Belfast Marathon 2023 / Taghmon Handball Club 5k
Belfast Marathon 2023.
Report by Eamonn Foley about his marathon run :
Several thousand took part in the Belfast marathon which started out at Stormont Castle in perfect conditions. The route brought runners through Ormeau Park, then into the city centre and out towards the Falls and Shankill area before winding its way back to Ormeau Park to finish.
The course is fairly flat with one big hill around 30km. The people of Belfast turned out in their droves to support the runners and walkers (I heard Keep Her Lit at least twenty times). I was pleased to get the first half done in about 1hr 55mins but took the pace down the second half to come in at 4:18. I enjoyed the banter along the route with the people of Belfast full of characters and would recommend it as one to do.
Congratulations Eamonn.
Taghmon Handball Club 5k
A return of a run to Taghmon village was welcomed by over 120 runners and walkers on May Bank Holiday Monday. The club approached our club captain John for assistance and together they organised a very good event which hopefully will remain on the calendar in future years. Great to see so many clubs well represented showing there is a hunger for these events again after all the covid restrictions from previous years. A challenging route with inclines early and late on the route and a well marshalled course. Congratulations to all runners today and it was good to see a large number of our members taking part today.
Results :
Brian Smyth 20:26
Dermot Foley 20:29
Rob Casey 20:43
Martin Kelly 22:14
Fran Power 22:54
Paula Gondard 23:29
John Dier 25:08
Tadhg Henderson 25:37
Darren O'Grady 25:42
Ollie Stack 29:08
Gráinne Hayes 32:44
Sharron Dier 34:41
Siobhan Doyle 38:23
Pettitts Wexford Half Marathon & 10k
Some rain showers overnight thankfully cleared on Sunday morning as a large group of our members gathered on Wexford Quay awaiting the start of the Half Marathon which was quickly followed by the 10k start. Over 1600 people stood on the start line aover both events, a fantastic turnout. A well known route for both races but a fresh team running the show with Bear Races now the organisers of the popular event. A fantastic effort by all with happy faces and smiles hiding any pains. A few were completing their very first Half Marathon, well done Enya & Sarah. Some PB times too for the more seasoned runners, well done David, Samantha, Rob, Helen & Liam. Thanks to all our supporters today, it was appreciated by all who ran.
Half Marathon results: (chip times in brackets)
Tony Harpur 1:28.18 (1:28.11)
Rob Casey 1:39.01 (1:38.45)
Dermot Foley 1:39.03 (1:38.47)
Jesse Kielthy 1:43.22 (1:42.53)
Gavin Hayes 1:46.31 (1:44.34)
Tadhg Henderson 1:51.11 (1:49.17)
Helen Wallace 1:53.33 (1:51.38)
David Clancy 2:02.02 (1:59.27)
Enya Byrne 2:08.50 (2:05.46)
Enda O'Sullivan 2:09.58 (2:08.03)
Mary Cronin 2:13.28 (2:10.53)
Sarah Bermingham 2:13.37 (2:13.14)
10k results: (chip times in brackets)
Martin Kelly 46.01 (45.59)
Paula Gondard 48.51 (48.41)
Eamonn Foley 49:53 (47.30)
Ilze Bedrite 52.27 (52.16)
Mary Gaynor 52.49 (52.49)
John Dier 53.26 (54.00)
Fran Power 55.45 (53.32)
Paul O'Meara 55.45 (55.45)
Darren O'Grady 56.20 (54.08)
Ollie Stack 1:00.54 (58.36)
Louise Henderson 1:02.56 (1:00.43)
Sharron Dier 1:10.06 (1:09.32)
Liam Carroll 1:11.18 (1:08.37)
Samantha Donegan 1:11.18 (1:08.35)
Bridie McGuire 1:30.57 (1:28.42)
Kippure 10k / Manchester Marathon
Manchester Marathon
Brian Smyth took a short flight to Manchester to tackle the Manchester Marathon which took place today. In only his 2nd ever marathon Brian completed his run in 3hrs 28 min 11 seconds which was 7 minutes faster than his first one.
Another example of consistently training towards an end goal.
Congratulations Brian.
Kippure 10k
Well done to Ilze Bedrite who took on a trail race for the first time today. A tough route taking in Kippure Mountain in the Wicklow Mountains Ilze ran well to complete the course in 1:11.25.
Consistent training pays off.
Congratulations Ilze.
Torun Poland M65 1500M World Masters / Streets of Kilkenny 5k / Fighting Cocks 5k, Carlow / Wexford Tri Club 10k
Wexford Tri Club 10k
16 members headed to Rosslare for the Easter Monday Wexford Tri Club 10k which has become a popular event on most people's calender. An uncertain weather forecast and dark gloomy skies early in the morning thankfully held off and a bright few hours awaited the starters whistle. The well known 2 loops of 5km is a fair course and approx 250 people took off up the first incline. The atmosphere was superb as the marshals and supporters encouraged each and every athlete as they made their way around the 10k.
Full club results :
Dermot Foley 43:14
Jesse Kielthy 45:35
Martin Kelly 45:00
Eamonn Foley 48:16
Micheal Kinsella 48:28
Paula Gondard 49:39
Helen Wallace 50:35
Sinead Morris 52:53
Fran Power 55:45
Sarah Bermingham 55:46
Darren O'Grady 55:47
Sharron Dier 1:11.32
Samantha Donegan 1:12.49
Siobhan Doyle 1:17.31
Bridie McGuire 1:31.18
Speedy recovery to John who took the correct decision to stop his race after he unfortunately picked up a slight injury.
Thanks to everyone who made the trip down to support our members.
Fighting Cocks 5k, Carlow
Three club members took a drive to our neighbouring county Carlow to run the Fighting Cocks 5k. A really well organised event which attracts runners from near & far.
Fran Power had a fantastic run and improved on his PB for 5k with a run of 21:22 finishing in 18th place.
Ollie Stack was our next member after an injury lay off running a nice and steady 29:30 and our 3rd member Gráinne Hayes was happy with her run this morning clocking 32:13.
Great to see the club vest making an appearance at this event, well done.
Streets of Kilkenny 5k
The historic city of Kilkenny was Thursday evenings location for a 5k race which began and finished under the imposing structure we all know as Kilkenny Castle.
Brian Smyth was our man in black and red joining 896 others on the run with almost 350 athletes under 20 mins, a very quick race indeed.
Brian ran an impressive 19:01 to be 230th over the finish line, a superb run well done.
Torun Poland M65 1500M
Martin Kelly travelled to Torun in Poland where the World Masters was being held. He was competing in the M65 1500m where he ran well in a time of 5:31.61 to finish a very creditable 6th place just missing out on a place in the final.
Well done Martin, great to see you flying the flag.
123.ie National Juveniles / Hope & Dreams 2023
Hope & Dreams 2023
The annual Hope & Dreams event took place around the roads of Enniscorthy in superb running conditions yesterday morning offering runners an option of 10k or a longer 10 mile route. Good to see a good group of Menapians athletes supporting such a good cause.
Great result in the 10k as Paula Gondard was 3rd lady home, congratulations Paula.
10k results
16th Paula Gondard 50:19
25th John Dier 53:15
33rd Gareth Lloyd 55:16
156th Sharron Dier 1:14:20
220th David Clancy 1:21:15
354th Bridie McGuire 1:35:54 .
In the longer 10 mile run we had 1 nember running a superb run for 17th place
10 mile results
17th Brian Smyth 1:06:31 .
Well done to all club members today.
123.ie National Juveniles
The 123.ie National Juveniles took place over the weekend and we had 1 representative who had qualified.
Elijah Page Redmond had qualified for the 60m & the shot putt events in U15.
As the shot putt event was taking place they were called for the 60m race where he ran in Lane 1 with a time of 7.83 seconds for 6th in his Heat and a new pb time.
He then returned to throw and finiashed in 10th place with 10.56m.
Well done Elijah, it is an achievement just to get to Nationals so congratulations on your performance.
Forth Mountain Trail Run
This event was held for the 2nd year last Saturday the 25th after a very successful event last year. Starting and finishing at the beautiful Barntown Church and taking in a large section of the well maintained trainls of Forth Mountain passing such well known landmarks as Drooping Rock, Skeeter Rock, Carrigfoyle Lake and the Battlefield site as runners completed a very scenic 13k route.
Well done to Mary Cronin, Gareth Lloyd and friend of the club Sinead Cleary who all put in an excellent effort on the day.
Mr. Oil County Intermediate Road Race
United Striders were the kind hosts yesterday as the County Board held the Mr. Oil Intermediate road race in Rathgarogue. The weather was as good as can be hoped for at this time of year as 6 ladies and 7 men from the club lined up to compete. A fair route was presented as ladies had 1 lap plus 1km and men had 2 laps plus 2km.
As is customary ladies were first up and our contingent of members Ilze, Mary, Catherine, Louise, Helen and Sharron each put in good runs showing their training is paying off.
Ilze Bedrite 15th 18.48
Mary Gaynor 18th 19.43
Catherine O'Connor 20th 19.48
Louise Henderson 30th 22.05
Helen Sinnott 31st 22.53
Sharron Dier 34th 26.01
Ladies were 4th team.
When the ladies race was complete the attention turned to the men's race where Tony, Brian, Dermot, Rob, Micheal, John and Darren all ran good races over the almost 3 lap route.
Tony Harpur 23rd 30.46
Brian Smyth 26th 31.45
Dermot Foley 34th 33.07
Rob Casey 41st 33.58
Micheal Kinsella 42nd 38.12
John Dier 48th 38.48
Darren O'Grady 49th 46.10
Men's were 8th team.
It was good to see so many club vests on the course today as we continue to build and encourage members into the County race series. Well done to all who competed.
Thanks to Siobhan, Fran & Liam for travelling up and it was good to see support from all clubs to all athletes, congratulations to all winners.
Finally thanks to the County Board and United Striders for their hospitality, another well organised event by all involved.
Team photos courtesy of Wexford Athletics.
Davy Fortune 5k
A staple on St Patrick's Day in Enniscorthy is the Davy Fortune 5k which takes place in the morning time as the Enniscorthy parade takes place in the afternoon. 2 members ran the 5k, Sharron Dier ran 34:26 & John Dier ran 25:52.
Well done to you both.
The Great Gorey Run / Leinster Indoors, National Indoor Arena Abbotstown.
The Great Gorey Run
There were two options this morning in Gorey 5km or 10 mile. Eamonn Foley, Rob Casey and Jesse Kielthy decided it was 10 miles for them and had superb runs to finish in 1:13:42 for Rob finishing position of 31st place and 1:14:33 for Jesse finishing in 35th place and Eamonn in 1:22:17 finishing in 69th place.
Well done Eamonn, Rob and Jesse who have trained consistently and showed steady improvements over the last year.
Leinster Indoors, National Indoor Arena Abbotstown.
A huge well done to all our athletes who were busy competing in Abbotstown at the Leinster Indoors over the weekend.
Our Senior 4x400m relay team of Helen Wallace, Ilze Bedrite, Mary Gaynor & Catherine O'Connor ran 5:36.65 and claimed the silver medal.
Catherine was also very busy competing in O55 weight for distance throwing 3.83m and claimed a Silver medal for herself and claimed gold in O55 1500m with a 6:29.73, well done.
Also congratulations to Sarah Louise Carr who was competing in the Junior ladies weight for distance and threw a number of pb's finally hitting 5.89m for another fantastic Silver medal. Congratulations Sarah.
On Sunday our U15 boys were running the 4x200m relay gaining some valuable track experience. The recently formed team of Elijah Page Redmond, Alex Lonergan, Josh Nolan, Lorcan Carroll & Rory Henderson had a good run in 1:58:02 and were unfortunate not to make the final missing out by 1 place. Well done boys.
Thanks to Padraig, Mick, Tracey and Catherine for their time officiating and coaching over the 2 days and thanks to the boys parents for taking the time to travel up.
International Women's Day
On the 8th of March International Women's Day is celebrated as we celebrate the fantastic women in our lives.
On the 7th of March we photographed some of our women who were about to begin their training session.
Celebrate the women in your life and the achievements they have accomplished.