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Shamrock Rovers 5K Run

Report by Conor Kenny

Photos by Carmek Dolan


You don’t win a Blueberry Muffin Yankee Candle without feeling invincible and maybe that you were simply born to run 2 races in 2 days.

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Race reporter Conor in action 

Fresh from a fast run in the Tallaght 5K, Valerie Power was persuaded by the newly formed ‘Bank Holiday Sportsworld Team’ to run another 5K some 24 hours later after winning such an emotional spot prize. Her cohorts for this celebratory ‘lap of honour’ included new club signing and emerging track specialist Big Tall John, Speedy Sandra Kelly, Singalong Derrick Long, Claire ‘not ‘Clare’ from Mayo, Mz Blueberry Muffin and this writer.

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We assembled in the bejewelled Spawell car park fresh with the whiff of burning doughnut rubber, and trundled up to registration at Templeogue Football Club. It was interesting to say the least. Clearly The Premiership was casting a long arm into the minds of The Hoops Glitterati. There were more pearl white SUV’s than you’ve seen before. The air was thick with hairspray, men’s hairspray and the whiff of aftershave was strong. Amidst the glamour, we handed over our entry fee.

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As soon as we were outside, a photographer instantly started snapping wildly. We looked so uncool he clearly thought we were famous. He asked us who we were “Sportsworld” we said proudly. His jaw dropped and he went “uhhhhh”.

Derrick Singalong Long insisted we warm up on the race lap. Enroute, who did we run into but the very cool Carmel Dolan and her beautiful daughter, Lucy, who became our Number 1 fans. Out of the blue (and woods) came a perfectly timed Dave Clarke. Enough time to encourage us, but not enough to change and run. “It’s all about timing” he said.

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At the start, a man in the baggiest shorts, the whitest socks and the big beany hat was getting much attention. The Daily Echo Hack was back. Guilt had obviously got to him after his earlier “uhhhhh”. Without much ado, he pushed us into the bosom of this unknown man. Like good kids, we put our arms around one another and our new found friend. “Who is he?” asked one of our number “Damian Duff” came an eavesdropping scowling reply from a chorus of 3 junior Hoops players disgusted at our ignorance.

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Back to the run. “Now, just to say it again. It’s a run. It’s a Bank Holiday run, it’s not a race” said one of The Bank Holiday Team. Another chorus of “Agreed”

We were off and the westerly wind put paid (thankfully) to any hope of fast times. Oh yes, sure, we weren’t ‘racing’ but the voices in the head said “Oh yes you are”.

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We huffed and puffed and maybe 4 seconds separated us all at halfway. This was the downhill bit and the author was running shoulder to shoulder with The Blueberry Queen. It was later that it occurred to him that he was being used as a windbreaker (but you don’t become a Blueberry Queen without serious race craft). We were shifting and ahead of us on the narrow path, were 4 aspiring Premier League Juniors. We were closing but they were all abreast.

Just then, Susan Walsh, best known for her fantastic race commentaries, appeared and said to Val “You are first Lady”

Well, if that didn’t up the ante with just over a mile to go?

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The 4 juniors were now a problem. With Chariots of Fire in our ears, yours truly let a roar at the 4 buffered beauties “Leading Lady Coming Through”. They scattered and, as a thank you apology, I said “Nice aftershave” We didn’t quite get their response but we didn’t wait either. Val was now running in slow motion with gazelle like strides, slow soft looks and hair flowing in calming wave like movements. Even her occasional wink was in slow mo too.

Up the long drag to the finish and The Leading Lady was accelerating. The author made the ultimate sacrifice with a mere 400 to go and, selflessly denying himself said “You go, you go. It’s ok, leave me”. It was noble but Big John thought it was a signal. Derrick Singalong did too and ruthlessly passed us all.

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As Val collected her 1st prize, a signed Shamrock Rovers jersey, we quickly realised that Claire Rowley was 2nd Lady who got a pair of football boots for her trouble with Sandra Kelly claiming 3rd spot and a free coffee in the café. As for the 3 wise men? They were …. Happy.

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Back to the Spawell for coffee and cake and a closer look at our new shiny medals. The Blueberry Queen had a lightbulb moment in the afterglow of an historic win.

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Said Her Majesty “Let’s dash into town” We looked surprised and awaited her perfect punchline “Let’s dash into town and sell all our medals in Cash for Gold”. That said it all about the ethos of The Bank Holiday Sportsworld Team

It was a good to be a runner and an even better day to have 3 Ladies doing a 1-2-3.

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ENTER SPORTSWORLDS TERENURE 5 MILE RACE TODAY! CLICK HERE

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Dublin Remembers 1916 5k

Report by (Race winner!) Karol Cronin

Photos by Eoin O’Brien


Hats off to Athletics Ireland and Dublin City Council for organising at short notice this historic once off 5k race to commemorate to the very day when Dublin rose up in rebellion against the British Empire.

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The race route would take runners past some sites and battles during the 1916 Easter Rising.

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Race reporter Karol with Margaret   after the race 

Despite the race initially starting at 9am (then later to 8am!), it proved a really popular one with over 4,000 runners in a sea of blue lining out on a sunny, beautiful Dublin morning at Mountjoy Square.

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Sportworld runners included Grainne, Stephan, Claire, Catherine, Madeline, Eoin, Margaret, Naoise, Damian Kelly and Ann Higgins with her husband and kids as well as a few other members.


IMG_1955Cycling in from Rathfarnham to the city just like Padraig Pearse and his brother Willie a 100 years to the day, I wondered what thoughts were going through their minds. Certainly not race nerves. Not a sinner was out as I cycled in bar a lad laden with bottles of beer looking for a lift off me on Meath St.

I parked up at the finish area of the picturesque Royal Hospital Kilmainham and got my warm up done by jogging up to the start line meeting my brother along the way. There was a great atmosphere up there, helped by the lovely early morning sunshine.

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I met my friend Jonny there and we did a warm up together on street running down to Croke Park.

Looking to get back to some consistency in training, I had done a track session the day before. Lining up at the very front I said to myself if the pace wasn’t too bad I’d give it go and stay up with the front group.

After Amhràn na bhFiann was sung, we set off down to the Garden of Remembrance and swung a left down to O’Connell St (Sackville St in 1916). Here we past the GPO, the headquarters of the rebels and where Pearse read out the proclamation to the bewildered citizens of Dublin.

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Just before O’Connell Bridge, we turned left up to Liberty Hall, the headquarters of the Irish Citizen Army and where their leader James Connolly had the proclamation printed.

At this stage in the race, a group of four of us had opened a considerable gap on the others and I felt comfortable in this pack as we turned back from Liberty Hall, passing the Rosie Hackett Bridge named in honour of the women who was involved in the Rising in the Royal College of Surgeons and a fighter for workers rights.

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We then crossed over Butt Bridge taking a right where there started a long run up along the quays all the way to Kilmainham. As the city was beginning to wake up, we were offered a few words of encouragement by passersby and a few regulars to the city’s quays, “Fair play to yiz lads”.

IMG_1938From across the river we past the Four Courts around the 3k mark which would be taken over by the Limerick born Edward ‘Ned’ Daly who was the youngest commandant in the Rising.

After that we passed the lesser known Mencity Institute at Ushers Island. This building was originally meant to be held for three hours to protect the Four Courts and hinder British reinforcements. They ended up holding out for three days under the command of Sean Heuston who had the train station named after him where he had previously worked.

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At this stage there was myself and two others left. For certain periods along the Liffey, I felt the previous days training in me but as neared closer to Heuston Station I held it together and tucked in behind the others knowing there was going to a steady uphill to the finish line.

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After the train station, we turned up towards the hill. I thought to myself that it would be a great opportunity to win a race like this so I decided to give it a go and kicked off. I managed to make a gap as we approached the gates to the Royal Hospital Kilmainham. Fearing a back lash from the others, I ran like the whole British army were out to get me.

Thankfully I was able to hold off and be the first over the line and hold a 100 year record of this 1916 Easter Rising 5k. It was only later that I found out that I clocked a time of 16.16, a somewhat appropriate time. It was a great race to have won and great venue to have a finish in. I chatted with a few people after the race finally being able to have some breakfast.

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The Royal Hospital was the headquarters of the Bristish during the Rising and actually had machine guns of the roof, spraying bullets at the rebels who occupied the South Dublin Unions (Now St James Hospital).

You can a lot done when you get up early I learnt. Perhaps still feeling a buzz of winning and having a bit of food, I decided to celebrate by cycling to the Phoenix Park to do my long run.

There I bumped into Eoin, Margaret and Naoise who I thought were starting their long run but had in fact used the 5k run as part of their long run and had continued running to the Phoenix Park to complete their loop.

IMG_1987This was when I told them of my 100 year club record and the ever ready social media guru Eoin was at hand to picture this historic occasion.

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Soon afterwards all the other Sportsworld members arrived for their early morning long run and upon hearing of the news, gave me a round of applause which was very touching.

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I then went off on my long run with a few others and then cycled home where I finally put my feet up for a while. I then went up to St Endas Park, the home of Pearse’s school for a concert commenarting the Rising. I wonder what he would have thought of me winning the race. Pearse led them in Dublin in 1916, Karol in 2016!

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Well done to everyone involved in organising the race and to all the Sportsworld members who ran in it. A big thanks to everyone who congratulated me and sent me well wishes. Very much appreciated!


ENTER SPORTSWORLDS TERENURE 5 MILE RACE TODAY! CLICK HERE

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New committee and honorary club member!

Special congratulations to Paddy Lynch who became a prestigious honorary club member alongside Mick and Emily Dowling at the 2016 AGM! Paddy has made an exceptional contribution to the club since the 1980’s including his work with the Meet & Train and as Sportsworld Chairperson for the past 5 years. Keep up the great work Paddy!

Your new club committee are:

Sandra Gowran, Chairperson
Emily Dowling, Club Coach
Kevin Curran, Club Secretary
Michael Cunningham, Vice Chairperson
Paul Duffy, Men’s Captain
Breda Brown, Committee Member
Aileen Melody, Committee Member
Dave Clarke, Committee Member
Eoin O’Brien, Committee Member
Adrian Lanigan, Committee Member
Killian McMorrow, Committee Member

Thanks to all those who participated and contributed last night including Will Greensmyth for his constitutional reform and Michael, Catherine and Naoise for baking. My caramel slices sold out (again) Michael so I believe that means I win the bake off.

Longford Royal Canal Marathon

I signed up for this run several weeks ago and was in good shape (ish) but then I picked up a chest infection and was out of action for about 10 days and only finished the antibiotics 3 days before race day. So I only made up my mind to run it on the Friday evening, next thing I know its 7.30 and I’m on the way to Longford.

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Race reporter Ronan in Longford

The race start was 10am and on the start line it was prefect weather, bright and cool. There were 4 races running simultaneously on a 5k loop – 10K , half , marathon and Ultra. I had opted for the Marathon, along with about 80 others. There was a lovely relaxed, friendly atmosphere and quite a bit of support at the start /finish area and most importantly there was a drink/gel  bag drop area so you didn’t have to carry anything.

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3,2,1 and we’re off , I started at a steady pace , but to be honest I had no interest in time , just completion – “Only  8 park runs to go”. I tend to count laps down not up , to try to trick my mind that im getting close to finishing. The first 2 laps went quite quickly with no issues, I felt great with lots of energy.

By lap 3 I was getting very hot and by lap 4 the sun was high in the sky with no cloud, as this stage I was roasting and dehydrating fast. Anyone who runs with me knows I don’t run well in the heat ( or cold ) so all I could do was slow a bit and drink as much as I could. The next few laps were hard work but then I was finally on the last one. “ only 1 park run left” this lap was quite nice , everyone I met had the “Thank god it’s the last” look on their faces and there were a lot of smiles , and then it was over , job done. Time was 4.11 but as I said the goal was finish line not finish time and more importantly I was able to do 8 miles in the park the next morning, so no ill effects.

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In summary, it was probably a bit hot for my liking but a great event. The course was lovely but laps are not for everyone, and the big question – Would I do it again ???? Yes , I’ll be back next year but next time I will rope in a running buddy , as 4hrs on your own is a long time.

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Great Edinburgh 10 Mile 2016

Race report By Conor McCarthy

Running a race abroad has been on my to-do list for quite some time now and when I scrolled through the list of UK races on the 2016 calendar, Edinburgh jumped out at me for a number of reasons. The main reason is how scenic a city it is and I knew it would be hilly and challenging over a ten mile route. I didn’t realise just how hilly it was going to be!!

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I lined up at 9.30am on Sunday at the start line with fellow club athletes (not as many as you’d get at, say, Ballycotton but a sizeable number nonetheless) at a bright but slightly breezy Holyrood park and set off at a decent pace for the first mile around the park and then, alas, the first hill was encountered at 1.68 miles into the race. For anyone who’s familiar with Edinburgh, they had us run up the mile for what I thought was half of it and I breathed a sigh of relief when we levelled off with a right-hand turn at 2.03 miles. “Sound!” I thought. Not so fast…about 500 meters later, I set eyes on the leaders charging up the rest of the Royal Mile up ahead and drew a sharp intake of breath and battled my way upwards.

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The course was littered with hills here and there throughout the course and in a town famed for its ghosts of the past, I encountered my own ghostly visions in my mind of Dave Clarke and Miles on the cross-country advising me to lean into the hills. The technique was necessary for the sheer steepness (no exaggeration!) and volume of hills faced on the day. My mind was constantly fixated on whether or not I was going to break 60 minutes for the very first time on a ten mile course and when I hit mile 9, I was borderline when the race had lulled me into a false sense of security. Mile 9 was simply brutal. Steep, a sharp headwind and fatigue created a perfect storm but luckily the last mile was all downhill and my mile 9 and 10 splits of 6.37 and 5.15 tell their own story. I knew when I checked my watch as it bleeped 9 miles that the sub-60 would definitely be in reach so I let loose and gave everything for the last mile.

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Running up the home straight into Holyrood Park again was exhilarating and crossing the finish line in 59.29 left me delighted! It was a fantastic route and the hills and sights combined, make it what it is. I thoroughly enjoyed it and given how challenging it was, coupled with the fact that there were no groups to sit in behind when facing the headwinds, made it more pleasing to obtain a PB. I was disappointed with my performance in the national 10K the week before but was glad I used the race benefits from that particular race to good advantage in this one.

Spot the Sportsworld top 50sec in!

Finally, the novelty of running a race in a different country was a factor in the enjoyment. I was amused by the shouts of encouragement by spectators at my fellow runners lining out for local clubs, such as “go on Edinbugh”. “Go on Portobello”. Then looking quizzically at my club jersey…”Go on…mate!”

New Zealand’s Daniel Wallis won the race with a time of 51.11 with Canada’s Rob Watson finishing second in 52.35.

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Graded Meet 1 – Santry April 20th

Report by Conor Keating


The first graded meeting of the year was held in Morton Stadium in Santry, last Wednesday, and it was a lovely evening for running. After a few rainy days recently, temperatures are raising and it’s shaping up to hopefully be a fine summer.

Morton Stadium is a little far out but the No.16 bus goes right to the Stadium.  Thankfully I didn’t have to wait too long to get a 16 (unlike the No. 17 which can be pretty unreliable) after work so I was able to get there in plenty of time despite the heavy traffic.

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There was a great Sportsworld turnout for the meeting;  including Myself, Will, Karl, Wesley and Justin running in the same 800 metres C race. This was my second 800 metres, and race on the track, having previously ran an 800 metre D race in normal running shoes which were about 1 and a half times bigger than what everyone else was racing in.  This time I managed to get proper track studs for my spikes, as well as getting them cleaned up after the cross-country season! I was hoping that Emily’s previous assertion to me, that running cross country would be a big benefit to me when it came to the track, would come to fruition and that I wasn’t just a complete sucker for punishment!

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Race reporter Conor with Sonia!

First Sportsworld athlete competing was Justin in the B/C 3,000 race. Justin had a good ding-dong battle with a Crusaders and  Annalee Ac (I looked it up – it’s in Cavan in case you’re wondering)    athlete for much of the race and ending up finish in the middle of the 3 in a highly respectable 10mins 21 secs.

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Karol was next up in the first of the A 3,000 metre races. There was a runaway winner from early on in this race (8min 30secs winning time) but Karol was involved in an exciting 5 way battle for 2nd place coming into the home straight and he finished 5th in an impressive 9min 4 secs.

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It was then onto the shorter stuff. We had 3 sportsworld athletes making their debuts in the 800 metres; Anthony in the D race and then Wesley and Karl in the C race. Anthony ran a consistent pace for the two laps and eventually finished in a highly respectful 4th place in 2 mins 24 secs – only a couple of seconds behind 2nd and 3rd.

It was then onto the grade C race where the 5 aforementioned Sportsworld athletes, including myself, made up more than half the total participants in the race (9). I was drawn in lane 1 and my plan was to be around the middle of the group when everyone broke from their lane, try and hold position until 550-600 metres and then try to push on to the finish line. In the race, I managed to get into 5th position when everyone had turned the first corner, and broke into the inside lane, while Will went out strongly and was in 2nd place. The positions stayed the same for the next 400 or so metres before I managed to pass out a Raheny athlete coming up to the final bend. On the final straight Will was still going strong in 2nd and maintained a good pace till the finish but I managed to get the kick in the final 50 metres and just about pipped Will and another athlete to 2nd place with my finish (nowhere near as good as Phil Healy’s for UCC though). I finished in just over 2 mins 13.5 secs with Will in 3rd in just over 2mins 14. Karl and Wesley, off the back of their good relays runs on Sunday, ran well in 2mins 18 secs and 2mins 22 secs. Justin, having already completed 7.5 laps of the track in the 3000 around an hour before, ran 2mins 27 secs.

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Gareth ran in the B 800 metre race. Still getting back to full fitness after recent injury, Gareth ran a solid 2mins 10secs and finished 6th in a good group just over 2secs behind the winner.

Margaret, who had earlier given her all when finding herself in a very competitive 800 metre race, rounded off the evening for Sportsworld in the 100 metre C race. Margaret ran a great 100 metres, keeping tabs with the 4 other girls the whole way, to finish in 15.74 secs.

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Well done to all that ran, it was great to see so many Sportsworld athletes taking part. Despite the nice weather, there was a bit of a breeze which made things a bit tougher but everyone ran very well and recorded very credible times. I was just hoping to finish in the middle of the pack so it was a shock to finish 2nd and I’m obviously very happy about that.

There are 7 more graded events and also the Trinity track races (better not leave that out) to go this summer and the grade A-D ensures there is a race that suits everyone. I myself have signed up to all 8 of the graded meetings at the lower overall cost (€50 for seniors and €35 for students; entering individual races costs €8 and €5 respectively) and plan to try to continue to improve in the 800 metres as well as try the 1500 metres. The full results of Wednesday’s meeting are below and the next meeting is in the similar surroundings of the Tallaght track on the 11th of May.


Next meeting: Tallaght May 11th

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Dublin Novice Championship 5k Sunday May 1st!

Dublin Novice Championship 5k Sunday May 1st!

Incorporated as part of the Tallaght Athletic Club 5k.
Sportsworld members get a discount entry of €10 – pay money to Myles at training next Thursday 21st or Tuesday 26th. We have application forms on the table just inside the clubhouse door for filling out.

Race starts at 10.30am by the track where we train on Saturdays.

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National Road Relays 2016

Race reports by Ruth Kelly & Karl Chatterton

Photos by Eoin O’Brien. For full gallery: Click here

Sportsworld results below.


 

Masters Women Report by Ruth Kelly

A lovely sunny April afternoon brought loads of Sportsworld faithful to Raheny for the national road relays on Sunday. Best, most exciting, greatest day out in the road race calender……if you are a spectator!!

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Race reporter Ruth in relay action on Sunday

An ideal set up, the race is run over a one mile loop in Raheny with varying leg distances for each runner over the race. The change over area is at the start line, and there was a great buzz about the place with a large crowd of club runners and supporters all over the course but particularly on the home straight.

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Masters ladies (our race) was up first and we had a 1-2-1 format with Catherine Bambrick taking the first leg of one lap, me up next with two, and Stephanie Bergin taking the home leg….yes Catherine and Stephanie are masters believe it or not!.

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After a couple of nice laps to warm up with the girls (when we all reassured each other it was normal to feel heavy legged before a race), and following protocol with some short strides, we were ready to go. Not sure if I felt sorry for or jealous of Catherine lining up with the other 17 teams for the first leg – only jealous because her pain would be over when mine was to begin!

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On balance I was glad it wasn’t me. I reassured Catherine it was fine not to come in first on her leg…..ok, I told her not to. Loud gun, and off they went. Catherine looked good as they turned the corner and out of sight. I took my place in the change-over area, waiting. After about 5 mins there was great excitement as the first leg runners turned the corner up the home straight. Everybody was looking in anticipation waiting to see how it the race was shaping up…..and who do you think was powering up the road in first place, Catherine, flippin hell, I told her not to, and what did she do only hand over to me setting me off first on the second leg. The pressure!!

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Off I went, was still in the lead when I saw Myles shouting words of encouragement. Wasn’t long though before I was overtaken….twice….three times, 4th place coming up the home straight for the first time. The atmosphere was electric, well I assume it was going by my experience of watching subsequent races, to be honest I may have been suffering from delirium at that particular time due to oxygen deprivation and I was definitely in a state of terror at the thought of having to repeat the lap.

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And to add to my woes I was passed again on the straight, in front of the whole crowd!! But head down had a lap to go so had to to dig in and get around. Managed to hold 5th and was delighted to hand over to a very energetic looking Steph.

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Didn’t see much of Steph after she took off, I was sidelined trying to breath. But after a few minutes felt human again and headed down the road to see Steph in. Catherine was already there and we caught Steph with about half a km to go. She was tracking a girl from Raheny and when she turned the corner on the home straight put the boot down and powered home well ahead of her nemesis. A great run. 5th for the team, everybody still alive, and delighted to be finished.

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The rest of the day was great, 3 more races to watch with the who’s who of Irish athletics taking part including our own mens senior and masters teams. Cuppa, loads of friends around to catch up with, sportsworld teams to support and sun even shining, great afternoon all round.

Thanks to all the Sportsworld gang out shouting encouragement. Was great to see a few old faces out around the course and our youngest supporter little Madison all decked out in her red jacket.


Senior Mens Report By Karl Chatterton

Sunday saw four Sportsworld teams lining up to race in the annual National Road Relays event held in Raheny. There were four races on the day with the women’s masters, men’s masters, senior women and senior men all in action.

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A pretty relaxed race reporter Karl before his leg!

The course was a one mile loop around Raheny, close to St Annes Park. Different members of each team ran different legs in the relay ranging from one mile to three miles.

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This was the first time I had competed in this event and was unsure what to expect. However, as I was racing in the last race of the day, I got a good idea of what was to come from watching the incredibly high standard of the Masters and Senior Women’s teams running first.

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The Senior Men’s race consisted of four legs, a 2-1-3-2 mile race! I had the last two mile leg with Gareth, Kevin, and Karol leading out the team. All three had great races and did their best to keep us as high up the field as they could. As Karol came in I set off on the first of my two laps around Raheny. By this stage the race was quite spread out so the aim was simply not get passed and try to close the gap on the lads in front.

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This didn’t start to well as I was passed pretty much straight away by two young lads from St Laurence O’Toole AC, and Waterford AC! For the rest of the first lap I did my best to keep them both in my sights, hoping they would tire in the second lap. By the time we were half way around the second lap I’d almost caught the two lads that had passed me earlier. With 800m to go it was time to dig in, pick up the pace and chase down the two youngsters! I passed them with about 400m to go and from there it was head down and hang on to the finish!

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We finished 17th overall against some very strong competition, with teams including former and future Irish Olympic hopefuls. Raheny came out winners in the Senior men’s race with Mick Clohisey running a course record for the three mile leg in just over 14 minutes! It was a great day and thanks to all the supporters who came out the cheer us on!

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Sportsworld Results

Senior Men – 17th Place – 42:03
• Gareth Murran (2 miles) – 10:18
• Kevin Curran (1 mile) – 5:13
• Karol Cronin (3 miles) – 15:34
• Karl Chatterton (2 miles) – 10:58

Masters Women – 5th Place – 23:54
• Catherine Bambrick (1 mile) – 5:36
• Ruth Kelly (2 miles) – 12:16
• Stephanie Bergin (1 mile) – 6:02

Masters Men Team 1 – 15th Place – 21:03
• Derrick Saville – (1 mile) – 04:53
• Phil Kilgannon (2 miles) – 10:43
• Damian Kelly (1 mile) – 5:27

Masters Men Team 2 -17th Place – 21:51
• Michael Cunningham (1 mile) – 5:09
• Justin McKeever (2 miles) – 11:24
• Wesley Harrison (1 mile) – 5:18

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