for the event and this paid dividends as a field of 173 runners and a large group of walkers took part .The prize structure for the race saw prizes awarded to the top 5 men and women and then we presented lots of spots to everyone else in the race its encouraging for us to see that the athletes are supporting our efforts as we always try to give good value races which cater for all levels, a well marshalled safe course, results posted ASAP.Our sincere thanks to all who helped with the race especially our race sponsor John Coleman of AHS tuning Ireland for supporting our club event. We wish John all the best for the future as he recently moved to a new premises.To all our stewards who once again did a terrific job on the night, To Conor, Jamie and crew on traffic management duty another splendid job, to our registrars and timing personnel, finishing area team . To Liam O Donnell on van duty, David Coleman of DC Images for their brilliant snaps. Thanks to the Beresford family crooked bridge for their help with the event,To all at Ballinroad soccer club a big thanks and well done to you on your efforts, keep up the great work the club is doing for the Ballinroad community. Thanks to the parish for the use of St Laurence’s hall. Finally a special mention to those runners who were completing their first 5k Friday evening keep up the good work and we hope to see you throughout the Summer running more of the clubs summer races.
NOEL MURPHY TAKES OPENING SUMMER RACE VICTORY.
After a tight battle on the night, Noel Murphy of Waterford AC was a deserving winner last Friday evening in race 1 of the clubs summer race programme for 2022,the AHS Tuning Ireland sponsored Ballinroad 5k. Noel secured victory after a great battle with Ferrybank’s Craig O’Brien and only pulled away in the dying stages of the race crossing the finish line in a time of 16.06 with Craig clocking 16.10. Only 4 seconds separating the two, this was Noel’s 2nd time winning this race as he also took the victory in 2018.Niall Sheil Wexford was a further 10 second behind in 3rd place. Another Ferrybank athlete Warren Roche took 4th spot with a time of 16.37 with a brilliant run by Dermot Gough 17.03 to take that 5th place, Dermot quite new to the clubs running scene but we will be hearing a lot more of this man in the near future. Well done to all who ran with many super performances and pbs recorded on this fast flat course.
MENS RESULTS.
1 Noel Murphy Waterford A.C. 16:06
2 Craig O’Brien Ferrybank A.C. 16:10
3 Niall Sheil St Killians A.C. 16:20
4 Warren Roche Ferrybank A.C. 16:37
5 Dermot Gough West Waterford A.C. 17:03
LOCAL LADY KELLY FITZGERALD WINS LADIES RACE.
Only a stone’s throw from the finish line of the Ballinroad 5k on the Greenway is the Fitzgerald household and victory in the Lady’s race last Friday evening was to go to one Kelly Fitzgerald from that household just over the road. Kelly one of the clubs training group athletes under coach Irene Clark in fairness was knocking on the door this past while as this victory was imminent, a very dedicated young lady who puts in 100 percent effort in her training can be well pleased with this recent success when crossing the finish line in a time of 19.30,following Kelly taking 2nd place was another young Lady from just over the other road Ciara Burke 19.48 a great performance by Ciara breaking the 20 minute barrier, making it a one tow three for the host club Eveleen Drohan from An Rinn ran a brilliant race also holding off Siobhain Kennedy for that’s second place by 5 seconds 20.35 and 20.40 respectively for both ladies, and rounding it off for the club in 5th place was Linda Foley fresh form her recent great run at the Wexford half marathon she ran a time of in 21.00 last Friday evening.Well done to all our female competitors in Ballinroad we hope to see you throughout the summer running more of the clubs summer races.
LADIES RESULTS.
1 Kelly Fitzgerald West Waterford A.C. 19.30
2 Ciara Burke West Waterford A.C. 19.48
3 Eveleen Drohan West Waterford A.C. 20.35
4 Siobhain Kennedy Ind 20.40
5 Linda Foley West Waterford A.C. 21.00
25th ANNUAL ROUND TOWER ARDMORE 5 .
After a terrific race last Friday evening at race 1 in the clubs summer race programme the Ballinroad 5k our focus now will turn to race 2 the 25th Annual Round Tower Ardmore 5 mile.We are delighted to announce the new sponsorship for this race by local business man Aidan Quirke of Round Tower Hotel Ardmore with the race taking place on Friday evening May 27th next. Welcome to the family run Round Tower Hotel located in the beautiful village of Ardmore. Round Tower Hotel is a Fáilte Ireland approved 3 star hotel. The hotel offers guests and visitors the opportunity to enjoy their break in one of Ireland’s oldest Christian settlement villages. Michael Hennessey and his team in Ardmore have all pre-race work in place and after a 2 year break we are all delighted to be making the trip to the beautiful part of our county once again to meet many of our old friends and hopefully many new ones as well. The course will remain the same as previous years with the 2 lap circuit. Registration and changing will be at the Ardmore GAA club pavilion ( by kind permission ) and we sincerely thank Ardmore GAA for the use of their fine facility as they have done now for many years. Prizes will be awarded to the top three male and female athletes and after that prizes will be awarded to the following age race categories.Men-Junior,40,50,60 Women-Junior,35,40,50.Entry to this race is only 10 Euro if you enter online. See ye at the round tower guys.!!
ENTER ARDMORE 5 ONLINE NOW.
Online entry for the 24th Annual Round Tower Hotel Ardmore 5 is now open on Eventmaster and the Cost is only €10.00. Numbers can be collected on the evening of race. It is of great help to us the race organisers if you can please enter online and it will save you time queuing on the night.
YOUGHAL 5k.
The Youghal AC 5k was held last Thursday evening where a field of 261 competed. Overall winner was James Ledingham KCH AC in a time of 15.42 first lady was Breda Gaffney Mallow AC 18.10.The club had a nice few travel with Ray Hahesy finishing 3rd over M55. Rose Kinsella also too 3rd F35 while Michael Coakley eventually ran his PB for the distance of 24:31,
Ray Hahesy 18:46
Mick Concannon21:12
Johnny Burkin 21:46
Rose Kinsella 23:24
Michael Coakley 24:31
Cait Verling 24:36
Patricia Eichelmann 25:47
Sheila O’Neill 25:47
NEW WEST WATERFORD ATHLETIC CLUB LEISURE GEAR.
The club is delighted to announce a new leisure gear offering by Bodibro.The gear is available for purchase on the clubs online shop now for a 2 week period. The prices are the prices attached with each item, you can view the range through the link below or through the link on the club Facebook page, happy shopping.
https://clubshop.bodibro.ie/…/west-waterford-athletics
SPRING INTO SUMMER 2022.
Summer is coming. If you want to get out and get active and enjoy running with a like-minded group of people, please come and join us.You don’t have to be training for races you can just come along and run with us and enjoy getting fit and active. Once you can run for 30 minutes at any pace you will be well able.We meet at the Friary at 6.30pm on Tuesday evenings. All welcome to come along and give it a try once you are over 16.This is always a popular group so if you would like to book your spot or find out more contact Claire on 087
WEST WATERFORD ATHLETES TO THE FORE AT CLONMEL 10K.
The Clonmel AC organised Tipperary Water sponsored Clonmel 10k was held last Sunday in the Tipperary town and a field of 135 competed on the day. Overall winner was local man William Maunsell Clonmel AC 29.55 and first Lady home was also a Clonmel AC athlete Courtney Mcguire in 35.45,West Waterford athletes performed very well in this race with many fine performances, John O’Rourke was an excellent 6th in 35.23 with Dermot Gough fresh from his 5th place finish the previous night at our won Ballinroad 5k race was 8th in Clonmel with a time of 35.43,Mick Ahern had a top run also just in behind Dermot when he clocked 36.08 for 10th place. Mick Concannon ran a time of 44.09 for the course having also ran in Ballinroad ,well done to all on some fine road racing.
PAT HENNESSEY RUNS 10.000 METERS AT GATESHEAD SHOWDOWN.
Labelled the night of 10.000 meters P.Bs this hugely successful Parliament hill track event is now a must run 10k track race for this hoping to improve their time for the distance, it was also the British trials for this year’s 10k world championships to be held in Oregon USA later in the year.West Waterford’s Pat Hennessey made the trip last week to the hallowed turf of Gateshead and came away with a very satisfying performance when he clocked a time of 32.30.61 for an 11th place finish in the 2nd of the 8 men’s 10k races held on the night, 32 athletes faced the starters gun in Pat’s race alone.This was a great experience for Pat to run a top track event in such company and will prove to be super experience in future races on the track.
