Mr Oil County B Championships. / Ballymurn 5 mile. / Viking Half Marathon & Quarter Marathon. / The Metalman Triathlon
Mr Oil County B Championships.
A lovely summers evening greeted all athletes at the Mr Oil County B Championships at Enniscorthy Sports Hub. The Club was well represented by athletes at Under 10 and Under 12. First event of the night saw Leon Spudic competing in the U12 Long Jump claiming a medal. Benny Lonergan U 10 took part in the 80 metres sprint followed by the Long Jump and Javelin. Conor Donovan competed in the U 10 Javelin. Another U 10 athlete Katie Walsh took part in her first County Championships making it to Sprint final. Katie also competed in Long Jump and Javelin. Estelle Longeran competing at U 12 took part in Long Jump,Sprint, Middle Distance, Javelin and Relay events. Amy Conde competed in U 12 Long Jump, Sprints. Middle Distance, Javelin and Relay events. Abbie Donovan competed in U12 Long Jump,Sprints and took a medal in Mixed Relay event. Sophie Fortune competed in U 12 Long Jump and took a medal in her Sprint final and added another medal in the Mixed Relay event. Ciara Walsh was also competing in her first County Championships and made it to Sprint final at U 12. Ciara also competed in Long Jump, Javelin, Middle Distance and Mixed Relay events.
An enjoyable night was had by all and special thanks to Parents, Coaches and Club officials who also attended on the night.
Ballymurn 5 mile.
The 2nd installment of the Slaney League took place in Ballymurn on Friday evening. A testing 5 mile route on a warm evening as 4 of our ladies travelled up to run.
Paula Gondard 40:32 , Helen Sinnott 46:41, Louise Henderson 49:34 & Sam Donegan 52:59 all ran well and we're all smiles afterwards for the photographer.
Well done ladies.
Viking Half Marathon & Quarter Marathon.
The historic Waterford City was the destination for our members as they hit the road early for the Viking event. 2 distances were of interest: Half marathon & Quarter Marathon.
With a start time of 9am it was surprisingly very warm out on the course.
In the Quarter Marathon Louise Henderson 1:01:42 and Sinead Ryan 1:19:53 both had superb runs.
The Half Marathon distance was covered by Brian Smyth 1:37:52, Dermot Foley 1:43:10, Gavin Hayes 1:46:12, Eamonn Foley 1:48:27, Jesse Kielthy 1:51:48 & Enda O'Sullivan 2:15:05 all running great runs.
Well done to everyone. Brilliant to see so many running this event.
The Metalman Triathlon.
Our club member Tadhg Henderson recently put a huge effort into training for a Half Ironman, read his experience below.....
Who knew that Metal is harder than Iron?
4:10am on a Saturday, great! I'd woken up 5 minutes before the alarm and would be able to get out without disturbing the rest of the house. Nervous excitement rising I took a look out the window. The early predawn light meant I could see that it was not raining if a bit windy. The day was here. A year's training would culminate in the race of my season today: The Metalman Triathlon in Tramore. After a quick breakfast and coffee made in the travel mug, I got kitted out for the day's event. Tri suit on, car already packed the night before I jumped in and pointed the car for Waterford ready to take on a 1.9km swim, followed by a tough but scenic 90km bike and finishing with the infamous 21.1km run in the hills around Tramore. 10 minutes into the drive, the heavens opened with a torrential downpour. Now I don't have a religious bone in me but I found myself praying for no rain on the bike! Nothing would be worse than cycling up hills into driving rain! Anyway a few minutes later and all was dry again. Phew! Arriving at Tramore got the car parked and asked a marshal where registration was, to be told it didn't open until 6am. I'd arrived an hour earlier than I needed to! Anyway not to worry, it gave me time to set up my bike and kit for the two transitions. I decided then to walk towards registration and wait for it to open only to see people with goodie bags coming back already. Great! Or not… I overheard some people talking and it seemed the swim was off due to rough sea conditions! Disaster! I had worked so hard at my swimming and made so much progress, this was a real disappointment. Anyway the Coast Guard made the call and as soon as I saw the sea, it was clearly the right call, it would have been unsafe. So just bike and run then. The bike course followed the main road out of Tramore down to Dungarvan, then back along the undulating Copper Coast Geopark to Tramore. We had a stiff headwind on the ordinarily faster first half of the spin, with some very challenging climbs in the second half. All things considered I was very happy to complete the 90km in just over 3 hours, almost 30 kmh average pace. Delighted to get off the bike and stretch the legs, I took off out of transition like a hare but very quickly realised that this was no sprint! Clocking an elevation gain of 241 metres over the half marathon distance this was the hardest road race I've ever done! To put it in context, that's more elevation than the Dublin Marathon, a race not known for being flat. But worst of all was the heat. Could really have done with that rain shower now! I refused to walk at any point pushing and pushing in fear that if I did stop I'd never get going again! A long long slog and 2 hours 5 minutes later I finally could hear the finish line! At last I'd done it. Someone stuck a medal on me and shoved a banana in my hand. Total time 5 hours 13 minutes, which sounds great for me for a half iron distance race, but no swim remember! Still that swim has to be done. Roll on next year when hopefully I'll get the full event!
Mr Oil County Senior Relays. / Leinster Juveniles 2023. / Glynn 5k.
Glynn 5k
Father's Day didn't deter our road runners from making their way to Glynn today to run the very popular 5k fundraiser in the village. Lovely warm weather compared to the downpours they ran in on Friday night. A nice course with a few hills to contend with followed by refreshments afterwards in the local village hall. What else is needed ?
One of our athletes was so organised he had no time to change so ran it in cargo shorts. Not mentioning any names but he was 13th !
Results :
13th Tony Harpur 20:08
17th Brian Smyth 20:48
38th John Dier 24:52
47th Sarah Bermingham 27:35
66th Sharon Dier 32:26
84th Siobhan Doyle 37:26
89th Bridie McGuire 42:39
99th Gareth Lloyd 47:33
Leinster Juveniles 2023 Day 2
The Leinster Juvenile Championships Day 2 saw our gang return for more competition after a good night's rest. After Saturdays great results they were confident and full of enthusiasm for the events ahead. A much more pleasant day for the spectator to sit back and enjoy a day of athletics.
Elijah Page Redmond was running U15 200m today and pushed hard from gun to tape and was duly rewarded with 1st place, gold medal.
Lucas Page Redmond was also running 200m today U17 and he also put in a huge performace being rewarded with a second place Silver medal.
Alex Lonergan was competing at U15 triple jump. A tough and technical event he outdid himself by setting a pb distance in a very competitive competition finishing in 7th place overall with a best jump of 8.32m
Congratulations to you all, a huge achievement.
The club are very proud of how our athletes performed over the two days and again many thanks to those parents giving up their time allowing athletes to compete. A word of thanks to the juvenile coaches who give their time freely every week to coach and also a mention to Padraig Kelly for officiating at the event.
Leinster Juveniles 2023 Day 1.
The Leinster Juvenile Championships were on in Tullamore on Saturday. A perfect day for competitors as the rain if the previous day cleared. However there were showers and thundery skies at times during the day.
Elijah Page Redmond, Lucas Page Redmond, Josh Nolan & Alex Lonergan were all in action.
Lucas took an excellent bronze in U17 100m. He went even better in the triple jump by taking home a gold medal.
Josh Nolan was in action in the u15 javelin throwing a new pb of 37.69m which earned him a bronze medal.
Elijah was 4th in the u15 javelin. He took an excellent silver in the 100m race.
The boys were then involved in the County team 4x100m relay with Alex Lonergan and Elijah running and Josh was sub as they ran a blistering lap claiming silver medals. The heavens opened during the race adding more difficulty to the changeovers but they ran superbly to finish in second.
Lucas was on the County u17 4x100m relay. A great performance saw them take silver medals.
Thanks to Tracey Nolan for looking after our athletes during the day and thanks also to the athletes parents for travelling up.
Mr Oil County Senior Relays.
The first staging of this event was held on the tar ambulance track around Wexford Racecourse on a very wet Friday evening. A fantastic team event encouraging participation of as many athletes as possible saw a great response despite the conditions. It was impressive to see all the club vests on display especially Taghmon AC who were competing for the first time at Senior.
Ladies as always were first on the line with Menapians AC fielding 3 teams of 3 who each had to run 1 x 1.5km lap. Superb running from all ladies in terrible conditions.
Teams :
Ilze Bedrite, Helen Wallace & Paula Gondard.
Catherine O'Connor, Sarah Bermingham & Helen Sinnott.
Louise Henderson, Siobhan Doyle & Sharron Dier.
Next to race were the men and we fielded 2 teams. Members 1 & 4 had 1x1.5km laps and members 2 & 3 had 2x1.5km laps to complete. Again superb running from each athlete saw and a brilliant bronze medal result for our men.
Teams :
Martin Kelly, Brian Smyth, Tony Harpur & Rob Casey. Bronze medal winners.
Micheal Kinsella, Alex Parris, Donal Grant & Tadhg Henderson.
The final race on the night was the much anticipated mixed relay with 2 ladies & 2 men on each team running 1 x 1.5km laps each in any order. 11 teams took to the start line and Menapians provided 4 of those teams. A great tactical event to watch as teams adopted different strategies saw brilliant running from everyone as the rain poured.
Teams :
John Dier, Sharron Dier, Louise Henderson & Tadhg Henderson.
Liam Carroll, Helen Sinnott, Catherine O'Connor & Donal Grant.
Ilze Bedrite, Helen Wallace, Brian Smyth & Tony Harpur.
Elaine McMahon, Sarah Bermingham, Alex Parris & Rob Casey.
Thank again to Wexford Racecourse for use of the grounds, County Board, our refreshments crew and all our supporters who braved the elements offering encouragement to all of our athletes.
A word of thanks to our club captain who arranged all our teams and also arranged the use of Wexford Racecourse.
Wishing Liam a speedy recovery, fingers crossed you will be running shortly.
Photos courtesy of sportsphoto ireland & Ollie Stack.
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.
Roisín 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 Roisín 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.