Mr Oil County Masters Road Race.
Davidstown was the destination on a sunny and warm Friday evening for the counties club athletes. A popular and competitive race every year with age category medals added to the individual & team medals on offer.
Fantastic to see all the club colours on display.
A testing route awaited eager athletes and our 8 ladies & 6 men all ran very well on the night. The ladies as is the norm were first to race and their distance was 4k. A blistering pace from the whistle and Ilze Bedrite 13th was our first member over the line closely followed by Mary Gaynor 14th, Catherine O'Connor 15th, Helen Sinnott 20th, Louise Henderson 21st, Sharron Dier 25th, SamanthaDonegan 26th & Siobhan Doyle 27th. Ladies were 4th team overall.
Next up with a 6k distance were the men and Tony Harpur 18th was our first member over the line with Rob Casey 37th, Tadhg Henderson 43rd, Michael Kinsella 44th, John Dier 46th & Liam Carroll 47th all having good runs on the night. Men's team were in 7th place overall.
In the age categories we had the following medallists:
O50 Helen Sinnott silver, Samantha Donegan bronze.
O55 Mary Gaynor gold, Catherine O'Connor silver, Sharron Dier bronze
O60 Siobhan Doyle silver.
A super haul of medals, well done to each of you.
Thanks to County Board and hosts Slaney Olympic on another well organised county race and thanks to those who travelled to support our athletes.
Thanks to Aoife Lyng Photos and Sportsphoto Ireland for their photos which are posted on their respective pages.
Mile Marker Kilkenny.
Tony Harpur was in action again today as he competed in his 3rd weekend event in 3 days. Masters on Friday, Triathlon on Saturday and today he was running the 10 mile event in Kilkenny - Mile Marker. The event took place on the roads around Danesfort Co Kilkenny and Tony showed no signs of tiredness as he battled his way to 8th place overall in a fantastic time of 1:06:33 .
Congratulations Tony.
Portumna Forest Half Marathon
Enda O'Sullivan added another half marathon to his collection yesterday. He travelled up to Portumna to tackle the Portumna Forest Half Marathon , a very scenic route through the forest.
He completed it in 2:03 inching ever closer to the 2 hour mark, won't be long now Enda.
Congratulations.
Hook or by Crook Triathlon
3 of our club members took on a slightly different event today. All 3 were competing in the Hook or by Crook triathlon which took place in the sea and on the roads all around the beautiful Dunmore East.
Well done to Helen Wallace, Tony Harpur & Tadhg Henderson (Tony & Tadhg both also ran the Mr Oil Masters 6k the night before).
Athy Triathlon / Dublin Women’s Mini Marathon.
A busy weekend for Mr & Mrs Dier as they both took on 2 different events on 2 different days in 2 different counties.
Firstly on Saturday John was taking on a triathlon in Athy finishing with a great time of 1 hour 18 mins.
On to Sunday and it was Sharrons turn as she completed the VHI Dublin Women's mini marathon which she completed in 1 hour 7 minutes.
Well done to you both and enjoy the recovery.
Slaney Olympic My Sport Summer League. Ballagh 4 mile
A superbly sunny and warm evening for our 4 who took part in the 4 Mile as part of Slaney Olympic Athletic Club Summer League.
Well organised as always, many thanks to Slaney Olympic for organising these events.
Club results:
Tadhg Henderson 30.20
Michael Kinsella 33.49
Helen Sinnott 36.17
Louise Henderson 37.44
Leinster Junior/Senior/Masters Championships.
There was superb weather conditions over the weekends Leinster Championships which were held in the SETU Carlow campus. Our athletes were busy across a range of events with Tracey & Ilze competing at Leinster for the first time and impressing on their debut !
On Saturday Catherine O'Connor won the W55 1500m with a great run.
Martin Kelly shows age is no barrier with a win in the M65 1500m.
RoisÃn O'Reilly running under the UCD colours was impressive as she continues to show her class while winning the 1500m.
Day 2 on Sunday saw RoisÃn return to grab silver over 3000m.
Not to be outdone Catherine returned and won the W55 3000m, a great weekend for Mother & Daughter.
Ilze Bedrite doubled up for 200m & 800m as she made her Leinster debut, running W45 and finishing just outside medals with 5th over 200m & 4th over 800m.
Tracey Nolan also making her Leinster debut doubled up on discus & hammer. Throwing in W45 she was 3rd in hammer and also 3rd in discus.
Congratulations to all our athletes and thanks to everyone who travelled and officiated on both days.
Great to see these such performances put in, well done to each of you.
Photos courtesy of Perri Williams Photography
Leinster Schools.
Elijah Page Redmond competed for his school St Peter’s College in the Leinster schools Track & Field last Wednesday. He was competing in the Junior Javelin. He was in third position right up to the last round of throws where he unfortunately he was edged into 4th place.
A super result and so close to claiming a medal, well done to Elijah.
Mr Oil County Senior Road Race / Mr. Oil County Championships Day 3 / C.B.S. 5k run.
C.B.S. 5k run.
The C.B.S held their fundraising 5k run on Sunday morning. Funds raised are split between their amazing Autism unit and their Zambia scheme, both excellent reasons to support the run.
Great support for this event from our club members. Well done to the organisers as everything went well from start to finish, they even managed to keep the rain at bay. Loads of marshals dotted around the course and even a cheering squad at Tesco traffic lights to boost runners up the final hill. These fundraining runs for some runners are a speed session and a chance to run with and against their clubmates and members of other clubs.
A testing route from the school all uphill towards Joyce's and then easing downhill to Tesco traffic lights before a little uphill to finish in the school grounds. A welcome cup of tea and coffee was provided with refreshments for everyone.
3rd Brian Smyth 19:07
11th Dermot Foley 20:11
20th Josh Nolan 21:47 (4th male student)
29th Paula Gondard 23:05
33rd John Dier 23:34
68th Samantha Donegan 29:51
78th Darren O'Grady 31:57
86th Sharron Dier 35:26
91st Jesse Kielthy 36:45
104th Bridie McGuire 42:23
Also out marshaling on the course we're Elaine & Carol.
Missing from photo is Samantha Donegan and our mascot was Jesse young daughter.
Mr. Oil County Championships Day 3
Day 3 of the County Championships saw a great turnout from the club with 15 athletes arriving to the track in Enniscorthy. Weather conditions were mostly favourable for competitors with just one rain shower, otherwise pleasant if cool.
Our youngest athletes on the day in the Under 10’s category were Chloe Carroll and Benny Lonergan. Both competed well in their 60m sprints and Chloe was in good form in the long jump.
We had 2 each of girls and boys in Under 12’s: Sophie Fortune competing in four events - 60m hurdles, 60m sprint, long jump and shot putt, Estee Lonergan in long jump and shot putt, Sonny Lowney in 60m hurdles, shot putt and long jump, and Leon Spudic in long jump. All put in really great performances.
Rory Henderson and Fiachra Mehigan made up the Under 14’s representation from the club, with both taking part in 75m Hurdles, 80m Sprint and long jump, while Rory gave shot putt a try and Fiachra went for the longer 800m middle distance race. Well done boys.
The under 15’s group were in flying form coming home with 10 medals between them. Half of those went to Elijah Paige-Redmond who won gold in the 200m sprint, 80m hurdles and triple jump, and silver in high jump and the 800m middle distance. Lorcan Carroll completed admirably in the high jump, 200m sprint, and 80m hurdles. Meanwhile training pals Orla Dolan and Meabh McCormack did battle in the 80m hurdles with Orla winning silver and Meabh bronze; Maeve also got bronze in High Jump and gold for Orla in the triple jump with both competing in each event. Alex Lonergan won silver in triple jump and performed well also in 200m sprint and the 800m middle distance races.
Zac Dee was the club’s sole representative in under 16’s. Zac started very well with a bronze in high jump and moved on next to the 100m hurdles. A fall during the race didn’t stop him coming home with bronze, it did however spell the end of the day’s events for the athlete unfortunately. We wish Zac a speedy recovery and well done on his performances today.
Lucas Paige-Redmond took gold in the Under 17’s sprint of 200m, and competed well in the 800m middle distance.
All and all a successful conclusion to this year's Mr. Oil Wexford County Championships. Thanks to all who helped out on the day including all of the volunteers from various clubs across the county and Wexford Athletics for organising. Special thanks also to our own club members who gave up their time over two weekends to volunteer and without whom Menapians AC could not participate - officials: Catherine O’Connor, Pádraig Kelly, Helen Sinnott, Siobhán Doyle and Senan O’Reilly, coaches: Liam Carroll, Ellen Cullimore, Louise Henderson and Tadhg Henderson. Thanks also to John Dier for help with setup.
Mr Oil County Senior Road Race
The scenic and historic village of Ferns was Friday nights venue where SBR were the kind hosts as the Co Board hosted the Mr Oil Senior RR.
A fantastic turnout and in particular the ladies who had 8 running. A warm evening with the sun shining awaited runners and supporters alike all looking forward to 2 competitive races. Great to see so many club vests on display from all clubs, some new designs, some older designs, all showing everyone which club the wearer represents.
On a very well known route to the runners the race started under the watchful eye of Ferns Castle with the ladies off at 7pm on the 5k loop once around the course.
Paula Gondard 26th, Helen Wallace 28th, Mary Gaynor 29th, Ilze Bedrite 31st, Catherine O'Connor 32nd, Sarah Bermingham 37th, Louise Henderson 39th & Helen Sinnott 40th all proudly wore the club vest running excellent races.
Next up the mens race with only the one entrant from the club. Tony Harpur 42nd drove from Larne straight to Ferns to compete showing great determination to represent the club. The men's race was 2 loops of the course making up the 10k distance with Tony running a very good race including a sprint finish.
All nine of you should be really proud, well done to Tony, Paula, Helen, Mary, Ilze, Catherine, Sarah, Louise & Helen.
Thanks to the County Board, SBR, all involved in marshaling etc and our supporters on the night.
Photos courtesy of Aoife Lyng Photos & John Dier.
The South Leinster Schools T&F / Wexford Marathon Festival of Running / Mr. Oil County Juvenile Championships
Day Two of the Mr. Oil County Juvenile Championships
Enniscorthy Sports Hub was the venue for day 2 as 20 young Menapians were in action and for some of these athletes it was their first time competing for the club.
Lucas Page Redmond took part in U17 sprints and javelin. He took gold in sprints and medalled in the javelin.
Zac Dee took bronze in U16 hurdles and also medalled in the javelin.
Elijah Page Redmond had a great day bringing home medals in U15 hurdles,sprints, long jump, javelin and shot putt.
Alex Lonergan medalled in the 1500 meters.
Orla Dolan made the final of the U15 100 metres.
Maebh Mccormack medalled in the U15 Javelin.
Fiachra Mehigan competing in his first county championships came 4th in the U14 1500 metres.
Jack Kinsella competed in the 100 metres sprint.
Rory Henderson competed in the 100 metres sprint and high jump at U14.
The club was well represented at U12 with Amy Conde, Kelly Cousins, Abbie Donovan, Este Lonergan, Sophie Fortune, Sophia Rose Grant and Ruby Cleary all taking part in 100 metres sprint with Sophie Fortune reaching the semi final.
Leon Spudic was in action in the U12 100 metres, turbo javelin and long jump.
Sonny Lowney took bronze in the U12 High Jump.
Oisin Moran made the final of the U10 sprints .
Conor Donovan competed in U10 turbo javelin.
The final track event of the day was the boys U15 relay and a great team performance by Elijah, Alex, Rory and Fiachra and a fantastic display saw them take a gold medal. In further good news Alex, Elijah and Zac have been selected for the County Relay Teams for the Leinster Championships.
Well done to all who took part and thanks to all who helped out officiating and coaching and tganks to all the parents for bringing the athletes to Enniscorthy for the day.Day 3 of the County Championships will take place next Sunday May 14th in Enniscorthy with registration open from 10.15am.
Day 1 Mr Oil County Championships
Day 1 focuses on the throws and jumps and took place on Friday night with D.M.P. as the kind hosts.
Great to see club members showing interest in these events.
Liam Carroll won a double gold in the senior men's hammer & discus.
Catherine O'Connor won bronze in the senior women's long jump & placed 5th in the discus.
Tracey Nolan won silver in the senior women's hammer & won bronze in discus.
Lukas Page Redmond jumped into silver in the under 17 and senior long jump coming very close to breaking the 5 metre mark.
In the U15 hammer Alex Lonergan took gold while Lorcan Carroll took silver.
Congratulations to all our competing athletes, special mention to Alex, Lorcan, Liam and Tracey who were all competing in the throws events for the first time.
Thank you to our members who officiated on the night, the County Board, D.M.P. AC and all involved in the event.
Wexford Marathon Festival of Running
Jesse Kielthy set himself a challenge to tackle the 3 hour race in the Festival this year. Set in the stunning grounds of Johnstown Castle the race involved a 1km loop to be completed as many times within the time frame. Over the course of the 3 hours Jesse competed a total of 28.77km. Well done Jesse a true test of mental and physical stamina and congratulations to Wexford Marathon Club on a successful event.
South Leinster Schools Track & Field
The South Leinster Schools T&F took place at the superb SETU facilities on Thursday. Elijah Page Redmond and Alex Lonergan were both in action for St Peters Secondary School at Minor level.
Elijah was 2nd in the javelin throwing a new PB of 35m with his second throw. He also ran the 200m finishing strong for 3rd place. This qualifies Elijah to compete at the Leinsters.
Alex finished ran well for 3rd in the 100m heats and also competed at triple jump finishing in 4th overall.
Well done to both young men and best of luck to Elijah at the Leinsters.
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.
