National Uneven Age Cross Country Championship

You would think when we hit December things would start to quieten down but not in athletics. We had a big group of juvenile members who headed to Navan for the National uneven age cross country championships and our athletes put in top class performances as usual. The Under 11s got the races under way and Ailish Bourke (24^th), Ciara O’Connell (45^th), Sophie O’Connor (56^th) and Molly Casey (61^st) made sure the team came home with National team Bronze medal. In a race with close to 200 runners it was great to see each of our members right at the front of the race. All the girls were part of the Cork team that finished 5^th. On to the U11 boys and where Ronan put in the performance of the day with a 2^nd place overall, what an amazing run with almost 180 athletes that is a huge achievement. With Adam Fitzgerald, Alex Keane, Sean Cummins, Cillian Fitzgerald and James Beecher joining Ronan the team managed a 4^th place overall. To put that into context, there were 18 of the best teams from across Ireland at this and this team are now 4^th best in Ireland and there was the smallest of gaps between 3^rd and 4^th. Plenty more to come from this group.

Then on to the Under 15 girls where Aimee continues to impress with 23^rd overall in a field of 165 runners. This place meant Aimee was a scorer on the Cork team that took Gold and was enough to help Munster to Silver. Then in the U17 girls Charlotte Norman was 48^th overall in a race of approx. 120 athletes. This was a high enough position to be a scorer on the Cork team that just missed out on bronze.

Waterford Half Marathon

Well done to Mike Byrne and Roisin Ronayne who both ran PBs, Stephen Collins, Chris O’Connell and Frances Barry who raced the Waterford half in very cold conditions on Saturday morning. Great times posted by all.

Newmarket 5km

Stephen Carr made the trip to Newmarket for the extremely popular 5km and put in a great race to finish bang on 18 minutes. Not long before he will go sub 18.  John Morrisson was as consistent as ever in a geat time of 24:36.

Valencia Marathon

While Aimee was putting in a storming performance in Navan her parents were running the streets of Valencia. Well done to both Shane and Michelle on great times, it was no doubt slightly warmer there.

St Vincents De Paul 3km Charity run

On Tuesday 12^th we will host our annual charity run in Conna Community field from 7pm. This is a fun event and we want to see as many as possible turning up to support St Vincents de Paul charity. Everything raised goes directly to the charity.

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.

What a weekend for the club. We will post later on many members who were out on the roads this weekend but our members who travelled to Gowran in Kilkenny for the National Juvenile Even-Age Cross Country deserve their own post. In really tough conditions all members battled through the mud, hills and competition to put St Catherines on the map as a club with hugely successful juvenile members. Many photos showed boots being dug out of the mud along the course afterwards

The day started with the journey up to make the 11:30 start for the first race which was the 2,000m  girls U12 race. We had 6 members lacing up their boots for this after they qualified via an outstanding 2^nd place finish in the Munster Championships in Cooraclare last month. In a race that had almost 170 high quality runners from around All Ireland it was sure to be stiff competition but our team showed what they were made of and followed up last years gold on home turf with a team silver today. A national SILVER medal in a field of 18 of the best teams around Ireland. What a run to start us off with where Mary Jane Casey finished 7^th in Ireland, soon after Sophie O’Connor, Jill Beecher, Aoife O’Connor, Ailish Bourke and Ciara O’Connell all crossed the line and could celebrate their success. Well done to Templeogue AC on winning gold in a close battle and for Ennis Track AC for bronze.

Next up were the U12 boys where we had two members who qualified. Again a large number of runners took part in this race with close to 170 taking to the line. Ronan Geaney was 22^nd over all with Adam Fitzgerald 72^nd. Again to have 2 runners well inside the top half of the finishes shows their training paid off and did the club proud.

The U14 girls were up soon after as they ran 3,000m. Continuing the trend of large numbers entered there was 180 girls here. Aimee Kearney, who picked up a small knock in the build up to the race, finished in 34^th with and Lara at her first ever nationals finished 96^th. It is hard enough to qualify for these events so to get there and perform like they did was outstanding.

Our last runners of the day were in the U16 girls where 4,000m were waiting for them. Charlotte Norman and Ciara Hayes put in strong performances to finish inside the top half of the field. Like all members on the day they can look back with pride on their results.

There is also country and provisional competitions within the races and Mary Jane helped Munster to gold in the U12s, while Ronan Geaney helped the Munster boys to gold also.

Well done to all and a thanks also to coaches, team mates, family and friends as it wouldn’t be possible without all the support. Thanks to all who travelled to cheer them on and we look forward to the next race which is the Munster Juvenile Bs in Riverstick next weekend.

Munster Juvenile Uneven Cross Country

This week Cross Country brought a large number of Juvenile members to Two Mile Borris in Tipperary for the Munster Juvenile Uneven Cross Country Championship. As has been the case all year all our juveniles continue to preform at a high level in any race they participate in.

We started with the under 9 girls where both Mia Keane and Orlaith Finn had strong runs in a large field of over 100 runners. They had a 750 meter to complete and done so in great times. Harvey Cunningham was our only boy in the same age category and again put in a great display over the same distance.

Next up was the Under 11 girls where just under 200 girls had a distance of 1,500 meters to complete. Sophie O’Connor was our first member to receive an individual medal with a 5^th place finish, with Molly Casey, Ailish Bourke, Ciara O’Connell and Saeran Carr helping the team to 2^nd place overall. With such huge numbers in the race this was a real team effort to get that medal with 18 teams in total. Onto the boys where Ronan Geaney was an amazing 2^nd overall, with Adam Fitzgerald, Alex Keane, Cillian Fitzgerald, James Beecher, Sean Cummins, Ciaran O’Connor and William Lester making up a large team for the club. Having 8 run is great to see and their efforts paid off with another silver for the team in a race with 16 teams.

We move on to the Under 13 girls next who had 2,500 meters to run which was made up of a 1,000 meter loop followed by 1,500 loop. Mary Jane Casey, Lara Byrne, Aoife O’Connor and Jill Beecher helped the team to 6^th overall and with 16 teams that is an impressive result from them. The boys took on the same course and Kenneth O’Connell was 8^th overall which got him another medal, he was joined in the race by Oscar Cunningham and Noah Keane. Well done to all three.

The under 15s were up soon after and with 3,500 meter to run made up of a 1,500 and 2,000 loop it was going to a be a big test with Aimee Kearney finishing 5^th overall, Ciara Hayes and Ella Higgins also putting strong displays.

The last race of the day for our members came in the U17 girls with a tough 4,500 to run. Charlotte Norman was 9^th overall for a medal with Ellie Barry again performing excellently.

With so many members putting in such huge effort we had many members who also scored on Cork teams. Sophie and Molly were part of the Cork U11 team to get silver. Ronan scored for the U11 boys Cork team that won gold. Kenneth helped the U13 Cork boys to silver, while Aimee helped Cork U15 girls to gold. And finally Charlotte Norman helped Cork to another gold in the U17 girls.

A lot of these runners will also be taking part in the National Juvenile Even Age next weekend in Gowran, Kilkenny. We wish them the best of luck and keep an eye on our Social media throughout the week for updates on our members going there.

Thomas Kent 10km

The annual Thomas Kent 10k took place on Sunday and St Nicholas AC made sure the weather was perfect and not a repeat of last years monsoon weather. As always they put on a great race with stylish medals and plenty of food afterwards. The first half of the course is challenging before you have more downhills for the 2^nd half so pacing is key here. First member home was Noel Early in a time of 37:44, followed by Jonathan Kenneally, Bill O’Keeffe, Laura O’Flynn, Paul O’Flynn, Adam Blaiklock, Deirdre Milbourne, Marguerite Flynn and Mary Lee.  Thanks to St Nicholas on putting together the race and we look forward to next year.

Brickey 5km

John Morrisson was our sole member who headed to Brickey in Waterford for their 5km John finish in an excellent time of 25:12

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.