West Waterford Men Claim Gold at Munster Novice Cross Country
In yellow weather warning conditions, West Waterford athletes travelled to the North Cork venue of Conna in the hope that the rain gods would protect the cross country course and the wind would carry athletes around the course.Thankfully the rain held off however the wind wasn’t as kind. In tremendously tough conditions West Waterford athletes did the club proud where teams were fielded in both Novice Ladies and Mensraces. For the first time in many years the club had a Junior Girls team. This group of dedicated young ladies were lead home by Fia De Paor in 15th place who despite having an injury continued to the finish line and as a result lead her team to the bronze medal. It’sgreat to see Grainne Moore progress to the adult ranks and continue to improve with every season. Sarah O’Riordan and Jessica Grigorboth had fine runs to secure third place for the club behind West Muskerry AC and Ennis Track AC. Great credit goes to coach Dermot Ryan who has been working with this group of girls in recent months and we look forward to having them progress to the Novice Ladies in the coming years.It’s critical that the club has adult teams at these events to show our juvenile athletes there is a pathway to adult team competition.The Novice ladies team was captained by Angela Tobin who had rallied the troops to ensure the club had a full ladies team toe the line. As with all good leaders she lead by example and delivered an excellent performance to finish inside the top 20 in what was a very competitive field.Eveleen Drohan had a fine race to finish in 25th place. Niamh O’Donovan had her first outing for the club since being elected toWaterford County and City Council and it’s great to have an elected representative promoting the benefits of athletics and physical activity. Fiona Connell made light work of the tough hills at the Conna venue to make up the ladies team who finished in fifth place.The Men’s Novice was the final race of the day where 77 athletes from across the province taking part. There has been a great response from West Waterford athletes for this cross country seasonand this was evident when seven athletes travelled to the Connavenue to represent the club. First home for West Waterford was Aidan Connell who finished in 9th place and included this race into his marathon training plan as he travels to Valencia in a number of weeks. Hot on Aidan’s heels was Justin Ryan who after a summer of triathlon donned the West Waterford singlet in style with an excellent 12th place finish. Team captain on the day was Damian Murphy who is a leader when it comes to promoting cross country within the club, he travelled from his base in Switzerland to compete in these championships and it was well worth the journey when he scored in 17th place. It was clear from the start of the race that the team were in a battle with Leevale AC for the top prize. Running a very clever race GearóidCoffey started off conservatively and worked his way through the field to come home in 24th place. This was a superb race for Gearóid in his first year at adult level. As with any team it takes a huge effort from all members to secure success and this was certainly the case for Alan Hogan, Niall Barry and Patrick Bergin who all stepped up with fine performances to secure a historic gold for the club. The West Waterford athletes also made up the Waterford County team who secured the bronze county team medals.
Top three Men’s Novice club teams:
West Waterford AC – 62 points
Leevale AC – 85 points
Togher AC – 99 points
TOP 10 FOR POWER AND MC CARTHY UP NORTH.
This year’s annual NI and Ulster Bobby Rea Cross Country International Cross Country race was held today Sunday in Belfast. The race is held annually in memory of the former Chairman of the Athletics Northern Ireland, coach and founding member of Abbey AC, who passed away in November of 2006. There were two West Waterford AC athletes in this year’s race when Micheál Power and David Mc Carthy were in the line up. Making a welcome return to competitive competition after a prolonged layoff due to an injury micheal finished a very creditable 9th having completed a pre-season training camp at altitude recently. David McCarthy finished one place back in 10th and he was first in the O35 category. David will next Sunday pace the lead ladies the Dublin city marathon. Well done to both lads.
SUB 3 FOR GARY CANTWELL.
The TCD Amsterdame marathon was held today Sunday and a field of 17.000 completed the distance. Weather conditions were ideal reports club member Gary Cantwell who had a brilliant day over the 26.2 miler crossing the finish line in a time of 2.50.59 for 519 th place overall. Excellent running by Gary who had prepared diligently for this race and recieved his just rewards.
WEST WATERFORD ATHLETES RUN AMSTERDAM
The TCD Amsterdam marathon was held Sunday last and a field of 17.000 completed the distance. Weather conditions were ideal for the 4 West Waterford athletes who made the trip Gary Cantwell had a brilliant day over the 26.2 miler crossing the finish line in a time of 2.50.59 for 519 th place overall, James Whelan can be very pleased with his time of 3.42.58 very strong running by James and Michael Lenihan had a blinder running a huge personal best time of 3.45.50 and to round off the success of our athlete Mark Lenihan ran the half marathon clicking a time of 1.58.47 Excellent running by all three.
WEST WATERFORD ATHLETES COMPETE AT IRISH UNIVERSITIES CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS.
Over 300 athletes from 16 third-level institutions made the trip to Cork last Saturday for the 63rd edition of the IUAA Intervarsity Cross Country Championships which were held at the UCC Curraheen grounds with the ladies race over 5.000 meters and the men’s race distance was 8.000 meters. The club had three athletes competing with their universities Lucy holmes and Angelina Chizhikov MTU and Evan Fitzgerald Hibernia College. Lucy ran very well finishing 6th overall while Angelina finished 86th.Evan Fitzgerald running with Hibernia College finished 20th in the field of 140 in the men’s race ,Well done to all .
COUNTY MASTERS CROSS COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIPS.
The county masters cross country championships will be held on Sunday November 10th in St Augustine’s College Abbeyside with a 12 noon starting time. All club athletes eligible are asked to be at the venue on time. Please wear your club singlet as this is a championships race.
Some remaining dates for the cross country season .
Sunday Nov 3rd Munster Under 23 and senior Cross Country Tramore
Sunday Nov 10th County Masters St Augustine’s College Abbeyside
Sunday 17th Nov All Ireland senior Enniskillen
Sunday November 24th Munster Masters Two-mile Borris
Sunday 1st Dec National Novice Cross Country
Sunday 8th Dec Munster intermediatE
MURRAYS PHARMACY TO SPONSOR 29th ANNUAL BRICKEY 4 IN AID OF CARRIGLEA AND GLENBEG NATIONAL SCHOOLS.
Bushy Park GAA grounds is the venue for the 29th annual Brickey Run. Again this year we are delighted to announce that once again as they have now done now for many years Murray’s Pharmacy Dungarvan are to continue on with their sponsorship of the race we sincerely thank Elizabeth and all at Murrays Pharmacy for this kind gesture. The proceeds from this year’s race will be donated to Carriglea and Glenbeg national schools in the area. The race distance will be over a very flat fast 5k loop around the Brickey valley starting and finishing at Bushy Park GAA grounds. The race will get under way at 11 am with registration online only numbers can be collected at the club house from 10.15 onwards . The Martin Curran Cup will be awarded to the first man on the day and the Jim Lyons memorial shield will be awarded to the first lady. The prize-giving will take place in the club house immediately after the race and refreshments will also be provided for all the runners. Online entries open now.
30TH ANNUAL FORDES DAYBREAK WINTER LEAGUE.
The Fordes Daybreak Winter League will once again take place from the Sports Centre, Quanns Dungarvan for 11 Wednesday nights commencing on Wed 13th November. We will continue for 6 nights before Christmas bringing us up to Wednesday 18th December.After Christmas we will return on THURSDAY the 2nd January ( following week revere back to Wednesday )and continue for 5 nights with our final night on the 29th January. Number pick up will take place at the Sports Centre Dungarvan on Wednesday 6th November at 6.30pm or on first night of the league from 6.15pm.We hope you will join us again for this annual event and if you haven’t been with us before we guarantee you won’t be disappointed. It’s an 11 week challenge that can maintain your fitness over the winter and start 2025 on a high note. As usual there are 2 options to choose from. The first is the “long” route which is 5.2 miles while the second choice is the “short” route and the distance here is approx 2.5 miles. Both routes start and finish at the Sports Centre, Quanns. There are a few very important rules and they are not optional.No High Vis, No Run. We will not allow any runner take part who doesn’t wear a high vis. No exceptions. It has to be a high vis not a luminous t-shirt .No watches allowed or No Headphones. This is a very strict rule of this event. We will publish your time asap after the run. Your aim each week will be to run the time you ran the week before or if possible a little faster. Stewards must be obeyed at all times. Your participation in this event is an indicator of your compliance with this rule. Rules of the road apply. You must run on the footpath at all times when available and only cross the road at designated points where stewards will direct you.
ENTRY LINK-
https://eventmaster.ie/event/PQrquJDhLe
ONCE OFF ONLINE REGISTRATION PAYMENT.
The clubs winter league which now enters its 30th year will begin in a few weeks’ time. This year the number pickup night will take place on the Wednesday November 6th.The following week the league will begin officially on November 13th. On this particular night the 6th all those interested and have registered online for the winter league are asked to come along and collect their number. You will be issued with a number for a cost of €5. This number should be used every night that you run. We will have people on hand at the sports centre that will be available to answer any questions you may have and we will also explain the rules and regulations of the league as well as the two courses of the league .The first official night of the league will be the following week November 13th. For all those that won’t be able to make it to the sports centre on the number collection night you may still register online and get your number on the following Wednesday night. In fact, it’s possible to join the winter league at any stage throughout the course of the league. Last year we introduced the ability to pay in full for the league, a once off payment, which will save you money if you intend running the league each night. For club members you can pay 40 euro ( this includes the 5 euro once off number payment) and for non-members you can pay a once off payment of 45 euro which also includes the 5 euro number payment charge. This amount will cover you for the full duration of the league. Keep a close eye on our facebookpage for further updates.
FORDES DAYBREAK WINTER LEAGUE .
ASPIRE PHYSIOTHERAPY SPONSOR WEEKLY PRIZE.
The club is delighted to announce that Aspire Physiotherapy have come on board as associate sponsors of the upcoming Fordes Daybreak winter league. Aspire Physiotherapy is a Chartered Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation Clinic located in Abbeyside, Co.Waterford. They specialise in Sports Injuries, Rehabilitation and Women’s Health Physiotherapy. They are the first and only Specialist Women’s Health Physiotherapy clinic in West Waterford. The team of physiotherapists have experience working with all populations and in elite sport environments including International Soccer, IntercountyGAA, Underage Interpro Rugby, International Horse Riding and Aussie Rules.They will work with you from the first meeting, taking time to understand your needs and goals, and creating a custom program designed to deliver the outcomes you are looking for. They use industry leading equipment and there dedicated on site gym to guide you through your rehabilitation.With highly experienced and skilled physiotherapists working with you in this way, you can build confidence in your body and deal with issues before they become problems. With their help, the goal is always to improve performance, reduce injury risks and maintain the pain free activity you deserve.A voucher will be awarded each week of the league which can be used for an appointment in the clinic for injury assessment, performance testing, women’s health or sports massage!
Contact details: www.aspirephysiotherapy.ie
SYMPATHY
West Waterford athletic club extend sincere sympathy to the family and friends of Tom Hearne Killelton, Stradbally, who passed to his eternal reward last week, may he rest in peac
