Dublin night run / County Novice Road Race / Forth Mountain IMRA
Dublin night run
Ryan Ellard ran in the Dublin night run on Wednesday. A huge event in the city streets covering a 5 Mile course on a lovely evening for a race.
Ryan finished in 34:33 and in his words 'best run I've done in a while'
Well done Ryan.
Mr Oil County Novice Road Race
For the first day in what felt like forever there was no rain and the sun came out to welcome all the clubs from the County to Rathgarogue as United Striders AC were the kind hosts. The route is a test but a fair test as the women ran first over 1 and a half laps and followed immediately by the men who ran a little over 2 laps of the loop.
Huge thanks to Striders for their organisation and hospitality on the day and well done to the County Board on another successful County Race aided by our very own Siobhan Doyle.
Ten of our clubs women pulled on their black and red vests and joined the other clubs all decked out in club colours as they set off at midday. A mix of our newer members joined our more experienced as they all set off on the 4k race. With each member putting in fantastic performances we must single out Noirín Doyle who only joined this year and ran superbly to finish 4th place only 5 seconds off a bronze medal.
A smaller number of our clubs men lined up as only four were available to run for a variety of reasons. As soon as the women's race was complete the men's race began with again a mix of experienced and newbies competing over 6k. Each pushed themselves on to run their best on the day and smiled after recovering at the finish line.
A word of thanks to our supporters today, its fantastic when running to have that support out on the course and a massive well done to each of our athletes who raced today.
Thanks to Oliver Stack Photography and Wexford Athletics for the photos
Club results :
Women's race
Noirín Doyle 16:33
Chelsea Koolhoff 19:56
Ilze Bedrite 20:00
Paula Gondard 20:42
Casey Jordan 21:08
Manon Girou 21:59
Louise Henderson 22:31
Helen Sinnott 22:45
Ann Thomas 23:30
Sam Donegan 26:16
Men's race
Pat Gallagher 27:17
Conor MacAogain 28:33
John Dier 31:28
Michael Murphy 38:18
Forth Mountain IMRA
Helen Wallace & Fran Rea both ran the IMRA Fourth Mountain trail race last Sunday morning with the sun shining . The course had a bit of everything and both really had a great time. Helen ended upvery wet at one point when the puddle was over her knee but all was OK in the end.
Helen finished 3rd in the women's race in 1:29:42 and Fran finished 22nd in the mens race in 1:25:25
Wexford Science Café hosts successful talk on drugs in sport
Wexford Science Café hosted a well attended talk last week at Wexford Library on the subject of performance enhancing drugs in sport. Chaired by Prof. Brian Trench, science communications writer and academic and convenor of WSC's monthly talks, the discussion was anchored by two guest contributors, SETU lecturer Bruce Wardrop and Clean Sport lead Dr Elizabeth Egan.
With the talk lasting just over an hour, this event was never going to have time to take a deep dive into the hows, the whys and wherefores of performance enhancing drugs in sport. It did, however, succeed in giving an up-to-date snapshot of what is an ever-evolving situation. Bruce and Elizabeth spoke of doping in its many guises, how drugs may improve performance, the risks to health of taking drugs, ways to avoid detection by the testers, technical exemptions and their occasional misuse, penalties for those caught doping, athlete education and so on. Throughout the evening, there was a lively and entertaining discussion as the pair fielded questions from the floor.
Bruce is course leader of the BSc in Sport and Exercise Science at SETU. He formerly served as lead sports physiologist with Paralympics Ireland. He is currently completing a PhD investigating the cellular mechanisms of angiogenesis in trained vs untrained individuals. A naturally vivacious communicator, Bruce hosts a popular podcast on behalf the Irish Sport and Exercise Science Association.
Elizabeth Egan, originally from Bree, has a background in exercise physiology, having completed a PhD looking at bone mineral density in female athletes, and now works as a life coach with high performance sportspeople. She is a UK Anti-doping Clean Sport educator, and the Clean Sport lead at University of East London. An active athlete herself, Elizabeth runs the resource website www.trackathletes.ie with international athlete Louise Shanahan.
The talk was supported by Menapians Athletics Club.
Leinster Indoor Juveniles /Tony MacGowan 10k / Enniscorthy 10k / Couch to 5k / Sharon Martin 2nd in National Adventure Race Series
Leinster Indoor Juvenile Championships
A fantastic Pb for Fiachra Mehigan in the 1500m 4:43.03 on Saturday.
He ran a really good even paced race for 7th place in the U17 competition
Then on Sunday he was competing in 800m and claimed an Indoor PB of 2:19.34
Fiachra's dedication and hard work reaping rewards for him, keep up the good work.
Tony MacGowan 10k.
Helen Burrell was running in County Leitrim over the weekend in the Tony MacGowan 10k. Helen had a great run of 1:11:00 and was the first woman in her age category on the day. Congratulations Helen.
Enniscorthy 10k
Sun, rain, cold and wind at different stages of todays 10k kept athletes guessing as to what to wear. The race started cool and bright but changed to windy and rain adding to the challenge of running 10k.
A healthy number of club members took the short drive up to Enniscorthy to support Slaney Olympic Athletic Club with their annual 10k event.
As always a well organised event from start to finish. Well done to all who ran and thanks to our supporters who stood in the rain to cheer everybody on.
Results:
Brian Smyth 41:22
John Hyland 43:03 (PB)
Pat Gallagher 47:05
Paul Harpur 48:46
Micheál Kinsella 51:08
John Dier 51:57
Ollie Stack 52:11
Jesse Kielthy 53:33
Chelsea Koolhoff 53:53
Casey Jordan 55:32
Sarah Bermingham 59:08
Bridie McGuire 1:29:01
Couch to 5k
Bag loads of determination from our Couch to 5k group earlier as they did not let bad weather dampen their spirits and edged closer to that target of 5k
Well done folks, almost there
Sharon Martin 2nd overall - National Adventure Race Series (Women’s Sport Category)
What a season for Sharon Martin! A huge congratulations to Sharon, who has delivered an incredible year in the National Adventure Race Series (Women’s Sport Category) — finishing 2nd overall after a string of outstanding performances!
Sharon’s season was marked by consistent top‑level racing across many adventure race events.
From tough climbs to fast bike sections and gritty trail running, Sharon showed determination, resilience, and race‑day intelligence — the hallmarks of a true multisport athlete.
Massive well done, Sharon — an incredible achievement and a season to be proud of!
Menapians AC 25th anniversary dinner
As Menapians AC celebrate our 25th year of athletics, club members gathered at Slice Restaurant at Wexford Golf Club to enjoy a wonderful meal and reminisce on years gone by.
The committee have taken on the challenge of hosting at least one event each month of 2026 to mark the landmark milestone.
In January we welcomed the Athletics Ireland Fit4Life Roadshow sponsored by McCabes Pharmacy to our training session which saw almost 50 members get health advice and enjoy our hill training session.
Then on Saturday last members sat to a fantastic meal and enjoyed a social evening full of chat and memories.
For the remaining months of the year there are plans for Dancefit classes, yoga sessions, track events, obstacle racing and many more events where we hope to blend Athletics with social events bringing everyone together to celebrate as a club. It's through many hours of volunteering by our committee and coaches that drives the club forward and helps every one of our athletes to believe in themselves and achieve their own goals across the full range of athletics events.
Thanks to Chairman Senan for his photo collection from Saturday night where he also gave a speech looking back over the clubs history right up to the present day.
Keep an eye on our socials for photos of future events.
Wexford Credit Union Night Run
A well organised 5k, superbly marshalled, easy number collection, big crowd, cup of tea and nice weather is usually what runners look for when signing up for a race.
The weather was wet n windy to add to the challenge of running the 5k route.
The route is well known at this stage starting on Wexford Quay front, out towards the new Lidl store before u-turning back towards town and turning down the Faythe towards the main street finishing outside Wexford Credit Union.
Over 500 people ran on the night and amongst them was 18 of our crew.
Results:
Anthony Dowd 19:19
Ryan Midwinter 19:20
Brian Smyth 20:14
Jesse Kielthy 22:58
Donal Grant 22:27
Dave Midwinter 22:47
Fran Power 23:55
Chelsea Koolhoff 26:22
John Dier 26:24
Jenn Kehoe 26:48
Casey Jordan 26:58
Enda O'Sullivan 28:29
Geoff Hoffheinz 28:43
Ollie Stack 28:43
Sarah Bermingham 31:39
Gráinne Hayes 32:26
Helen Burrell 34:43
Michael Murphy 35:49
Well done everyone.
Wexford Science Café: Discussion on Drugs in Sport with Bruce Wardrop and Dr Elizabeth Egan
Wexford Science Café presents a talk on drugs in sport with Bruce Wardrop and Dr Elizabeth Egan at Wexford Library on Tuesday, Feb 17th (7.30pm-8.30pm).
This discussion on performance-enhancing drugs in sport will consider how they work, how they are developed, how they can be masked and detected, the harms they do, and more.
Bruce Wardrop, lecturer at SETU Waterford, and course leader of the BSc in Sport and Exercise Science, formerly served as lead sports physiologist with Paralympics Ireland. He is currently completing a PhD investigating the cellular mechanisms of angiogenesis in trained vs untrained individuals. Bruce hosts a podcast on behalf the Irish Sport and Exercise Science Association.
Elizabeth Egan has a background in exercise physiology, having completed a PhD looking at bone mineral density in female athletes, and now works as a life coach with high performance sportspeople. She has published two books, one an altitude training guide for endurance athletes, the other on personal development coaching in sport. She is a UK Anti-doping Clean Sport educator, and the Clean Sport lead at University of East London. An active athlete herself, Elizabeth runs www.trackathletes.ie - ‘the ultimate resource for fans of Irish athletics’ - with Olympian Louise Shananhan.
With the so-called Enhanced Games taking place in Las Vegas in May, it has never been more timely to take a serious look at the issue of drugs in sport. The event claims to ‘celebrate human potential through safe, transparent enhancement’ and, presumably, show how much faster, higher, stronger performances can be with the help of drugs.
Free event but advance booking is essential. Use this booking link: https://wexfordcoco.libcal.com/event/4504111 or Tel Wexford Library on 053-9196760.
#CleanSport #SportIreland #antidoping
Leinster Indoors / John Treacy 10 mile
Leinster Indoor Championships
The year opener took place in TUS Athlone.
Siobhan Doyle took gold in the over 65 60m in 10.58 and silver in the 200m in 36.72
In the Under 20 competition Elijah and Lukas Page Redmond were in action in the 60m and long Jump in their first competition of the year. Both had good runs in the 60m with Lukas finishing 5th in the long Jump
John Treacy 10 Mile.
Huge numbers congregated in Dungarvan as athletes mingled in favourable weather to run the popular 10 mile route. This race sees entries from far and wide as club colours are proudly worn.
2 club members made the start line today.
Jesse Kielthy ( 1:28:52 ) and Ollie Stack ( 1:32:59 ) who broke his PB for the distance
Well done to you both.
Schools Cross Country day 1 / Juvenile training night / Schools Cross Country day 2
School Cross Country 1
What a miserable day for a run but our members stuck at it in the mud on Wednesday. The course was heavy and slippy as athletes navigated the course in Ferns in the pouring rain.
It was more a Battle of Attrition than an athletics meet as the course drained the energy out of everyone's legs.
In the Intermediate boys race Fiachra Mehigan, running for Wexford CBS, placed a highly commendable 8th place. Elijah Page Redmond ran for St Peters College and Zac Dee for Good Counsel, both digging deep and finishing strongly on an absolutely miserable day.
Well done to the three of you, representing your school and your club.
Juvenile members training - Enniscorthy
There were challenging conditions at the Enniscorthy Sportshub last night which did not hold back our young Menapians who took part in a fun event organised by our friends in Enniscorthy AC. Jarlath Foley, Jasper Foley, Chloe Carroll, Danny Fortune and Louis Lau all impressed in their running events and all ran impressively in the relays. Thanks to club coaches Siobhán, Liam, Padraig and Eamonn who helped out and a big thank you also to all who helped out and organised this evenings event.
Schools Cross Country 2
Fiachra Mehigan was representing his school CBS Wexford at the South Leinster Schools Cross Country. Fennagh in Co Carlow was the venue as all the school colours were on display.
This was his first year at Intermediate level and he held his own finishing in 27th overall in 17:46, a super run.
Fair play Fiachra, a tough day out.
Menapians host Fit4Life Launch
There was a huge turnout for the Athletics Ireland Fit4Life Roadshow, sponsored by McCabes Pharmacy. The event took place in mild and rain-free, despite the less than optimistic forecast, at the regular Tuesday evening training grounds at Wexford County Council, Carriglawn. The super-large turnout was split into different groups with coaches putting those in their charge through their paces. The Fit4Life crew waited in the wings to the vital signs of all-comers.
The aim of Fit4Life is to encourage more people to exercise and, in the process, to achieve improved levels of fitness and wellness, all in a relaxed and sociable environment. Participants, grouped by ability, are overseen by qualified Fit4Life leaders.
Here’s hoping that all those who turned up last night will keep it going and that they will see, and feel, the benefits in the weeks and months ahead.
Click the carousel below to see all images from the evening.
Tri-club Children’s Challenge
Enniscorthy AC has invited Menapians and United Striders to join them at Enniscorthy Sports Hub for a fun juvenile meet this Friday, June 23 (7pm). The plan is to have a series of 1km time trials / relays for U10, U12, U15 and 15+. As far as we can discern, the idea is that the relay legs are 1km in length with times added together for a club’s top 5 in each age group. The winning club gets to take home the Club challenge annual trophy.