It  gives uz great pleasure to report on a great day out at the East Cork Division Cross Country Championships hosted by St Catherines  AC. At one stage, not too long ago, we weren’t sure whether there would be any cross-country season but working under new recommended guidelines, the club and the Divisional officers put on a very successful event.

The championships were held once again on Frank Hayes’s farm and the course was in fantastic shape, especially so as the sun came out and with it being  dry underfoot, it was set for ideal running conditions.

Numbers were down in some of our under age races, but this did not  detract from the quality running on display.

Our opening races over 1000 metres were for the under 10 athletes. Lara Byrne was our sole participant in the girls and finished a highly creditable 5^th place.

The under 10 boys had 5 running and what a performance they put in to secure first place to win the team medal.

Kenneth O’Connell put on a commanding performance to win the race by some distance to be followed by Oscar Cunninghan in 4^th, Zach Pyne in 8^th and Noah Keane in 9^th spot. Really great stuff lads!

The under 12s races were over the 1,500 metre course which featured a fair few drags, up and down. The girls and boys performed very well through this challenging course. The seven strong girls team secured 2^nd place overall which is a fabulous achievement, Ciara Hayes led the team home in 6^th, followed closely by Ella Higgins in 7^th, Aimee Kearney in 8^th, Ciara O’Regan in 10^th, Amy O’Connell in 20thAnnA Byrne in 32^nd and Maebh O’Connell in 34^th. The team coaches did well making sure they packed well as a team. Great stuff, girls! Silver medals on their way!

The boys race was  a very hard fought race up front and Conor Ronayne put up a great battle before settling for 2^nd place and silver. Ryan Whelan finished strongly in 9^th spot and Ryan Molumphy cam home in 26^th. Well done, lads.

Our under 14 girls of Ellie Barry and Sadie Linehan tackled the 3,000 metre course with their usual courage and tenacity. Both girls finished strongly in the last few hundred metres to pass fellow athletes to finish strongly, Ellie in 12^th and Sadie in 15^th. Mighty stuff, girls!

Our sole representative in the under 14 boys was Darragh ronayne. Again, not for the first time, he found himself in a ding dong battle upfront and having lost the battle for first place held off the field to secure second in a fine sprint finish. Brilliant tactical running as always, Darragh. Good amn yourself.

Our next competitors were Sinead Goss in the under 18 girls and Sara Barry and Natalie Nicholson in the Junior Women. This race was rac together and what a display our girls put in. Natalie led out the field and kept pulling away from the field the longer the race went on. She won by some distance from her teammate Sara Barry in second spot. Sinead Goss finished in seventh spot overall in her first competitive outing for the club and picked up a Junior team medal for her efforts. The Junior Women secured a silver team medal.

Lastl but not least, the Ladies and Mens events. Our 2 Ladies in the Masters over 4,000 metres were Catherine Clancy and Agnes Hurley.There was a big field of nearly 50 runners , one of which was Ireland and Ballymore-Cobh’s very own Sonia O’Sullivan, who was chasing an East Cork Senior medal, one of the very few that she hadn’t picked up in all her years competing and entertaining  us. Great to see her back competing in cross country in her beloved county.

Catherine came home in 24^th place,and Agnes in 40^th on her debut for the club. (And Sonia finished 10^th).

The mens race over 4 laps of the 1,500 metre course was a fast race won by Kevin O’Brien from East Cork. In a very large field of 60 athletes, our men put up a great show and they were led home by Mike Byrne in 20^th, closely followed by John Beecher in 22^nd, Chris O’Connell in 33rd , Brendan Hickey in 34^th, Kevin Hayes in 36^th, John Mulcahy in 39^th, Kieran Harte in 51^st and Kieran Murphy  57^th.

Our Mens over-35 team finished third overall, a very commendable performance , earning themselves bronze medals.

It was satisfying to hear from the other clubs how well organized the event was, especially the new incentives like the Call Area and the new labelling system which speeds up the recording of results.

It’s so important to keep all of our athletes active and to have them and their families representing our club at these events. Long may it continue.

Hope to see you all the second East Cork Cross Country In Carrignavar next Sunday.

Well done to everyone who took part. It is not easy to get out on your own and do it

26.20 Virtual Relay Challenge

May 30th 8am to May 31st 10:20am

On what should have been Cork Marathon weekend we decided to set ourselves a challenge and also raise money for Marymount Hospice.

The Goal

–          Continuous virtual relay for 26 hours and 20 mins

Donations 

• • For every mile a club member runs in the 26.2 we will donate €1
  • Donations can also be made at http://www.gf.me/u/x26568

Rules

–          At least 1 person has to recording a run at all times during the challenge window

–          More than 1 person can run at the same time (does not have to be in the same place and you should follow the current government guidelines when running)

–          All miles count.

–          Between 8am and 10:20am we want as many people out running (you should follow the current government guidelines when running)

How do I sign up

–          Fill out the google sheet with the time slot you wish to do. They are in half hour blocks.

–          Log your mileage once complete on google sheet

–          If you can’t commit to a specific time then just run any time within the challenge window and log your mileage once complete

Challenge 1

–          How many miles can we as a club cover in the 26.20 hour challenge?

–          Every mile counts

–          Runners can do as much or as little as they wish within the challenge window

Challenge 2

–          Using only 1 persons distance for each half hour block how far can the club run in the challenge window?

–          Miles in Challenge 2 also count towards challenge 1

Core strength and stability is probably one of the most important as well as the most neglected factor in athletics.

Check out the following 30 day core plan and think about keeping this up for the month of April.

• Get everyone in the family involved.
• Where you can, print it out and stick it on the wall.
• Tick off each day you complete an activity/session.

This kind of core workout is especially useful with current restrictions on movement and fitness activities.

Stay fit, stay well and stay safe.

Munster uneven age and Senior Championships, held in Conna, on the 10th of November.

It was a  momentous occasion for our club last Sunday as we hosted the Munster Juvenile uneven-age  categories and the Senior Men & Women championships.

As a club, St Catherines has regularly hosted championship events like the East Corks and the County events.

However, putting on a Munster championship takes things to a higher level. So hats off to all the club members who got involved in every shape and form and brought together the club, the parish and the community together in hosting this prestigious event.

Special mention to the landowners, Frank Hayes and Brendan Hurley for the parking facilities on their land and hearty thanks to all the marshalls controlling the traffic in and out of the car and bus parks. . The catering tent set up by Noel Curtin from Youghal AC was a great addition to the arena and was run by the  parents association from all the local schools and what a brilliant job they did. Every cup of tea, ham sandwich and carton of soup went down very well at that stage

And so onto the races.  It was a typical winter’s day, starting out cold, then some lovely sunshine for the late morning but turning quite cold by mid-afternoon.

There was a great turnout from clubs all over our beloved province; for instance, the likes of Ennis Track AC brought three buses alone!

Our under 9 boys team of Kenneth O’Connell, Oscar Cunningham, Mark Geary , Adam O’Connor and Donncha Walsh were our first representatives in alarge field and they had a great run over the 750 metre distance. Kenneth came home 7th overall to win a Munster medal. Fantastic effort, Kenneth!

Our under 11 girls of Aimee Kearney,Ciara Hayes, Ciara Hayes, Abby Leahy, Amy O’Connell and Maebh O’Connell also a superb race over the tough 1,500 metre course. Many of these girls were “running up an age”, so fair dues to Aimee Kearney for coming home in 11th spot, earning herself a Munster medal. In a field of 185, our club came 10th team overall of 20 teams. That’s a fabulous achievement, girls.

The boys under 11s were Conor Ronayne, Ryan Whelan,Sean and Tadgh Walsh and they finished 7th overall of 19 teams in a field of 165 runners. Conor finished 15th overall. Great stuff, lads!

Under 13s girls were led in by Charlotte Norman, followed by Aoife O’Regan and Ella O’Connor.

The under 13 boys were Charlie Nicholson, Darragh Ronayne and Charlie Leahy and they also had a great performance.

Our under 15 boys were Conor Hayes, Senan O’Reailly and Cian Dunning. Conor came in 18th closely followed by Senan in 21stand Cian back in the pack. Super stuff, lads.

Meghan Carr ran a brilliant race to finish 17th in her under 17 race.

Our under 19/ junior girls team were outstanding on their home turf and fought bravely to come home second in the team and finish with silver medals all round. Well done to Laura Hayes, Natalie Nicholson, Sarah Mulcahy, Sara Barry and Caoimhe Hayes for battling around the 2k course over 2 laps.

Dave O’Connor, Trevor Geary and Kieran Harte all took part in the Senior Mens race over 5 laps of this gruelling course. Looked like a nice spin around for all of ye, lads!

Once again, we would like to thank everyone involved in putting this great day together.Thanks to all the parents and families for their support.

We hope to see you all at the All Irelands which are coming up soon. Some of the club athletes have qualified to run for Munster and for Cork. What a great honour for the club. We will know more in the days ahead.

Next Sunday is the Munster Masters and the Juvenile Relays in Beaufort, Co Kerry.

Good luck to all those taking part.

Our club had another great day out at the County Cross-Country relay championships held in Castlelyons last Sunday, the 3^rd of November.

This season has been very rewarding for the club, not only being successful winning medals but just as importantly, new faces trying out in the races.

We entered five teams in these championships with the hope that we would be competitive and may be in the running for a medal. But, not for the first time, our boys and girls performed above and beyond our expectations. Relay races only happen a couple of times a year and our club coaches put on trials to select the teams and then practised the passing of batons etc. We always hope that these practice sessions will pay off on the big day and this time, our runners performed admirably.

First of were the under 10 boys of Kenneth O’Connell, Tadgh Walsh, Oscar Cunningham and Conor Ronayne. These boys had a great tussle with the leading clubs all the way around the 1k course and Conor pulled back a place in the last leg to finish second overall and silver medals for the four lads. Brilliant team effort and outstanding running from all the boys!

Our under 12 girls team also coped well in a large field over the 2k course and the team of Charlotte Norman, Amy O’Connell, Ciara Hayes and Willow O’Gorman worked incredibly hard to be in with a shout for a medal and they duly obliged taking home the third placed team and a fistful of bronze! Super stuff, girls!

Our under 12 boys team of Sean Walsh, James O’Connor, Kevin Geaney and Darragh Ronayne were also in a large field and were in the middle of the pack all way round and managed to hold their place and finish 8^th overall. Good effort lads.

The under 14 girls team of Ellie Barry, Ella O’Connor, Abby Leahy and Shannon O’Gorman also had a great spin around this course and were unlucky not to finish in the medals coming fourth overall. Abby stepped in for Sadie Linehan at the last minute as Sadie had a foot injury and Abby put in a great leg to keep us in the hunt and Shannon showed her class tearing around the last leg but the finish line came too soon and the front three clubs had done just enough to get home. Well done everyone, a great effort.

Our last team out were the under 14 boys of Senan O’Reilly, Charlie Nicholson, Cian Dunning and Conor Hayes and what a race they had. From the start Senan powered off to the front with only Midleton able to match him and these two clubs were the only contenders for gold at the first changeover. Charlie and Cian held second spot all the way around and Conor put in an explosive sprint for the last leg but Midleton held on for gold.

 But what a truly excellent spectacle and congratulations to all of our runners and all the team medals won on the day. Thanks to all the coaches for their hard work and to the families for their support.

This weekend, St Catherines are honoured to be hosting the Munster Juvenile Uneven age and the Senior Cross-Country Championships. The event will be on Sunday, the 10^th , but preparing the course will start  on the Saturday and we would welcome all help and support for the day.

Hope to see you all there!

County Even Age Cross Country Championships held on 6th of October in Liscarroll.

The club had another great day’s outing at the County Cross Country Championships in Liscarroll.

In perfect conditions for running, our athletes turned up in big numbers and they tackled the tough course with great courage.

This time around, our junior women’s team led off the races and yet again put on a masterclass in team running to win gold. It was great to see Laura Hayes back and she duly obliged in leading from the front but just lost the place for gold in the finish. Natalie Nicholson (5), Sarah Mulcahy(8), Meghan Carr(9) and Sara Barry(12) followed  her in.

Kieran Harte was our only Novice runner in the adult races and enjoyed his day .

The juveniles were led off by our under 10 girls and Aimee Kearney had another super run finishing third. As she came over the line, one of the officials said to me, she came home third…in her socks!!, imagine if she had runners on! Her loyal team-mate, Grainne Linehan was finding the going hard at the back of the field but was determined not to finish last and passed a few girls in the last few hundred metres. All about the effort, girls.

The under 10 boys had another outstanding team display and won gold in fine style. Conor Ronayne led front the front and came home a brilliant first followed by Kenneth O’Connell in 11th and Tadgh Walsh in 14th place. James Geary came by in 57th spot and that was enough to secure gold medals for the team. Mark Geary, Adam O’Connor and Donncha Walsh rounded out this team. It shows that perseverance and effort will bring its own rewards.

The under 12 girls, of Amy O Connell, Ciara O’Regan, Ciara Hayes and Charlotte Norman, had agreat run. They  also had a superb result with Charlotte coming home fourth on her debut at country running.The top 6 earn medals at county level so a medal on your first start, Charlotte.  What an exciting prospect for the future.

The boys were led again by Darragh Ronayne and he had a serious battle upfront with a group of 7 others. He looked so like he was struggling coming up the last hill in fourth but fought back at the top of the hill and used the fall of the hill to pull back two places and just lost out in the sprint finish. Smart running, Darragh! The team just lost out on team prizes finishing fourth overall. Ryan Whelan(14),James O’Connor(26), Billy Aherne(40) and Sean Walsh(44).

The under 14s girls team of Ellie Barry, Ella O’Connor, Sadie Linehan and Mallaidh O’Regan had another solid performance and were 6th overall.

The under 14s boys team consisted of Conor Hayes and Charlie Nicholson. Conor was in a great tussle out front and finished a highly creditable fifth. Another medal in the locker. Well done !

Lucy Aherne had a fine run  in the under 16s girls.

Well done everybody. A great day out. We are very proud of you all.

Next Sunday, October the 13th,  are the Uneven Age County Championships in Carrigdrohid near Macroom.

Hope to see you all there and keep the St Catherines flag flying!

The Cross Country Leagues are starting again this coming Saturday at 2pm in Riverstick. This is a great opportunity for both adults and juveniles to try out cross country before formal events/races.

More information is available at the following link on Cork Athletics website.

Revised Programme

EVENTS

Regional Inter-County Track & Field Challenge

Waterford Program of Events – Tuesday 11^th June 7pm Sharp – BCS Lismore

Track 1 – Girls Track 2 – Boys                            Field

U9   Sprints Heats                                                 U13 Girls Long Jump (Take Off Board) Pit 1

U10 Sprints Heats                                                 U15 Girls Long Jump (Take Off Board) Pit 1

U11 Sprints Heats

U12 Sprints Heats                                                 U13 Boys Shot Putt 2Kg

U13 Sprints Heats                                                 U15 Boys Shot Putt 2Kg

U14 Sprints Heats

U15 Sprints Heats                                                 U9 Girls Long Jump (No TO Board) Pit 2

U11 Girls Long Jump (No TO Board) Pit 2

U9 Boys Turbo Javelin

U11 Boys Turbo Javelin

Mini Olympians 60m Dash (Medals for all)

Finals for all Sprints – Track 1

Relays –

U9 Girls 4 x 100m
U9 Boys 4 x 100m
U11 Mixed 4 x 100m
U13 Mixed Medley 100, 200, 200, 100
U15 Mixed 4 x 300
Mixed Coaches Relay 4 x 100m

The Region that tops the medals table over the 2 days will be crowned Regional Winners, Gold – 10pts, Silver – 8pts, Bronze – 6pts – Relays DO NOT account to points tally ONLY Individual events

Medals for 1st, 2nd & 3rd in each event incl relays

3 jumps per long jump, 3 throws per TJ & Shot

This event is confined to registered athletes of the following clubs ONLY, Blackwater AC, West Waterford AC, Finisk Valley AC, KCK AC, Ardmore AC, Youghal AC, St. Catherine’s & St. Nicholas AC