Fantastic start to 4k race with 137 athletes competing on Wednesday 1st November
The Club’s 4k Road race series sponsored by O Reilly Total Health Pharmacy got off to a fantastic start tonight with 137 athletes competing on what was an ideal night for running, mild and still, no wind. Tonight we had a staggered start with the 1st group going off at zero seconds, the 2nd group going off at 20 seconds and the 3rd group going off at 40 seconds. We then amended the results accordingly. The race format was Lucky Dip, this is where preselected finishing positions are selected prior to the race and the athletes who finishes in these positions wins a prize. The Lucky Cash Prize Winners tonight were Tony Scully 19th in 16:40, Annmarie Boland 47th in 18:42, Patrick Hackett 59th in 19:48, Troy Spink 85th in 22:15, Mary Morrison 98th in 24:30, Jackie Hickey 118th in 26:53 and Linda Guthrie 133rd in 36:19.
Tonight’s race was won by Mark Darmody in 14:22, 2nd Nigel O Flaherty in 14:48 and 3rd Brian Carroll in 15:15. The top three women finishers were Claire O Brien 8th in 16:08, Suzanne Shine 14th in 16:31 and Denise O Brien 35th in 18:05.
The Club would like to thank the Brothers of Charity for the use of their carpark as Race Headquarters, the red Cross for First Aid and to our many Stewards, thanks for ensuring the whole event was a brilliant success. The Club would also like to thank O Reilly’s Pharmacy for sponsoring this event.
Clonmel Senior Athletic Club Notes 5th November
Great performances at County Masters Cross Country Championships
Thurles Crokes was the venue for the County Masters Cross Country Championships last Sunday. Despite the great entry we had for the National Marathon in Dublin last weekend we were able to have athletes in both races. In the Women’s race Suzanne Shine ran a brilliant race when finishing 3rd behind two very good athletes Madeline Loughnane and Dymphna Ryan to win the over 40 title impressively. Then we had Michelle Doherty also running very well when finishing 6th overall to win the over 40 Bronze medal. Marian Flaherty also ran very well when finishing 14th and these three athletes combined very well to win the Inter Club over 35 Bronze medals.
In the Men’s race Conor Fleming still feeling the effects of the Dublin City marathon ran very well when finishing 28th, we also had good performances from Neil Proven 38th, John Laste 41st, Pat Coffey 47th, James O Brien 50th, Donie Casey 53rd and Ned O Brien 56th. Then we had the master himself, Myles McHugh, running very well to win the Silver medal over 70 and still enjoying the Sport, great ambassador for the Sport. Our over 50 men’s team of Conor, Neil and John won the bronze team medals.
Brian Looram wins 4K race on Wednesday 8th November
The 2nd race of the Club’s 4K road race sponsored by O Reilly’s Total Health Pharmacy took place tonight in ideal running conditions. In tonight’s race we had 157 entries made up of 88 Men and 69 Women. To date we have a total of 220 athletes who have competed and of that number 107 athletes and stewards have participated in both races so far. Just to remind athletes of the special Goody bag that can be won by just competing in 3 out of the first 4 races of this year’s series and these goody Bags are sponsored by O Reilly’s Total Health Pharmacy and the Club is very grateful to Barry Horgan for such generous sponsorship.
We would like to thank the Brothers of Charity for the use of their carpark, to the Red Cross for First Aid and our many stewards who ensured that the whole event was a brilliant success.
On Wednesday 29th November we will have our 4K Charity race and this year’s nominated Charity is C Saw, a very worthy cause, that does great work locally. So all monies collected or donated on that night will go to this worthy Charity, so the more people who come along and Walk, Jog or Run the more funds can be raised for this worthy cause.
Tonight’s race format was once again a Lucky Dip and the lucky winners were Tom Butler 22nd in 16:36, Elaine Horgan 43rd in 17:41, Patrick Hackett 70th in 19:09, Jan O Dwyer 84th in 21:03, Jo Brett 98th in 22:02, Derek Nolan 124th in 24:54 and Tina Burke 151st in 34:23. We also had a special raffle from all the Race numbers handed in at the finishing line and the lucky winner tonight was Michael Doocey.
Tonight’s race was won by Brian Looram in 14 mins 55 secs, Brian Carroll was 2nd in 15 mins 6 secs and 3rd was Billy Moloney in 15 mins 13 secs. The top three women finishers were Suzanne Shine 24th in 16:39, Michelle Doherty 31st in 17:08 and Ali O Connor 36th in 17:24.
Clonmel Senior Athletic Club Notes 10th November
Kevin Maunsell is Munster Senior Cross-Country Champion
Galbally was the venue for this year’s Munster Senior Cross-Country Championships. The Senior Men’s race was 10k, 5 laps of a 2K circuit where the underfoot conditions were a bit soft while the day itself was sunny and dry with a sharp breeze for all the athletes to contend with. The race started, and Kevin immediately went to the front and dictated the pace that soon had the field in single file with only Tim O Donoghue of East Cork staying with him. Then as they went out on the 2nd lap Kevin increased the pace and went clear. He kept that strong pace going all the way to come home a very worthy and convincing winner and a brilliant piece of front running. This was a fantastic performance by Kevin who was 7th in this event last year in Limerick and he had 3 of his conquerors in his slip stream last Sunday. Kevin is the 3rd Tipperary man to win this title under Athletics Ireland as Michael Hassett of St Catherines won this title in 2000 and Sergio Ciobanu won it in 2013. Kevin’s next event is the National Inter Club Cross Country Championships in Abbottstown on November 26th.
Sean Tobin’s great performance at South Region Championships
The NCAA South Region Cross Country Championships took place in Alabama on November10th. Going into this event the Ole Miss Men’s team had to finish in the top two places to guarantee their place in next week’s NCAA all American Colleges Cross Country Championships. The Ole Miss Men’s and Women’s cross country were looking to qualify for the NCAA Championship for just the second time in school history at Friday’s NCAA South Region Championships, hosted by the University of Alabama.
Sean was competing against a few athletes who had competed against him in the SEC Championships at the end of October but this time the distance was 10K and not 8k. Sean went with the early pace that was set by three Kenyans competing for Alabama College and they soon had the field spread-eagled as they set a scorching pace. Sean stuck to his task and ran a great race over the final km to finish 6th in 30 mins 15.7 secs and in the process led the Ole Miss team home in 2nd place to qualify for next weekends All American Championships. This was a brilliant run by Sean and a good improvement from his run a fortnight ago. A fortnight ago he was beaten by Vincent Kiprop of Alabama by 47 secs over 8k, on Friday Kiprop only finished 11 secs ahead of him over 10K and the race next Saturday is over 10K, brilliant running.
Gareth McGlinchey wins 4K on Wednesday 15th November
The Club’s 3rd 4 K road race sponsored by O Reilly Total Health Pharmacy was a brilliant success with 140 athletes competing on an ideal night for running. Conditions were just right and as such we saw some great performances throughout the race and indeed it is great to see athletes improving since their first outing three weeks ago, keep up the training.
The Race format tonight was Lucky Dip and the following athletes finished in the Lucky Pre Selected finishing positions and received their prizes at the Finish and they were Alan Carter who was 17th in 16 mins 5 secs, John Griffin who was 39th in 17 mins 18 secs, Liam Keane who was 44th in 17 mins 41 secs, Maurice Boland who was 69th in 20 mins 36 secs, Catherine Slattery who was 79th in 21 mins 18 secs, Mary Longworth who was 100th in 22 mins 56 secs, Laura Duggan who was 130th in 27 mins 12 sec and Helen Cahill who was 140th in 32 mins 26 secs.
Tonight we had a Special Draw for the Hamper Prize at the end of the race from all the race numbers handed in at the Finish line and the lucky winner is John Hynes who was 7th in the Race in a very good time of 15 mins 27 secs, Eileen will be spoilt for choice.
Tonight’s race was a very competitive race with very little to choose between Anthony Bowen and Gareth McGlinchey at the end of the first lap, then over the closing stages Gareth, who is running very well at present, edged in front to win in a very good time of 13 mins 46 secs with Anthony credited with 13 mins 51 secs and Brian Carroll who was 3rd in 14 mins 47 secs. The top three women finishers were Kealey Tideswell who was 22nd in 16 mins 15 secs, Yvonne O Connor who was 29th in 16 mins 29 secs and Suzanne Shine who was 30th in 16 mins 33 secs.
Just to remind athletes of the special Goody Bag that can be won by just competing in 3 out of the first 4 races of this year’s series and these goody Bags are sponsored by O Reilly’s Total Health Pharmacy and the Club is very grateful to Barry Horgan for such generous sponsorship. To date we have had a total of 253 athletes competing in the Series after just three races, which is brilliant. The breakdown is as follows: we have 74 athletes who have completed all three races so far, which is fantastic, and they have each won a fabulous Goody Bag kindly sponsored by O Reilly Total Health Pharmacy, Gladstone Street. We have another 86 athletes who are just one race away from winning this Fabulous Goody Bag prize and all they must do is compete in next Wednesday night’s 4k and they will have won this fabulous prize.
We would like to thank the Brothers of Charity for the use of their carpark, to the Red Cross for First Aid and our many stewards who ensured that the whole event was a brilliant success.
On Wednesday 29th November we will have our 4K Charity race and this year’s nominated Charity is C Saw, a very worthy cause, that does great work locally. So, all monies collected or donated on that night will go to this worthy Charity, so the more people who come along and Walk, Jog or Run the more funds can be raised for this worthy cause.
Clonmel Senior Athletic Club Notes 19th November
Phenomenal performance by Sean Tobin at the NCAA
The NCAA All American College Cross Country Championships took place in Louisville, Kentucky. Here we had the cream of Cross Country talent competing in a very competitive race.
The pace was fast and relentless from the gun as the field of 250 plus athletes went for it. After the initial charge the leading group was down to a group of approx. 70 athletes which included Sean Tobin, the leaders going through 2k in 5 mins 39 secs with 4 secs separating the top 26 athletes, with Sean in 62nd place 9 seconds off the pace, such was the talent. The pace continued at a relentless pace with the leaders going through 4k in 11 mins 37 secs and at this stage Sean was running well and moving up through the field and at this stage was 49th in 11 mins 49.6 secs, having moved up 13 places in that lap. Sean kept this strong running going and as they reached 8k, with a 2k lap to go Sean had moved up 35 places to move into 14th place, reaching 8k in 23 mins 40 secs. The pace up front never relented but still Sean was running the race of his life and over the closing stages moved up two more places to finish a fantastic 12th place in a time of 29 mins 39.39 secs, fantastic running and by far his best performance in Cross Country for many a year. To put Sean’s performance of 29 mins 39.39 secs into perspective, last weekend he ran a PB for the 10,000m when running 30 mins 15.7 secs, a massive improvement of over 45 seconds. Sean Tobin was running at 4 mins 46.5 secs per mile for the 6.2 miles race, some pace. Going into this Championship the Ole Miss Men’s team was ranked 25th, but with Sean leading the way with this fantastic performance they finished 18th. This was Sean’s last Cross-Country event for Ole Miss and he went out with the performance of his life. This performance by Sean earned him his first All American Honour and to put this 12th place performance into perspective, it was the 3rd highest finish of any Cross-Country athlete in the Ole Miss History and a phenomenal improvement on his 2015 performance when he finished 68th and on last year’s run where he finished 62nd.
Laura Tobin’s great performance
While Sean Tobin was running the race of his life in Kentucky, his sister Laura was running in the NCAA Division Two National Cross Country Championships in Evansville, Indiana and she too put in a great performance when finishing 155th in the 6k race in 23 mins 5 secs. Laura was the 3rd scorer on the team that achieved its best National Championship finish at this level when finishing 18th overall and improving greatly on last year’s 25th place finish.
Great performances at Stook 10 Mile
The Stook 10 Mile road race took place today and it was great to see all 5 Club members wearing the Club colours. James Denn ran very well when finishing 37th in 67 mins 59 secs. We also had good performances from Nicola Maunsell 211th in 90 mins 20 secs with Sancha Quigley finishing 217th in 90 mins 41 secs, Sinead Kennedy 224th in 92 mins 3 secs and Deirdre Fahey 231st in 93 mins.
Nigel Flaherty wins 4K on Wednesday 22nd November
The 4th race of the O Reilly Total Health Pharmacy 4K series took place in wet conditions last night but once again we had a fantastic entry of 116 athletes competing. The race format was once again Lucky Dip and the lucky winners were: Keith O Brien 8th in 16 mins 12 secs, Vincent McHugh 21st in 16 mins 47 secs, David Power 34th in 17 mins 55 secs, Paul Conway 55th in 20 mins 53 secs, Gillian Whelan 67th in 21 mins 33 secs, Moira Molloy 82nd in 23 mins 12 secs and Tess Kiely 103rd in 25 mins 20 secs. Last night we had an Open draw for a Special hamper and the winner was Martina Butler. The Club is once again very grateful to Barry Horgan for sponsoring this series of races, which were a brilliant success. The Club would also like to thank the Brothers of Charity for the use of their carpark, the Red Cross for covering First Aid and to our many stewards for all their work in ensuring the whole evet was a great success.
Last night’s race was won by Nigel Flaherty in 15 mins 15 secs, 2nd was Eddy O Donoghue in 15 mins 21 secs and 3rd was Ian Purcell in 15 mins 24 secs. The top three women finishers were 1st Clare Annan in 16 mins 31 secs, 2nd was Michelle Doherty in 17 mins 19 secs and 3rd was Elaine Horgan in 17 mins 22 secs.
On Wednesday next, 29th November, our Charity 4k event is for C Saw and all monies collected at this race will be donated to C Saw, a very worthy cause, so the more people who Run, Jog or Walk next Wednesday night, starting at 7pm, the more money we can donate to this very worthy cause.
Clonmel Senior Athletic Club Notes 25th November
Fantastic performance by Kevin Maunsell
The National Senior Cross-Country Championships took place last Sunday in Abbotstown where the conditions were cold on a strength-sapping and muddy course. In the Senior Men’s 10K race The Club was represented by Kevin Maunsell and Michael Carey. The field attracted a top-class entry, that included many International and Olympian athletes, as selection for the upcoming European Cross-Country Championships was at stake. The pace was fast from the start as over 150 athletes faced the starter. At the end of the first lap Kevin Maunsell was about 20th as a large group set the pace and he was in close attention. Then we had two attacks at the front by first Joe Sweeney of DSD and then Kevin Dooney of Raheny Shamrocks and these attacks stretched the field with Kevin Maunsell now in 10th place at the end of the 2nd lap, slightly adrift of the leading group of 7 athletes. At this stage it was make or break time for Kevin to respond if he wanted to close that gap on the leading group and, so he gradually began to close the gap on the leading group on the next two laps and going out on the final lap he had moved into 6th place and was running very well. Then as they appeared over the hill for the final time Kevin had moved into 4th place, just ahead of John Travers of Donore, having made up serious ground in the final lap. They were still together as they came around the final bend and in the long run in to the finish John edged out Kevin for 4th place with Kevin running a brilliant race to finish 5th in 32 mins 7 secs, fantastic running, that had Nick Davis, the race commentator mentioning Kevin’s great last lap a few times in the commentary. This was a top-class performance by Kevin and great to see all the hard training paying off. Michael Carey got off to a very good start and was well positioned and was running strong over the 1st half of the race, then the demanding conditions began to have an effect during the 4th lap but he got going again over the last 3k and was running well when finishing 55th in 34 mins 40 secs. This was a major improvement on last year’s performance when he finished 74th. Michael will gain a lot from this performance and I am sure we will see more progress in the months ahead.
Club’s Annual General Meeting
The Club’s Annual General Meeting will take place in Moynihan’s on Wednesday 6th December at 8pm. This meeting is open to all Senior Club members.
County Junior and Senior Cross-Country Championships
These Championships takes place in Annacarty on Sunday 17th December and hopefully we will have athletes competing in all four races and these Championships bring the curtain down on what has been a good Cross-Country season for the Club at Senior level. Please contact Niall if you are interested in competing.
MSD 4 Mile Road Race
Preparations are going well for this year’s race which once again takes place on St Stephen’s Day at 12 noon. This Club event is once again sponsored by MSD and we are very grateful for such sponsorship. This race has grown in stature over the years and is now firmly fixed on everyone calendar over the festive season. This race over a good course caters for all levels of abilities and all ages.
This year’s Prize list is as follows:
The winner of the race will receive 150 Euros. This year there will be Prizes for the following categories, Men: 1st 5 Men, 1st 2 0/40, 0/45, 0/50, 1st 0/55, 0/60, 0/65, 0/70 and 0/75 plus 1st 2 Junior Men. The list of Prizes for the Ladies is as follows: the 1st 5 Senior Ladies, 1st 2 0/35, 0/40, 0/45, 1st 0/50 0/55 and 0/60 plus 1st 2 Junior Ladies.
There will also be some great Spot Prizes for down the field finishers to be won, so come along and participate in a great Sporting event. This is an ideal event to raise funds for local charities.
There will also be Post Race Refreshments in the Vocational School. This year’s event will be Chip timed by Premier Timing Systems. This event has an Athletics Ireland Race Permit.
Entries will be taken at the Vocational School, the Mall from 10 am onwards. We would ask all local participants to come early and enter as we are expecting over 500 to participate in this year’s event. The entry Fee is 10 Euros. Enquiries to Niall at 086 1660888.
Brian Looram wins 4K race on Wednesday 29th November
The Club’s 4K Charity race took place last night where conditions were cold but dry, ideal for running and it was great to see 113 athletes participating for the nominated charity C-SAW. The race raised 675 Euros for this very worthy cause and thanks to everyone who helped to make the event such a success. The Lucky winners last night were Tom Butler 10th in 16 mins 29 secs, Keith Buckley 23rd in 17 mins 39 secs, Richard Meehan 37th in 18 mins 29 secs, Daniel Daly 58th in 21 mins 9 secs, Bridget Ryan 74th in 22 mins 2 secs, Vincent Bradshaw 94th in 23 mins 56 secs and Claire Courtney 110th in 28 mins 35 secs. The Club would like to thank the Brothers of Charity for the use of their carpark as Race Headquarters, the Red Cross for First Aid and all our stewards who ensured that the whole event was well organised. The 1st three men were Brian Looram 1st in 15 mins 4 secs, 2nd Nathan Bowe 15 mins 9 secs and 3rd Billy Moloney 15 mins 14 secs. The first three women were 1st Elaine Morrissey in 17 mins 24 secs, 2nd Elaine Horgan in 17 mins 29 secs and 3rd Fran Mulcahy in 17 mins 47 secs.
This series of five races has been a brilliant success and our next promotion is our very popular MSD 4 Mile road race on St Stephen’s Day at 12 noon, we had over 500 in last year’s race, so keep up the training for the next couple of weeks and then in 2018 we will help you all to keep fit with our New Year 4k road race series which gets underway on Wednesday 10th January.