Race report by Packie Enright

Over the Easter break, there were two Sportsworld representatives (hailing from the Mid-West anyway) in Ennis Co Clare at the Eamon Moloney 10k. Now in its fifth year, it is part of the four race Run Clare 2018 series, with couch to 5k type intentions, aimed at getting people who may have never run much to complete four races over four months this Spring. Participants’ ultimate challenge will be to complete a 10 Mile run in Tuamgraney on Sunday week, and that is their challenge completed, having completed a 5k at the end of January.

Massive numbers attended it (around 1000), with around 35 of them breaking 40 mins. There was a pace setter for every five minute increment from 40-60 mins or beyond. Limerick’s Colm Turner won the race by over a minute in ~33 mins, while the women’s race was won by Iveragh AC’s Grace Lynch in ~36 mins. Our own Will Greensmyth gave a good account of himself too in 14^th running 37 mins, while I (Packie Enright) snuck inside the top one hundred.

Overall it was a very enjoyable day out on Easter Saturday morning, and a good way of setting up for the Church Holiday Weekend. Results are below, and full results are here.

Race report and photos by Neil Purdy

Bread rolls, sausages, black/white pudding, coleslaw, pasta salad, cookies, brownies, chocolate éclairs, applie custard tarts, hot cross buns, scones, macaroons, tea , coffee……

Oh sorry race report!!

The annual BHAA K-club 10k. (The k stands for Kildare, Eoin) was held on the 31^st March around the quiet back roads of the K-club in Straffan.

I was on site nice and early to pick up the race number and catch up with a few other sportworders. Andrew was quick off the mark to stitch me up with the race report duties with Eoin in ear shot.. ah yeah good man.

Race reporter Neil in action on Saturday

We were all keen to get going and get back for the food which was well built up at this stage by members who had raced previous years. I had a good look at the course map to see if there was any shortcuts back to the finish because no way Andrew, Mark, Diarmuid and anyone sub 40 were going to leave much food behind. Main goal now was to limit time between their finish and mine.

There was a few hellos exchanged with other club members before setting out for a small warm up before heading back to the start line to say bye to the better half and Diarmuids cat (Ask him about that!)

There was a brief race talk which we couldn’t hear, a quick 3,2,1 and off we went for 10k. Course led us outside the K-club grounds passing Conor McGregors house. Bit annoyed he couldn’t come out to his balcony and cheer me on, ill remember that for his next fight.

We then started in on two 4k laps before heading back to the K-club. I was tipping along and hoping to stay within sight of Adrian who quick enough disappeared, ah here!

Keeping a steady enough pace through the kms and was nearing the second pass of the water station when trying to grab a cup of water I managed to lose grip and basically throw it across my face. Quick look around and no one saw, win!

Last little push on the 1500 back towards the club, quick look to see if McGregor was out, nope..

Turning into the golf course for the last little down hill to the finish line, wait what’s this we are being turned off the road right, i didn’t prepare for this! After a small detour to take in the sights of a back car park we are directed back out to the finish line. Time to turn on the sprint for the crowd and the wife who will be at the finish line encouraging me in.. no one, nothing. She was inside tucking into the race food, unbelievable!

Not the worst time but not a PB today. Meeting up with Adrian and Eoin the cool down run was quickly dismissed. Change of clothes and time to smash the buffet. Maybe there will be a PB today after all.

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Catching up between bites everyone was happy with the race and organisation, including the cat who was happy out with her day out!

Sportsworld Results

Apologies if anyone is missed – we can’t search BHAA results by club

Andrew Brett 35.51
Mark Hogan 37.10
Diarmuid O’Suilleabhain 37.13
Michael Cunningham 37.48
Wesley Harrison 38.26
Ciara Brady 39.39 PB!
Adrian Lanigan 42.10
Sean Donegan 42.56
Neil Purdy 43.10
Eoin O’Brien 46.36
Paul Cassidy 47.58
Ray Carpenter 48.02
Lucy Darcy 48.19
Val Power 48.55
Maria Finnegan 50.04
Conor kenny 50.29
Sandra Kelly 50.29
Bronwyn murphy White 51.45
Trevor Lloyd 52.31
Sean O’Byrne 55.45

DUNBOYNE 4 MILE, SUNDAY 25TH MARCH 2018

COUNTY MEATH ROCKS!

Last Sunday, I was back on familiar grounds, as my husband Stephen and I arrived in Dunboyne to take part in the Dunboyne 4 Mile. Yep, I shuddered as we passed by the dreaded Cow Park, the scene of many a muddy battle against the elements during the cross-country season. But yesterday, we were greeted by a lovely blue sky and some heart-warming sunshineWould you believe that this was the 49th edition of this race? The organization is superb: plenty of car park spaces, toilets at the registration hall and the start of the race (it’s all in the little details), a nice t-shirt, pacers and last but not least a tub of flaxseeds/chia seeds for everyone in the audience – I know, right? And the atmosphere is very friendly and uplifting.

Having retrieved my number, I noticed that I was just ahead of Peter Somba from Dunboyne AC at the T-shirt table! For a fleeting moment, I did think that this could be a sign of great things for me on the day… However, it has to be said that after that, he was pretty much ahead of me all the way to the finish line.

About 600 runners toed the line for the 3 pm start. The course is really varied and interesting, and part of it winds its way through the countryside. It has roughly the shape of an 8, and we got to pass by the heart of the village twice, where small crowds were encouraging us all.

Not only did Peter Somba manage to stay ahead of me, but he actually won the race… He was followed by Mick Clohisey (Raheny Shamrock AC), William Maunsell (Clonmel AC) and Sean Hehir (Rathfarnham WSAF AC). It must have been a very exciting finish as there was only a couple of seconds between the first 3.

As we were making our way back to the registration hall surrounded by runners and supporters in high spirits, we heard some traditional Irish music through the PA system, and as we stepped in, there was an actual trad band playing away, while tea/coffee and lots of homemade goodies were served… We were truly impressed.

We’ll be back for the 50th edition.

PS: A word of warning to all of you wearing your singlets at a race… You may be lulled into a false sense of security, but beware, the rule seems to have changed, at least that’s what “Shady Mikey” has led me to believe… Nobody is safe from writing a race report… OK, I had no photographic evidence, but I swear I was wearing my singlet… (written by Niamh Cunningham)

                                          Niamh Cunningham (may not be a recent photo)

Results

Noel Tobin 24’35’’, second in his age category!

Helen Brouder 24’48’’

Laurence Delair 35’26’’

The Tralee International Marathon took place in Tralee in Co. Kerry on Paddy’s Weekend. The series of races including a 5k, 10k, half marathon and full marathon. Over the 4 races there was approximately 700 runners. It was a last minute decision by me to enter the race but decided to enter to keep myself out of trouble for some of the weekend.

Just when we thought the cold weather was gone the wind and the ice showers came back just on time for the weekend. The weather and cold is the only thing I can really complain about for this race. It took a lot to motivate myself to get out of the car but was greeted by a great surprise at the race registration. I was never so happy to see three familiar faces, my three Lanzarote roomies, Shona, Maura and Pete. The three had stopped off to do the race on their journey to Brennan’s.

Shona and Maura took part in the half marathon while Pete and I did the 10km. At the start line we also met a familiar face, Aidan Curran, who was also taking part in the half marathon.

The marathon and half marathon took off together at 9:30 and the 5k and 10k began at 10:00. The 10k consisted of two 5km loops. The course was relatively flat with one hill at the start which the 10k route plodded up twice. Other than the hill, the first half of the 5km loop was quick however when you turned to come back it was a different story with 2km of a strong head wind. The race looped around the Tralee Wetlands, passing Windmill and the aqua dome. I came across the line with a time of 39:10 which I was delighted with taking the wind into account. Shona crossed the line to finished first in the half marathon with Maura following shortly after in 5^th position. Pete and Aidan also finished strong and ran great races. Results below.

The Race was well organised and for anyone venturing down around Kerry in March 2019 I would recommend stopping off in Tralee and giving the race a go. It is a nice course, chip timed, nice t shirt and medal and there is a lovely café at the start / finish J

10km Results

1^st Sinead Tangney 39:10

49^th Pete Galvin 53:28

Half Marathon

1^st Shona Keane 01:25:37

5^th Maura Ginty 01:31:05

74^th Aidan Curran 01:39:45

Meath Spring Half Marathon (AKA Bohermeen AC Half Marathon)

Race report by Paul Hamilton, Burgers by Bunsen

I signed up for this race some time ago when planning my training for the Paris Marathon. There weren’t a lot of options at this time of the year for half marathons close to Dublin, but on the recommendation of a work colleague I completed the registration. There was the promise of a potato in the goody bag but unfortunately this never materialized.

On the morning of the race I was a bit nervous, as apart from the Leinster Cross Country race in January (which didn’t go well) I hadn’t completed any races since the Dublin Marathon last year. My training for Paris was going pretty well though and on Myles instruction I was to give this race a good go to see where I was. My nerves weren’t helped by the fact that after frantic searches I couldn’t find my Sportsworld singlet when getting my gear together 5 minutes before I headed out the door. I reassured myself that I wouldn’t be the only idiot not wearing the singlet and therefore in danger of having to pen this report. I suppose you can guess that yes I was the only one and I am an idiot.

The weather, which I had been keeping an eye on for the week, had promised to be good and it didn’t disappoint with the only negative a slight headwind in parts. The 10k was scheduled to start at 10.30am with the half at 11am. I met up with some of the large contingent of Sportsworld members running the race and we went for a good warm up before heading down to the start line.

As this race was also the Meath Half Marathon Championships the field had a lot very good club runners in attendance and the atmosphere on the day was excellent. I started the race just behind the 1.30 pacers with my plan trying to keep them in sight for as long as possible.  Someone had said that the course was flat but there were some sneaky inclines, which coupled with the headwind, made for a few tough spots in the race, but overall the course was good. I kept up a good pace throughout but struggled a little over the last kilometer. When I checked my splits at the finish I was delighted to find out that I had PB’ed for every distance from 10k up to half marathon.

The post mortem from any Sportsworld runners I met seemed to be very positive and there were quite a few PBs. Mark Ryan of Rathfarnham won the men’s race in 68.22 and Maria McCambridge won the lady’s race in 77.46. First home for Sportsworld was Martin Doyle with an impressive PB of 80.53. This was even more impressive when he told us that he had already eaten 5 and a ½ full size Mars bars that morning. Then it was time for what I thought was going to be a quick cool down before tucking into the ham sandwiches and goodies in the GAA club. But be aware. Do not go on a cool down with Martin and Diarmuid unless you want to add another 5k to your weekly kilometers.

A few of us met up later on in town to get our protein requirements and hydration needs met and a good night was had by all. Martin continued to fill us in on his ideal race day nutrition of red bull and mars bars and who am I to argue when you see the results its getting him.

Overall the race was very well organized and apart from a few cars on the road there was no issues and I would have no problem recommending it in the future.

I do my best to try and do some new races each year and with the opening of the brand new Abbotstown indoor track last year it was a good excuse to try indoor track running for the first time. The races over winter on a Thursday night were a great introduction to indoor track, they were professional, good atmosphere and everyone who went had someone to run/race against. The next logical progression was the Leinster indoors a couple of weeks ago and now for the big time, the national indoor masters in Athlone.

Unfortunately Derek Saville and Martin Keenan who have a lot of indoor track experience are out injured and Gareth is thinking of filing his emigration papers in America. So it was left to Catherine Eliott Mulleady and myself to fly the flag for Sportsworld. Neither of us had ran in Athlone or done the National Masters before but there was nothing to loose.

Catherine was up first in a tactical 1500m race were the race was controlled from the start to finish by Kelly Neely of City of Lisburn who finished in 4.53 but could of taken 20 seconds off that time if she had to but Nationals is not always about time its more about controlling the race and getting the medals. Catherine just missed out on a bronze coming in 4th place but every race you learn a bit more.

Pretty shortly later I was up. 7 in the race with 2 age categories so everyone knew there was an excellent chance at a national medal. The first couple of laps was fast but tolerable (3.27/Km) and everyone stayed in a very tight pack but then the pace increased to 3.20/Km and now you were working hard to stay in the pack but still no one was breaking away. What I’m learning about indoor 1500m is that the first 1100m you need to be working hard but comfortable the race only beings 400m to go. With 400m left, 2 laps, the pace went to 2.54/km. Your really tired at this stage but this is were the experts make there more, take their position and really push for home. At this stage my muscles were not getting enough oxygen, 400m to go felt like 400miles. I pushed as hard as I could but the medals positions were just 1 or 2 meters out of reach.

Catherine Eliott Muleady 1500m 5.28

Michael Cunningham 1500m 4.35

Indoor track is similar to outdoor track but it has it differences. Its definitely different to marathon training or cross country so if you like running you should give it a go. There are loads of masters runners in the club who have a real shot at getting National medals. All the times from the races can be found in the below link so when your training on the Tallaght track you can see how your times compare to those in the national indoor.

http://www.athleticsireland.ie/competition/results/