The upcoming 37th Ballycotton 10 road race takes place on Sunday 09-Mar-2014. Thoughts of Ballycotton 2014 may seem a little premature, but the fact is that Friday 20-Dec-2013 is the last day for receipt of postal entries. So log on and print off your entry without delay. I’m told that entries received by this date are guaranteed a number.
AAI Novice XC, Carriganore - view north from the Start area
The AAI Novice XC Championships take place on Sunday 15th of December 2013 at the WIT Sports Campus in Carriganore, Waterford. The day’s proceedings kick off with the Juvenile Uneven Age races at 11.30am. The schedule concludes with the Ladies and Men’s Novice races at 2.45pm and 3pm respectively. Events at national level are on a much larger scale than AAI Munster and AAI Cork events. Correspondingly, rules and regulations are more strictly enforced. So, please adhere to the rules and follow the signs and stewards directions for parking.
AAI Novice XC course and facilities
The club’s last visit to WIT was in November 2012 for the Munster Intermediate Cross Country. The venue is a large open field with woods at the northern end. From the access road at the eastern end, the land inclines upward gradually towards the western end, the incline becoming more pronounced as you get to the top of the field. There’s a row of trees running East-West up the centre of the field. The west side ends high up on an embankment which runs parallel to the access road to the WIT West Campus at Point A in the picture above. On the day of the Munster Intermediate, runners had to negotiate a very nasty climb to get up onto this embankment. You’ll be glad to know that the AAI Novice avoids this climb as the Yellow and Navy loops cross below the second last tree at the top (west) end of the field. The ground in and around the wooded (north) end does tend to cut up easily around the bends. Other than that, this is a fast course in favourable weather conditions.On Women’s teams, the first four will score for both club and county. On Men’s teams, the first four will score for club and the first six for county. All competitors must wear official team colours. Best of luck to the BARRS’ Men’s and Women’s Novice Teams!
WIT Campus West
Travelling east from Cork, when you get to the Waterford [N25/E30] by-pass with the River Suir on your left, take the R710 exit for Waterford & Tramore. Cross over the N25 and go straight ahead at roundabout. About 500m further on you’ll arrive at the main access roundabout for the WIT Sports Campus.
Waterford Institute of Technology West Campus, Carriganore is located on the Old Kilmeaden Road, bounded on the perimeter by the River Suir and the new Waterford [N25/E30] by-pass where a major roundabout access to the Campus has been developed. The existing Carriganore House has also been refurbished and is now a base for research activities and corporate meetings in a magnificent woodland setting. The sports pavilion and associated sports grounds have been developed to the South side of the campus. The Campus covers almost 160 acres of land that runs from the old Kilmeaden road down to the bank of the river Suir. Fifty acres of the land is set aside specifically for sports facilities, which includes the following;
The Munster Juvenile “B” & Masters Cross Country Championships will take place in Beaufort, Co. Kerry on Sunday 1st of December 2013 kicking off with the Juvenile events at 11.30am. The Master’s Ladies are scheduled for 2pm and the Men are down for 2.45pm.
Cork team selections are posted on the County Athletics Board website at http://www.corkathletics.org/
For directions to Beaufort click on https://www.stfinbarrsac.com/?p=2223
Paste coordinates 52.068661, -9.640235 into Google Maps or set SatNavs to +52° 4′ 7.18″, -9° 38′ 24.85″
The expected weather is dry and overcast. Best of Luck to the Cork and BARRS team selections.
The club is pleased to introduce a new, lightweight, unisex running jacket available in three sizes – Small, Medium & Large. The jackets costing €60 feature the St. Finbarr’s A.C. name and crest. Those shown in the graphic above are size Small, which is actually quite a generous fitting. If interested, please contact Margo.
Here are the results of all St. Finbarr’s athletes who took part in the Dublin Marathon. Congratulations to all!
As you can see there were many individual medals won and St. Finbarr’s won the Senior Ladies Team Prize with Emma Murphy, Anne-Marie Holland and Mary Sweeney bringing home the gold!!!
Fantastic performances all round in the Dublin Marathon today.
In the men’s race Cathal O Connell led a very strong team home in 2.35.18 with Michael Morgan following him home in 2.35.31 and Con Marshall in close proximity in 2.35.50. John Meade was next home in 2.37.18 and Paul Gallagher finished in 2.41.39. Brian Murphy was next to finish in 2.51.17. Fergal Sargent finished in 2.58.45, Dan Kennedy finished in 3.36.43. Brilliant performances by everyone and huge congratulations are due to them all.
In the women’s race we had two top 10 finishes! Emma Murphy was 6th in 2.50.32 and Anne-Marie Holland was 8th in 2.56.33. Mary Sweeney was next to finish in a brilliant 3.08.56. Orla Crosbie finished in 3.12.47 and Anne Wolfe in 3.28.16. Great performances by everyone.
These are just the people I know of in the race so please send me details of all other Barr’s runners so that I can add their results to this post by emailing me – oregan.dave@gmail.com
As the nights shorten and the Road Race calendar draws to a close, the focus shifts to the upcoming cross country season. As per usual, the club intends to compete vigorously for the top prizes at this and other Cross Country events throughout Winter and Spring. The question isn’t “what are we going to do,” the question is “what aren’t we going to do?” As in previous years, the new season opens on October 6th with the County Novice at the now familiar setting of Carraig na bhFear.
I’m sure you’re all chomping at the bit in anticipation of the new XC season. I’m really looking forward to it. Well, what I mean to say is I’m looking forward to you guys looking forward. I’d love to join you, but I anticipate a stomach cramp in the next few days. My palms feel sweaty even as I write. I know what you’re thinking. Why should I get to do whatever I want, whenever I want? Why should everything work out for me? What makes me so goddamn special? I should point out to members that “Envy” is among the deadliest of the seven deadly sins. OK, so I don’t play by the rules. If I did, I’d be in the gym right now. Cross country moves pretty fast. If you don’t go with the flow, you could get left behind and I’d hate for that to happen to any of you. And don’t worry about the mileage. Whatever mileage we put on, we’ll take it off. We’ll drive home backwards!
<end of post>
Are you guys still here? This post is over. Go on, shoo!
Cork Half Marathon Race Pacers - Target 1h:30m
On behalf of St.Finbarr’s A.C., many thanks to all the runners who supported this year’s Cork Half Marathon. Alan O’Shea of Bantry A.C. was our race winner with a very impressive time of 1:07. O’Shea was pushed hard in the early stages by Philip Harty of West Waterford, but by the finish the Bantry man had 2mins to spare over Harty. For the BARRS men, the ever consistent Cathal O’Connell was third overall in a time of 1:12. The club’s remaining top five men included Alex O’Shea (1:13), Dennis Lyons (1:18), the ever improving David Butler (1:21) and Kalman Vari (1:22). Just outside the top five, the trio of Garrett Casey, Tim Forde and Martin O’Reilly recorded very respectable times of 1:25+.
Race Winners - Alan O'Shea (Bantry A.C.), Emma Murphy (St.Finbarr's A.C.)
For the BARRS ladies, Emma Murphy successfully defended her Cork Half Marathon title with a repeat time of 1:22. Ann Marie Holland (1:22+) was second overall 3mins up on last year. The club’s remaining top five ladies included the evergreen Mary Sweeney (1:28), Marie Murphy (1:29) and Orla Crosbie (1:30). Clodagh McMarrow (1:31) and Collette Holland (1:33) were other notable finishers for the ladies.
“Just a short note to thank everybody in the Club who helped out with the pre-race & post –race organising, stewarding, and pacing of the event and for helping to make the race such a success for the Club and an enjoyable experience for the participants. In particular, I’d like to thank our main sponsor John Buckley Sports for their continued support of our race. A big thanks also to Supervalu for their support this year”.
Well done on a great day’s work,
Ken Devine (Race Director)
The eighth John Buckley Sports Graded T&F Meeting of 2013 is on Thursday, August 8th at 7.30pm at the CIT track. This is the final instalment of the 2013 summer series. The track events are more or less a repeat of the opening night – 100m, 400m, 1 Mile and a Medley Relay. If you did the Mile at the first meeting, time to find out whether or not you’ve improved over the course of the summer. The Medley Relays require teams of four. Instead of sharing the load however, two persons run 200m and the other two lucky, or unlucky souls run 400m and 800m respectively. All told, it sounds like a good night’s entertainment. Remember, these are graded meetings open to people of all levels. Entry is €5.00 covering all events.
The 34th (Airtricity) Dublin Marathon through the historic Georgian streets of Dublin will take place on the bank holiday Monday, 28th October 2013. This event will also incorporate the AAI National Marathon Championships 2013 with individual and team medals up for grabs.
Coach Brendan O’Shea – a veteran of over 100 marathons – looks at the enduring appeal of the classic distance and maps out the training schedules that will help get you over the finish line in Dublin on the big day. These schedules are for 16 weeks starting on July 11. (courtesy of Irish Runner magazine). Right click on the link below and select “Save Target As…”