Couch to 5km

Saturday was final the day for our couch to 5k athletes to take the step they have been training for. Weeks of commitment made sure they passed it in flying colours. Well done to Tracey Lenihan, Rosin O’Regan, Niamh Feeney, Ciara O’Neil, Maire O’Keefe, Joanna Hegarty, Jacinta Kilmartin, and Sinead Kelleher who headed to Youghal Parkrun to complete the 5km there. Thanks to the coaches for guiding them and hopefully we can help to achieve their next goal.

Munster Cross Country

Another weekend and more Cross Country action. This time is was Munster Intermediate Cross Country and Juvenile B hosted in Riverstick. We had a number of members who took part and we have continued our great run of success in cross country.

In the U9 boys Harvey Cunningham took on the 750m distance to put in a great run. Then in the U11s in a distance of 1000m Cathal Twomey put in another strong run finishing in the top half where over 100 boys took part in.

On to the U13s and with a distance of 1500m Lara Byrne put in an exceptional performance to finish 2^nd overall. After recent All Irelands she has continued her form and made it onto the podium here when is a true testament of the work she is putting in. This also meant she was 1^st scorer with the Cork team and helped them to gold beating Clare. Oscar Cunningham was up next in the U13 boys where he finished 23^rd in a group of almost 70 runners.

In the U15 girls Ella Higgins took on the 2500m distance and battle to the line and finished 26^th overall. Over the same distance in the U17s Ellie Barry was 11^th overall which meant she finished in the medals with top 12 getting them in these Championships. A good battle and strong finish meant she got that well deserved medal.

Lastly in the mens intermediate Mike Byrne took inspiration from Lara and ran the 8000m finishing 12^th overall and also helping score for Cork and receive gold county medal. After his marathon training this was a test of speed that he passed.

 Long way around

And for something completely different on Saturday night we had Adam Blaiklock, Catherine Clancy and Bill O’Keffee travelling to Clonmel for Long Way Round run. It is a 15km circuit in and around the Comeraghs at night which includes road, track and open mountain. This is a fundraiser for South Eastern Mountain Rescue who do such great work in the area. With plenty of climbing the head torch was needed to find your way but with almost 900 runners there was always someone close by. Spectacular views was the reward when you got to Holy Year Cross and sure made the climb worth it. And the reward on the way down was knowing there was Christmas cake and a cup of tea waiting. Well done to all three on doing it and definitely looks like one for next year.

Great Glenville run

On Sunday we saw Lesley Feeney and Mary Lee travel to Glenville for the Great Glenville 4 Mile run. On a rolling course some very fast times were achieved with close to 300 people taking part. Watergrasshill always put on a great race and that was the same on Sunday.

Fit4Life

Fit4life programme in association with St Catherines starts on Thursday 30th and will continue on Mondays and Thursday between 7pm and 8pm in Conna. Keep an eye out on social media for updates. Come join us on Thursday 30th for introduction to the group, light aerobic begineers session and cup of tea afterwards.

Cork Athletics Intermediate, Novice ‘B’ & Juvenile ‘B’ Cross-Country Championships 2023

We had the enjoyment of hosting the latest Cross Country event here in Cork as the club welcomed clubs from all over Cork to the Intermediate, Novice B and Juvenile Championships on Sunday. This would not have been possible without the volunteers who turned up on a wet Saturday to get the course ready and back again on Sunday to make sure the event ran smoothly. We would like to thank Donal Howard for the use of the land.

On to the racing and we had young and old out to represent the club on a beautiful day for racing. The ground was soft in parts and a hill or two meant it was a challenging run for all.

We started with the U9s who ran one lap of 750m. In the girls we had Aine O’Farrell, Mia Keane and Orlaith Finn who put on great performances and definitely would have been in the running for team prize if there was a 4^th member. In the boys Tom O’Keeffe finished 4^th overall with top 6 getting medals. Harvey Cunningham, Charlie O’Donovan and Danny Collins made up the team and were 5^th team overall and very close to podium.

Next it was the turn of the U11s with 1 loop of 1km to do. Saoirse O’Farrell, Michelle Hamill and Eimer Flynn all ran extremely well in the biggest race of the day with over 100 girls running which is great to see. In the boys we had Alex Keane, James Beecher, Eoin Ronayne and Sean Flynn who were 5^th team overall

On to the U13s where we had no girls running but in the boys we had Oscar Cunningham, Noah Keane, Oisin O’Farrell and Sean O’Keeffe. They took on the 1.5km loop which was a challenge for all runners. They were unlucky no to podium but did the club proud with a 4^th place team finish.

We moved on to the U15s then as they did 1 loop of 1km followed by a loop of 1.5km for a total of 2.5km. We had out first win of the day with Ciara Hayes putting in a strong performance to finish 1^st with Ella Higgins in the medals in 5^th . Two very strong runs from the girls. In the boys Cathal Higgins finished in 13^th with another excellent run.

The U17 girls went with 2 of the 1.5km loop and we had 3 in the top 10. A huge well done to Charlotte Norman on winning the race in impressive style followed by Ellie Barry in 4^th and Clodagh Hayes in 9^th. The girls also came home with Silver medal as a team

Next up we had the Novice B women who took on 4km. Our women have done great work making sure they are represented at each cross country this year. Sarah Mulcahy continued her great form this year with a second place finish after a battle with Aoibheann Lawton from Durrus AC. Laura O’Flynn, Deirdre Milbourne, Sarah O’Connor and Marguerite Flynn then helped the team to a superb 3^rd place finish. The men could learn a bit from the women. We only had the one member in Novice B and one in the intermediate races. Well done to Paul O’Flynn and Kieran Harte on getting out there and representing the club. Hopefully we can have a mens team out there again in the future.

Paul Brunnock Memorial

On Saturday all roads lead to the Waterford Greenway for races varying from 50k to 5k in memory of West Waterford AC member Paul Brunnock who passed away last year. We had 3 members who competed in the 5km with Senan O’Reilly finishing 1^st, Stephen Carr in 2^nd and John Morrisson in 6^th.  In the marathon Ted O’Leary put in another great run and added to his overall number of marathons.

Munster Novice and Juvenile Even-Age Cross Country Championships

All roads led to Cooraclare on Sunday for the Munster Novice and Juvenile Even-Age Cross Country Championships. The long drive didn’t put members off and it was well worth the drive for anyone who did make it there. A pristine course was waiting for all with both a 1km and 2km loop with some doing one and others doing a combination of both. Members had the joy of taken on a rolling course with any downhill met with what seem to be an even longer uphill. The last half kilometre was a pull the whole way until a slight downhill sprint finish to the line. If you had your hill training done it made for quick times.

On to the racing and it started with the Under 10s. Mia Keane and Eimear Flynn kicked the day off with a 1km. Both did extremely well with fast times recorded. On to the boys where Sean Flynn was the our only representative and he took on the same course and had a great race. Both those had over 100 kids taking part and all 3 did the club proud

The under 12s were next up and they had 2 loops of the 1km course to do. Mary Jane Casey continued here great form finishing 2^nd overall in a very close battle. Sophie O’Connor, Jill Beecher, Aoife O’Connor, Ciara O’Connell and Ailish Bourke all helped to make sure the team finished 2^nd overall and qualify for the upcoming All-Ireland. Mary jane and Sophie also helped the Cork team to silver. With over 135 runners in this race all of the team were in top 50s. Amazing performances. In the boys Ronan Geany, Adam Fitzgerald, Alex Keane, Cillian Fitzgerald, James Beecher and Sean Cummins were 6^th team out of 12. Again super running from all and Ronan coming away with a medal after a 7^th place finish and also a silver medal with the Cork team.

The under 14s had 3km to do which meant a 1km loop followed by a 2km loop. Aimee Kearney with an extremely strong finish battled her way to 3^rd place and this was enough to help the Cork team to gold also. Lara was 21^st and with Caoimhe Burke in 50^th this was superb showing from the girls in a race with close to 100 people and not much in it timewise showing on fast these races can be.  The boys U14 followed soon after with Kenneth O’Connell finishing 5^th over all and Noah Keane next home for St Catherines. It was blistering pace throughout and they all put in huge effort getting to the finish. Kenneth also got a gold medal for being part of the winning Cork team.

The last of our juveniles for the day were the U16 girls with a tough 2 loop to make it 4km race. We had Charlotte Norman, Ciara Hayes, Ella Higgins and Amy O’Connell all out there continuing the form of previous members and doing the club proud. Charlottes run mean  gold medal with the Cork team.  It was great to see them continue to represent the club at this age group which isn’t always done.

It was then the turn of the adults. The women were first up with 5km, this is a step up from the normal distance of 4km so this added to the challenge. Sarah Mulcahy had a strong race and finished 14^th. And we all know cross country isn’t just about individuals and we were delighted to see with the help of Catherine Clancy, Marguerite Flynn and Sarah O’Connor that the womens team finish 4^th in Munster. We’d like to congratulate and thank the team for getting out and competing. This was followed by the mens race and 6km to race. David O’Connor, John Beecher, Shane Kearney and Jonathan Kenneally made sure the club had a mens team as well.

More photos here

Rebel Run 10km

Well done to Chris O’Connell on competing in the 10km in Bishopstown on Sunday. He was our only member there and put in a great time of 41:47 to finish 40^th overall out of a large field of almost 500 people.