Allihies 5 mile road race
We had 3 members make the long drive down to Allihies for a tough 5 mile race. There were plenty of hills to battle up but it was worth it for the views of the coast line. The sun was shining for the day which meant once the race was done a trip to the beach was needed to cool down. It was great to have a road race to go to and Beara AC put on a great event. There are 2 more races in the series and we hope to see them stay on the calendar. Jonathan Kenneally was 13th overall in a time of 33:19, Roisin Ronayne was 7th woman home and 1st in her age category in 39:19 with Catherine Clancy close behind in 40:39 also 1st in her age category.
East Cork Uneven Age Juveniles & Novice Men & Women Cross-Country Championships
Following on from last week where our club hosted a very successful event, we had another great day out in Whites Cross, this time being hosted by Carrignavar AC.
I am delighted to report that the club members had a strong turnout and their hunger for success was very evident from the start.
On a gloriously warm summer’s day, the conditions were set up for fast running on a dry surface. There were several jumps on this course which needed to be tackled with courage and all the athletes managed to do this very well indeed.
On her competitive debut for the club, Mary_Jane Casey stormed off in the under 9 girls race and won the 750 metre race nearly half a field between her and second place. Brilliant stuff .
Not to be outdone, Aimee Kearney also dominated her under 11 girls race and led from start to finish, a very impressive performance again.
Our boys must have taken note as their team also tackled their race with serious intent. Conor Ronayne won this race in superb style and was followed home by Kenneth O’Connell in 4th, Tadgh Walsh in 8th, Oscar Cunningham in 16th, Noah Keane in 25th and Adam O’Connor in 27th. These boys ran strongly as a team and won gold medals for first overall. Great stuff, lads. Keep it going !
Our under 13 girls tackled the 2,000 metre course with real grit. In a large field, there was a very exciting end to the race where Charlotte Norman won a sprint finish to get third place . She was followed by Ciara Hayes in 9th, Ella Higgins in 10th, Ciara O’Regan in 12th, Maeve Fitzgerald 24th and Amy O’Connell in 27th.
A fabulous team performance which won second overall and silver medals!
The under 13 boys team tackled the same course in similar fashion. Darragh Ronayne had a great battle upfront, like last week, but lost out on first place but held on strongly to secure second place. He was followed by Alan Cotter in 4th spot, James O’Connor in 9th and Sean Walsh in 14th. Again, a very strong performance amongst formidable opposition and the team finished second overall. Silver medals all around, lads.
Ella O’Connor was our sole performer in the under 15 girls over 4,000 metres and ran well to finish in the top ten.
In the under 15 boys, Conor Hayes had an exciting battle upfront with his his old rival Aiden Maher,from Carrignavar and they entertained us no end for all of this race with some classy running. Conor finished second in a very commanding performance.
In the under 17 boys race, Stephen Roche made his debut and ran strongly in the first lap before settling in the middle of the pack but finished strongly. Well done, Stephen on your first start.
Sinead Goss ran in the under 19 girls race over 4,500 metres which was run with the Womens Novice race. Sinead finished in the middle of her group while Sara Barry and Catherine Clancy finished midway in the Womens, Sara in 14th and Catherine in 18th. Well done ladies.
The mens team of Jonathan Kenneally, Kevin Hayes, John Mulcahy and Kieran Murphy tackled the 6,000 metre course with great humour as always and finished a creditable 7th place team overall. Jonathan finished 26th, Kevin in 30th, John in 33rd and Kieran in 45th.
Well done to all our athletes and coaches for another great day out.
You are a credit to your club and families.
Hope to see you all at the County Championships, to be held in Riverstick very soon
