Our club distinguished themselves yet again with another great  day in Limerick racecourse last Sunday.

Our athletes have to step up every race at the moment and after contesting the 2 County Championship event days, our next challenge was the Munsters.

I t was a cold and dry at the racecourse but when the runners were warming up, they found the underfoot conditions to be wet and slippy. Strangely enough, testing conditions can be to our advantage as our athletes train hard a few times  every week in all conditions, so we were hopeful that the girls and boys would get around without incident and hopefully, be the shake-up at the finish.

Our first runners were the under 10s and  Aimee Kearney  finished a superb 13^th place and this was good enough to secure a County team Gold medal for Cork. Well done Aimee!

Next up were the boys at under 10s and Conor Ronayne, Kenneth O’Connell and Adam O’Connor also tacked the tough course and ran a cracking race. Conor got off to a great start and was in the leading group going up the hill, moving to the front going down the hill and he powered to the finish line to win the race. Absolutely brilliant stuff, Conor. The County Champion and the Munster Champion!! Kenneth and Adam finished very strongly and finished in the middle of the 100 strong pack. Conor led the County team to first place overall, so another gold medal. Wow!

The under 12 girls were represented by Charlotte Norman and Ciara Hayes. In a huge field of over 160 competitors, Charlotte finished in 21st place, an excellent performance once again. Ciara finished strongly, as always, in the middle of the pack.

The sole representative for the under 12s boys was James O’Connor who ran another great race.

The next big race was the boys under 14s where we had three entries but unfortunately, Senan O’Reilly had to pull out due to a chest infection. Conor Hayes and Charlie Nicholson tackled the racecourse with grit in their teeth and Conor had another super race finishing 16^th overall and securing a county Silver team medal. Charlie also had a fine race finishing in the top half of the field.

Our last competitor in the juveniles was Meghan Carr in the under 18s race. She continued her comeback with a solid run finishing 15^th overall and also securing a county Gold team medal. Fine running, Meghan!

Our sole representative in the adult races was Dave O’Connor who tacked the Nivice race. Dave had yet another outstanding performance finishing 9^th overall and also capturing a county Gold team medal.

The runners who won county team medals now have the very great honour to run in the All Ireland Championships in the county colours. What a proud moment for you all!!

Next up are the County B’s in Dromtariffe, outside Mallow, next Sunday, the 27^th.

Hope to see you all there.

Information on all upcoming Cross Country events can be found at Cork Athletics Cross Country Autumn Fixtures 2019.

Well done to all 44 juveniles who took part in our 1 Mile Road Race last night. Results as follows:

Juvenile Boys

Juvenile Girls

Full results below:

It was a Midsummer Run with a difference. St Catherines decamped from our usual haunts in East Cork and pitched up on Bere Island, in the heart of West Cork.

We were there to take part in not one, not two but three running events happening on Saturday last, the 13th of July.

Bere Island is one of the most popular ParkRun events in the country and many of our runners and walkers, both young and old, started the event at 9.30. It was beautiful and warm, not a cloud in the sky, as our club athletes wound their way around the hilly terrain. Chris O’Connell was off like a hare, “running at marathon pace” who came home first. Many of our first timers to the island remarked on the beautiful course set in the most picturesque countryside.

The Midsummer Run events at 5k and 10k took place in the afternoon which gave the ParkRun participants, a bit of time for a coffee and cake in the village café. Thanks to Edel and Brendan Murphy for the warm welcomes, the genuine hospitality and for making us feel right at home.

As the temperatures soared into the high twenties, the races began and our club athletes prepared to battle in the very humid conditions. The most welcome sight, besides the finish line, was the many water stations dotted throughout the course. Some of us were shedding buckets of sweat trying to get around the course, never mind trying to keep up with the leaders. As per usual, our club was very well represented in numbers and yet again, we featured in the medals. Well done to Chris O’Connell who finished second in the 5k; Roisin Ronayne who finished second in the 10 k; Trevor Geary who came home 3rd in the 10k and the one and only Brenda Hickey who was declared first female veteran in the 10k. That last one may have been a clerical error!!

Yours truly had the pleasure of accompanying the legendary wheelchair athlete, Jerry Forde, around the 10k race. Not surprisingly, Jerry put on an incredible display of pure strength and determination to conquer the very difficult road conditions for a wheelchair and triumphed in a time of 1 hour 51 minutes. Thanks Jerry!

While we tucked into the post-race  tea and sandwiches at the GAA club, the children’s races took place on the pitch. Well done to all the children and congrats to  Aimee Kearney, Mark Geary and Sarah O’Connell for getting onto the podium as well.

And to cap it all, we then descended to Lonehort Cove, where we spent a lovely few hours swimming in the azure blue water—if felt and looked like we were in the Mediterranean Sea.

All the club, including the Kearneys, Murphys, Dunnings, O’Connells, Clancys, Gearys, Hayes, Linehans, Hickeys, Hartes and Ronayne families, finished the night off in the pub being entertained by Doireann Hayes and Sadie & Grainne Linehan playing us some traditional tunes that they learnt in County Clare last week.

Thanks as ever, to Kevin Hayes for organizing this excellent weekend away.  

Looking forward already to next year.

Eoin Linehan