Mr Oil County Novice Cross Country.
Cross Country season started today with an unusually sunny & warm day with a dry field, something Cross Country runners are not used to. Kindly hosted by Croghan AC they provided a course of a downhill and an uphill for competitors to contend with and was well received by all who raced. After the underage races were complete it was time for the ladies to step onto the start line and 4 were in our black & red vests. After pushing themselves throughout the 4 lap route they claimed team bronze so many congratulations to Ilze Bedrite 10th, Mary Gaynor 11th, Paula Gondard 12th & Helen Sinnott 16th.
Immediately afterwards the men's race started and it was eyeballs out and empty lungs for 6 laps of the field. Our 6 men who performed well on the day were Tony Harpur 8th,Brian Smyth 15th, Rob Casey 26th, Gavin Hayes 28th, Darren O'Grady 29th & John Dier 30th.
Thanks to those who supported us on the day and to Catherine & Padraig who volunteered also.
Thanks to the County Board and hosts Croghan Athletics Club for a well organised event.
The Mr Oil County Intermediate CC takes place next Sunday in Adamstown so look forward to seeing everyone again.
Taghmon Open Cross Country.
Taghmon AC held their very popular open cross country meet on Sunday the 18th of September. A nice introduction to the cross country season on a dry field, almost feels wrong when the ground is not muddy and sloppy.
John Dier & Gavin Hayes competed in the Men's 5k race and put on very good performances as we move closer to the Novice CC in Croghan in 2 weeks time.
Well done gents and well done to Taghmon Athletics Club for hosting a well organized event.
Kilmore AC Toddy Moore 10k.
On Saturday evening the Toddy Moore 10k hosted by Kilmore AC took place. A fast route which has long been a favourite on most people's racing calendar.
Three club members raced with Dermot Foley 25th in 42:41, Paul O'Meara 33rd in 46:35 & Michael Kinsella 37th in 48:18.
Well done gentlemen and thanks to Kilmore AC for their efforts hosting the race.
Mick Murphy 4 mile
Ferns was the destination on Saturday evening as athletes arrived for the popular 4 mile run around the village. A well known route which is well organized by SBR AC attracting athletes from all over the county and even beyond. 4 club members travelled up to run and luckily the predicted heavy rain held off.
Martin Kelly was our first member across the line in 28.58, Michael Kinsella not far behind in 29.51, next up John Dier crossed in 32.45 & completing the club interest newcomer Sarah Bermingham crossed the line in 35.50.
Nice to see the recent training paying off in the results, well done lady & gentlemen.
Clonmel Half Marathon
Early start yesterday morning for the lads heading to Clonmel as the race started at 10am. Lovely weather conditions for the first half as the route followed some quite country roads before the temperature increased as the race hit the Blueway for the 2nd half. Dermot Foley, Darren O'Grady & Enda O'Sullivan were joined on the Road trip by incoming member Brian Smyth for the race , a very scenic and enjoyable route.
Well done gents.
Oylegate Half Marathon & 10k
A fine day yesterday a race as members took a spin to Oylegate to run the 10k and Half Marathon Routes. Most drove up but Tony Harpur decided to cycle up as a warm up, race finishing 6th & 1st M40 then cycling home again.
Tony Harpur, Eamon Foley, John Dier, Sharron Dier & Bridie McGuire all competed well over the 10k route.
Jesse Kielthy & David Clancy were our competitors over the Half Marathon route which was 2 laps of the 10k route.
Another well organized event, well done everyone.
The Irish European Championship team has been announced to travel to Munich and Leon Reid has been selected on the 4x100m team.
Congratulations Leon.
On July the 31st, the National League day 2 was held in the Carlow SETU Campus and luckily the weather was kind so a really enjoyable experience for athletes.
Although the club did not have teams competing this year we had 4 athletes competing in the guest races.
Aaron Tierney Smith was at it again in his new favourite event the 400m coming home 1st with a time of 50.21
Clodagh Dunbar shot out of the blocks to come home 1st in the 200m in 26.74 and also ran the 100m in 13.19 for a 3rd place finish
Michael Deady ran the 100m in 12.04 for 5th place in Heat 2
Conor Wilson also ran the 100m coming home 2nd in Heat 2 in 11.43
Great to see the crew competing so well, congratulations to you all and thanks to those who officiated.
On Sunday morning the 2nd of August, the Leo Carthy weekend in Our Lady's Island hosted their 6k race. A good surface on a nice 3k loop saw runners take on the loop twice. John Dier & Bridie McGuire were our 2 finishers and Sharron Dier took on 1 loop on the morning.
Well done
On August the 3rd, the last of the summer racing for these two as they travelled up to Lucan for the Dublin Graded meet.
Michael Deady who normally races 100m & 200m stepped up to 400m and was very happy with his 57.84 which saw him home in 2nd spot for his run.
Clodagh Dunbar was also tackling the 400m and she showed her form claiming a pb for herself as she came home in 2nd with a 60.12 (so close to breaking the 60)
Consistent training pays off and these two are testament to that, well done to you both.
The Celtic Warrior weekend of racing took place in the County of Westmeath last weekend and our own Tony Harpur headed up to take on the 1/2 Warrior event which is a half iron man distance of 1.9km swim, 90km on the bike followed by a half marathon 21km to finish. If you follow him on Strava he gives a very good and honest account of his race which was to say the least was eventful. Lost watches, wet gear, lack of coffee and sleep and the dreaded blisters all combined to make a memorable day out finishing 10th overall.
Well done Tony.
The Pink Rock 10k was held Sunday morning the 24th, hosted by St Joseph's AC on the far side of New Ross. The weather was nicer there than here in town and Paula Gondard 49.04 and Michael Kinsella 49.20 were pleased with their mornings workout.
Well done to you both.
On Saturday the 23rd at the Athletics Ireland Track and Field Games Mr. Consistent himself Conor Wilson clocked a time of 22.62 in the 200m.
He also ran 11.12 for 100m in his heat improving on that to 11.01 later in the day.
Good man Conor, well done
Kilmore welcomed athletes back to their scenic village as they hosted the Seafood Festival 5k on a very warm Saturday evening. 5 club athletes took part on the night on the 5 loop course. Roisín O'Reilly pushed hard and was rewarded as 1st lady home in the race. Paula Gondard and John Dier were together most of the race until John sprinted ahead in the latter part of the race yo finish just in front of Paula. Catherine O'Connor had a great run claiming the O55 ladies prize and Sharron Dier completed the club members competing on the night.
Well done guys n gals, thanks to our members who travelled to support and also to Kilmore AC for hosting.
At the Irish Life Health National Juvenile Championship 2 club athletes were competing over the weekend.
Oisín Carroll was competing in the U16 hammer and having won both the County and the Leinster golds threw really well finishing with a very creditable 6th place finish overall in his first National competition.
The multi event specialist Eimear Halpin who has been collecting medals all year was competing in 2 U19 events. In the 400m hurdles she claimed a well earned 4th position and in the discuss she threw well to cement an equally well earned 5th place. An experienced competitor in any event she enters.
These are fantastic results from both athletes and just to qualify for Nationals is an achievement but to go and perform really well is a credit to both athletes and their coaches. Well done to you both.
The final day of the Mr Oil County Track & Field took place last Wednesday evening. Another fine evening for a track meet. A very enjoyable evening saw athletes step out of their normal events and try events they wouldn't normally have considered. Lovely to see people have an interest in so many events. Our athletes performed well on the night competing with a smile ( and maybe a grimace or two).
Dave Nolan ran well to finish 4th in the 200m unfortunately tweaking his hamstring, speedy recovery to Dave.
His daughter Anoushka Nolan won gold in the u19 200m, silver in the u19 800m, bronze in the u19 javelin and bronze in the senior 100m.
Róisín O'Reilly won gold in the senior 1500m.
Shane O’Neill won silver in the senior 100m.
Ilze Bedrite won silver in the O35 200m and bronze in the O35 3,000m.
Paula Gondard won bronze in the O50 200m and bronze in the O50 3000m.
Mary Gaynor won silver in the O50 200m and bronze in the O50 800m.
Micheal Halpin won gold in the O35 javelin and and silver in the senior javelin.
Catherine O'Connor won gold in the O50 200m, gold in the O50 javelin, silver in the O50 800m and silver in the O50 3000m.
Finally our senior 4x100m relay team of Anoushka Nolan, Mary Gaynor Roisin O'Reilly & Ilze Bedrite won a silver medal. Great to see relay medals being won again by our athletes as it is an event we always promoted.
We had a lot of athletes taking on many different events some for the first time and all enjoyed the opportunity to try out and see congratulations to you all.
Martin Kelly recently travelled to Finland as part of the Irish Masters team competing in the World Masters Track & Field. He was doubling up on 800m and 1500m. He comfortably made the 800m final and ran well in the final. His preferred event was the 1500m and he made the final with an excellent last run made 9th place overall.
Congratulations Martin Kelly.
On July the 6th the Dublin Graded Meeting 6 took place and 2 club members travelled to compete in Tallaght. On the track at competition time there was a nice headwind facing athletes. Michael Deady hit the blocks for the 200m, his first for a while and was very happy with his 2nd in his heat.
Fresh from storming to a county gold 200m Clodagh Dunbar was back for another 200m and she was also very happy with her 2nd place in her heat.
Well done guys.
On Sunday the 3rd of July at the Athletics Ireland All Ireland Juvenile Track & Field in Tullamore we had 2 athletes in action in the under 14 javelin.
Elijah Page Redmond who had previously won Leinster silver took an All Ireland bronze home while his training partner Josh Nolan who had previously won Leinster bronze finished in a very creditable 11th place.
Thanks to their coaches and also to their parents for bringing them to events.
Great to see young talent coming up through the club.
On Friday the 1st of July the Menapians AC 5k Road Race made a welcome return to the quite roads around Park in Wexford Town. Luckily the rain that poured all afternoon eased just in time leaving nice running conditions for the 49 runners who took to the start line at 7.30. The pace was hot from the start at the front as Dave Mahon set his intentions out from the gun and lead the race from start to finish. Ciara Brady set off on a mission and ensured she was first lady home with a splendid run.
Huge thanks to all who entered and the talk afterwards was of a well organized event.
Results:
Men
1st Dave Mahon Slaney Olympic 15.52
2nd David Callaghan Adamstown (Tallaght) 16.51
3rd Kevin Morris Croghan 18.02
Ladies
1st Ciara Brady 19.20
2nd Maura Neville Slaney Olympic 24.09
3rd Ann Marie Doyle Slaney Olympic 24.59
Full race results on link below.
Huge thanks also to all our sponsors without whom our event wouldn't have happened.
On Wednesday evening the 29th of June saw night 1 of the Mr. Oil Senior Track & Field Championships taking centre stage at the Sports Hub in Enniscorthy with the weather being pleasant enticing athletes to race. We had a crew competing some for the first time, some regulars and some returning after taking a break from athletics and all performing really well on the night. People stepped in and competed in events that they normally wouldn't have thought they could and surprised themselves. Club results are as follows :
At U18 Ailbhe White took gold in 100m and gold in shot putt
At U19 Eimear Halpin took gold in 100m, gold over 400m and silver in the shot putt.
In the O35 category :
Ilze Bedrite took bronze in the 100m and silver in 1500m.
Michael Halpin took gold in the shot putt.
In the O50 category :
Paula Gondard took bronze in the 100m and silver in 400m.
Catherine O’Connor took gold in the 1500m.
In the Senior races :
Clodagh Dunbar took gold in 200m.
Roisín O'Reilly took silver in the 3000m.
Rob Casey took bronze in the 200m.
Tony Harpur took gold in the 400m and bronze in the 1500m.
Michael Halpin took silver in the shot putt.
Finally the relays to finish the nights competition saw 3 teams representing the club.
In the ladies race Elaine McMahon, Catherine O'Connor, Paula Gondard & Ilze Bedrite were 4th and Clodagh Dunbar, Roisín O'Reilly, Eimear Halpin & Ciara Dolan won silver.
In the Men's race Tony Harpur, Michael Halpin, Rob Casey & Nathan Murphy won silver.
Fantastic to see relay teams brining medals to the club.
A very respectable medal haul from our athletes and looking forward to night 2 on Wednesday 6th July.
Photos courtesy of Wexford Athletics.
