The Virtual King of Greystones triathlon because of Covid-19 it ended up as a virtual edition where you recorded your own times and submitted them to the results crew and the organisers trusted your own honesty to do things right. It did however give people a chance to do the event and John & Sharron Dier did theirs spread out over 445km, starting with the 750m swim at 9am on Friday in Lecanvey in Mayo and then the 20km cycle at 9am Saturday followed by the 5km run at 5pm Saturday. Considering neither of them have run much since the Route 66 challenge, concentrating on fine tuning Sharron's swim technique, both were very happy with all times. Well done to you both from everyone at the club.
At the Moyne AC track meet yesterday 25th July our athletes were glad to be back competing again. A very well organised event. In the Senior Men 100m Michael Deady ran 11.5, Clodagh Dunbar ran the Senior Ladies 200m in 27.72, Aaron Tierney Smyth ran 23.52 in the Senior Mens 200m, Eimear Halpin ran the U17 girls 200m in 28.9 & the Senior Women 400m saw Clodagh Dunbar 1:04.6 & Eimear Halpin 1:06.3.
The Fighting Cocks GFC held their 5k/10k 25th July. One of the first to take place since the Covid lockdown. Our club members travelled up and reported a really well organised event. Finbarr Bradley 18:59 Fran Power 22:18, Grace White 31:39. Sinead Ryan 30:02 & Maeve White 43:58 all ran the 5k loop with Ollie Stack running the 2 loop 10k route in 51:21. Congrats to Finbarr, Fran, Grace & Ollie who all improved their PB times today. Lockdown training paying off now guys.
Ruaidhrí Kedney won the O35 200 m at the Athletics Ireland Masters Indoor Track and Field Championships in Athlone today. Martin Kelly took silver in the over 65 800M and gold in the 1500m. Congratulations to both athletes
The Glynn 5k took place today in a testing route with plenty of hills thrown in to test us. We had a big crew out which is great to see. Club Results : Gavin Hayes 23rd 21.18 Jesse Kielthy 29th 21.50 Tadhg Henderson 43rd 23.59 Darren O'Grady 44th 24.00 Paula Gondard 46th 24.19 John Dier 47th 24.21 Ollie Stack 70th 26.53 Enda O'Sullivan 82nd 28.42 Orla Redmond 83rd 28.46 Dave Percival 092nd 29.23 Sinéad Ryan 106th 31.38 Siobhán Doyle 124th 35.39 Fran Power 168th 49.52 Sharron Dier 169th 49.53 Well done to the organisers on a very well run event and congratulations to all who completed the 5k.
Roisin O'Reilly travelled to Santry today to compete in the National Schools Cross Country. She ran a really strong race finishing in 30th place overall in 15'32 Well done Rosin who was competing for Loreto School wexford.
As the Wexford Racecourse Parkrun celebrated their 5th birthday and also International Womens day our members cancelled their normal Saturday morning training session to be part of the event. A cool and breezy morning saw 125 people showing their support to John Dier and his team of Parkrun volunteers. Club members Dermot Foley 20'44 , Jesse Kielthy 22'05, John Dier 24'44, Mary Gaynor 25'41, Jim Carty 26'06, Helen Sinnott 26'07, Enda O'Sullivan 29'09, Louise Henderson 29'25 & Fran Power 44'46 all got their Saturday morning 5k done and dusted. Well done everyone on a cool windy morning.
Last night Wexford Athletics held their annual awards night in the Riverside Hotel Enniscorthy. A number of members received their medals and awards at this event. Women's Intermediate cross country team silver, Alex Donhue, Helen Sinnott, Louise Henderson. Men's Intermediate Cross Country Bronze Dermot Foley, Neil O'Grady, Paul Donovan & Martin Kelly. Masters cross country o65 Gold Martin Kelly. Intermediate road race team Bronze Alex Donohue, Catherine O'Connor, Paula Gondard & Helen Sinnott. Individual bronze Alex Donohue. Laura Halpin T&f silver hammer, Adam Leahy Novice 100m Gold. Ciara Dolan junior cross country Gold. Morgan Haydon junior cross country Silver. Roisin O' Reilly certificate for representing Ireland in Youth Nations Cup, SIAB and European Youth Olympics. Catherine O' Connor Masters mile Bronze, Masters o55 cross country Gold & Masters 800m Silver. Certificate for representing Ireland in the Celtic University International were presented to Conor Wilson (captain, competing in 200m and 4x100m relay) and Shaun Donohue (400m and 4x400m relay) . Congratulations to everyone. (Photo credit to Sean Rowe)
Menapians members travelled to compete at the National Seniors on Saturday & Sunday. Aaron Tierney Smith 8.59 in his 60m hurdles heat and 6th place in the final with a time of 8.70.
David McDonald 7.04 in his 60m heat and 7.14 in the semi final. Michael Deady 7.39 (season best) in his heat of the 60m just missing out on a place in the semi final. Clodagh Dunbar ran 27.58 in the 200m equalling her PB finishing 3rd in her heat and 62.86 in the 400m heats showing a big improvement on her PB finishing 4th in her heat.
Well done to all who competed, keep up the good work as we transition towards the outdoor season.
The Novice County Road Race took place in Ferns today and thankfully the weather was kinder than expected. Fantastic to see so many athletes from all the counties clubs taking part showing their club colours adding to the occasion. This year we saw a great turnout from the club with 1 Ladies team and 2 Mens teams lining up at the start with a few tasting a county race for the first time. First up the Ladies 4k race started and a fast race saw Paula Gondard (18'15) lead the team home in 15th position with Mary Gaynor (18'41) 21st, Helen Sinnott (19'44) 37th & Louise Henderson (20'43) 43rd all showing that their commitment to training shows great improvements.
Immediately afterwards the Mens 6k race (which was increased to 6.4k) began on the main Wexford Ferns road. A quick pace from the start and a breeze at our backs for the final run in saw Dermot Foley (25'06) finish in 26th in a very competitive race with Finbarr Bradley (26'36) 30th, Paul Donovan (27'33) 40th & Jesse Kielthy (28'20) 43rd (last 3 competing in their first county road race) completing our 1st Mens team. John Dier (31'20) 48th, Fran Power (31'54) 49th, Stephen Welsh (32'01) 50th (both also in their 1st county road race) & Darren O'Grady (32'02) 51st all finishing close together making up our 2nd Mens team. Thanks to our members who travelled to support our athletes on the course.
Congratulations to all the individual and team winners today and thanks to SBR who hosted the race showing their hospitality to everyone. Thanks also to Slaney Olmpic who were the admins of the race. Next county race is the Intermediate which we are hosting on 22nd March.
Despite the threat of the incoming Storm Jorge the Wexford Racecourse Parkrun were lucky enough to be able to host their event this morning. A brisk cold wind accompanied the runners today as they all completed their Saturday morning 5k. We had Gavin Hayes 22'00, Tadhg Henderson 24'07, Martin Kelly 24'11, John Dier 25'28, Louise Hendersom 29'45, Bridie 43'41 & Sharron Dier on tail Walker duty in 54'46. Well done everyone and hope you all warmed up quickly afterwards. Attention now turns to Ferns tomorrow for the County Novice Road Race.
Well done everyone who travelled Abbottstown to compete at the Leinsters. Eimear Halpin had a pb score in the pentathlon with an impressive 2502 points total and silver medal was her reward. Eimear won the 800m in 2.32, produced personal bests in the shot putt 7.99, hurdles 10.29 and long jump 4.76. Laura Halpin threw really well with a pb in the shot M40 and was rewarded with a bronze medal. Eimear Halpin was third in the Junior shot putt adding a bronze to her medal haul. Michael Deady qualified for the final of the 60m and ran a good final 7.39. He had an indoor PB in the 200m 24.27 showing good form of late off the back of determined training. April Keeling ran really well showing good form in the Junior 60m and 200m. Clodagh Dunbar was 4th in the senior 200m with a quick 27.95.Martin Kelly had a busy day winning the M65 1,500m, 3rd in the 800m and then stepped up to race 400m taking a fantastic 1st place Gold. Catherine O'Connor secured an excellent silver medal in M55 1500m. Thank you to Padraig Kelly for officiating for the club, much appreciated by our athletes. Onto Sunday and members continued to impress on Day 2. Adam Leahy took to U19 High Jump and secured a superb Bronze medal for himself. Trinii Jurisoo took on the U17 Shot Putt with an excellent 7th place finishing with a PB in a very competitive event. Then she went on to compete in triple jump jumping 9.60m to cement 5th place for herself. Congratulations to all our athletes, thanks to all coaches and parents who travelled to Abbottstown.
John Dier took a quick drive up to Kildavin to take part in the Racing 795 Duathlon. Despite suffering a puncture finished in a creditable 1hr 32min. Sharron Dier completed the cycle section of the event. Well done to you both.
Saturday is Parkrun day and 8 members got their weekend 5k done at the Racecourse Parkrun. Finbarr Bradley 20'47 improving his PB, Paul Donovan 21'27, Gavin Hayes 21'58, Michael Kinsella 23'19, Paula Gondard 24'15, Fran Power 26'24, Bridie McGuire 44'56 & Sharron Dier 48'45. We also had some members on volunteer duty, John Dier Sinead Ryan & Oliver Stack.
On Thursday our members travelled up to Gorey to tackle the Gorey Night Run 5k event. Another well organised event around the streets of Gorey town. The weather was good for running, a nice cool evening with no rain, what else could we ask for ? Onto the race and 1st member home in a superb time was Alex Donohue 20'32, next over the line was Darren O'Grady 25'05 followed by Ollie Stack 26'20. Next home we saw Orla Redmond 28'01 and then dipping under 30 mins for the first time was Sinead Ryan 29'26, well done. Congratulations to everyone & thanks to Clodagh & Michael for the support on the course.
At the IUAA Track & Field our members were competing as part of the WIT Viking AC. Aaron Smith secured a hard earned silver over 60m hurdles at AIT Athlone. A really strong second half of the race saw him take 2nd place. David McDonald also took a fine silver in the men’s 60m sprint final with a new pb of 6.89 showing some great form. Well done gentlemen.
The destination for the Sunday drive this week was Enniscorthy. Slaney Olympic were hosting their annual 10k today on a new 2 loop course for the first time. Feedback was good despite the biting cold wind which Slaney promise will be fixed next time out !
We had a total of 13 members braving the cold winds : Dermot Foley 41'55, Finbarr Bradley 43'29, Gavin Hayes 44'59, Jesse Kielthy 46'36, Michael Kinsella 47'00, Martin Kelly 47"34, Paula Gondard 48'53, Fran Power 51'24, Mary Gaynor 51'27, Louise Henderson 56'18, Sinead Ryan 1'05'11, Helen Sinnott 1'08'07 & Siobhan Doyle 1'11'56. John Dier, Bridie McGuire & Sharron Dier all started but unfortunately had to retire during the race.
Well done to all our athletes and thank you to Slaney Olympic for a well organised event and thanks for the superb hospitality afterwards.
Ciara Dolan was 16th in the National under 17 development cross country yesterday in the beautiful grounds of Avondale House. Martin Kelly was 11th in the M65 National Masters cross country st the same venue, well done to both athletes.
• Saturday is Parkrun day for a lot of people. For 6 club members today at Wexford Racecourse Parkrun a windy morning awaited however 3 returned PB times. Dermot Foley 20'34, Gavin Hayes 21'32, Fran Power 23'46, Ollie Stack 25'46, Sinead Ryan 31'21 & Sharron Dier was today's tail walker in 52'34 at today's event. Fran, Ollie & Sinead have continued to show improvements since joining the club and today improved their PB over 5k. Great to see training paying off with improvements in times, keep up the good work.
Thursday saw the annual Credit Union 5k Night Run take place starting on the Quays. A great local event organised by local people. Around 700 people of all ages signed up to take on the route, 18 of whom were Menapians. A well laid out course on a superb evening for running. Club members who took part were :
Dermot Foley 19’34
Finbarr Bradley 20’29
Gavin Hayes 21'00
Alex Donohue 21’44
Paula Gondard 23’28
Tadhg Henderson 23’31
John Dier 23’33
Fran Power 23’33
Mylo Perry 26’55
Enda O’Sullivan 28’06
Mathew Perry 29’48
Jesse Murphy 30’31
Sinead Ryan 31’01
Ollie Stack 31’02
Sharron Dier 39’34
Emma Perry 41’35
Jesse Kielthy 43’43
Bridie McGuire 45’47
Congratulations everyone on an evening of great running with a few P.B.'s thrown in for good measure.
• At the Saturday morning Racecourse Parkrun the following club members took part : Dermot Foley 20.44, Finbarr Bradley 21.17, Gavin Hayes 21.50, Martin Kelly 24.19, John Dier 24.30, Fran Power 25.08, Orla Redmond 28.59, Sinead Ryan 32.23, and a welcome return for Samantha Donegan 49.54. Well done to everyone.
• Liam Bohan, Jack Halpin, Ciara Dolan and Roisín O'Reilly took part in the South Leinsters Schools Cross Country on Thursday last. Roisín & Ciara have qualified to progress onto Leinster Schools Cross Country.
• At the Leinsters in Athlone on Saturday we had a number of athletes competing. Ailbhe White took an impressive U16 Silver over 400m. Jack Halpin tackling the 1k walk (a tough technical event) taking home U15 Bronze. Eimear Halpin ran U17 400m and finished strongly in 5th place in the final.. Ciara Dolan put in a strong performance finishing in 8th place in the U18 1500m posting a new PB . Kara Morrissey competed over 60m U13 just missing out on a place in the final but happy to claim a PB. Trinii Jurisoo jumped really well to finished in 5th place with a PB in the U17 Long Jump. April Keeling took a brilliant Silver over 60m in the U19.
• On Sunday at the Leinsters in Athlone we were again well represented. Ailbhe White took on 200m finishing in an excellent 4th place. Eimear Halpin ran U17 200m and was very unlucky not to progress. Kara Morrissey made the final of the U14 Long Jump, jumping superbly to finish in 5th place claiming a PB in the process. Ruby Reynolds stormed her heat over 60m hurdles reaching the final whereas close finish saw her finish an excellent 4th place.
Thanks to our coaches and officials who gave their time.e freely this weekend.
• After all the impressive performances we can announce that April, Ailbhe, Jack & Ruby are through to All Irelands so congratulations to all athletes.
