Myself and Phil made our annual trip outside the Pale for the 5 Mile Road Race organised by Fr. Murphy Athletic Club in aid of the local St. Vincent de Paul Society on Saturday 17th March. Local running celebrity Paul Duffy joined us along with Meath runner Peter Mooney to make up a Sportsworld team.

Despite being a little over an hour from Dublin the journey took longer than expected with tractors, ploughs and all varieties of combine harvesters beeping their horns and blocking the roads around Trim and Athboy for the St Patricks day celebrations. Despite the diversion we arrived in a deserted Kildalkey village with 45 minutes to spare. Only the local pub was open so we took refuge from the torrents of water and watched some of the parade on the TV.

All was going well, until about 12.30pm when a heavy shower moved in and refused to move out. The flat course had been bone-dry but the Baskinagh Highway ended up being the Baskinagh Canal with a lot of standing water and pot holes you risked loosing more than a shoe in.

The race kicked off at 14:00 meeting at Kildalkey Parish Hall. 127 lined up for the race, the first in the 2012 Meath series. A group of 10 or so runners were grouped closely for the first 3 miles and then things started to spread out a bit. The 3rd mile brought us off road into a local trail for 3/4 of a mile.

It wasn’t until the last mile that the rubber hit the road. Going into the race looking to keep the gap between myself and the lads down to 30-40 seconds I was delighted to be running well and hot on Phil’s heels with 800M to go. A good back and forth ensued and we were fast making ground on Paul. The last few bends weaved around a local housing estate. With 200M to go Phil pushed ahead and out-kicked me on the last turn. It was a great race non the less and given another 100M we could have had a three-way Sportsworld photo finish. Covered head to toe in more muck than your average cross country there was something satisfying about having made the effort to run. Just 3 seconds on the clock separated us in the end with Paul running 26:21, Phil 26:23 and myself 26:24. With3 solid runs and Peters help we comfortably picked up the mens team prize. With Phil and Paul both likely to run the national 10K they are both looking good for some great times.

Great race and as always I recommend everyone in the club give the Meath series a go over the summer. Yesterdays race mostly consisted of club runners but as always catered for all standards.

Thanks to Peter for racing on theteam and supplying the great photo. You can check out this and other great photos on his Flickr Set

There will be a club night out this Sunday March 18th at Dakota Bar  on South William Street from 8PM. With the long weekend and many people taking part in races over the weekend it’s the ideal opportunity to relax and chat about your running goals for the summer.

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(Wicklow Mountains Run in aid of DebraIreland – March 10th 2012) – By Conor Kenny

When the gorse bursts into hazy shades of yellow you know Spring has arrived.
It arrived on Sunday last and it gave a big piggy back to some stunning sunshine.
We know because myself, Stephen W and Ronan were on our way with the dawn. Our mission? To run and race the intriguing ‘trail run’ in aid of that incredible charity, Debra Ireland.
Our destination was The dizzy heights of The Wicklow Way for starters. To finish, a little mountain from the flat bed of Glendalough to the summit of Brockagh Mountain. Thing is, it was off road and Boy! Do we mean off road.

The warm early morning reception at Glendalough matched the warmth of the volunteers and patients. It’s easy to say “they are incredible” but please look at Debra Ireland’s website to see why.

Ronan, a running warrior had entered the half marathon. Stephen and I the 10k. Before long we gave up our snug chat, jumped on buses and went 6 miles straight towards the sky to the Wicklow Gap. Not bad you might think, a little trot back down. Don’t be fooled.

The Dad of a sufferer made an emotional speech at the summit. The heavens shone brightly and tears flowed. (I really do want you to look at www.debraireland.org) sadly, she had gone to heaven to warm up our day. It made us think and, most of all, how amazingly lucky I am and you too.

Ronan went a half hour earlier complete with camel pack and Stephanie Bergin. The Gods were seducing us. To a soft 1,2,3 we were off hurtling down the boggy soft drenched earth. It was unbelievably difficult and there were yelps, groans and pain. Shoes were sucked into the bog, bones crunched on granite, water seeped everywhere. 1k was torture, only 9 to go.
With too much eagerness, I was in 3rd place but don’t worry, it didn’t last. Soon, you were on your own, the 150 runners were already spread out.
Down bog, up road, through a river, spinning down on granite we hit flat ground after 5k. Legs were gone and our Garmins were displaying embarrassing times.
Into Glendalough but a sting was waiting. Up a mountain, not Zig zagging, straight up. It was murderous. At the top, not 1 but 4 styles in a row. My left leg wanted to stay put but came with me after much persuading..
Stephen had drifted back, his shoe had been stolen by the bog and he recovered. Ronan and Stephanie were high on the hills, we couldn’t believe their strength.
I battled with 3 runners and finally had my moment in the last 400m. Where the speed came from only God knows.
The finish was beautiful, just like emerging from an enchanted forest. A beautiful golden retriever came up with eyes wide open to offer his welcome. He drank my water and then another. It was a highlight.

Stephen came in a little later then Ronan and Stephanie looking like The Mud Man. His immaculate white top was now Wicklow brown. We were high up the placings but that’s not the point. The point was Debra Ireland.

We all have challenges, problems and worries. On Sunday we suffered. I’m glad we did. Why? It’s a tiny reminder of what matters. It balanced everything.

To Debra Ireland and my great running buddies, Ronan, Stephanie and Stephen, thank you for an amazing day, an incredible run and for keeping us grounded when the hills had other ideas.

Race Report Written By Stephen Willoughby
7 of our Club Members took part in the Dublin Airport Athletics Club Cross Country Race which took place in ALSAA, Saturday 10th March 2012.

Conditions underfoot were very un ALSAA like, as no mud and no spikes required, although was quite windy.

First up over 2 Miles were the Ladies and Sandra Armstrong ran her usual strong race finishing 6th overall and second in her age category. Sandra was also part of the Hospital Ladies A Team who finished 2nd so another productive day out for Sandra.
Men’s race was over 5 Miles with Paul O’Connell first home in 6th place overall, which is some achievement as in his role as Chairman of the BHAA most of his warm up time is spent making sure Registration is running smoothly and finishing area set up correctly with new Chip Timing now in place.

Good runs also by Brian Conway, Philip Kerr and the usual minute separated Killian McMorrow, Ray Carpenter and Stephen Willoughby.

A special mention for Michael Cunningham who was not happy just distributing the Terenure 5 Mile Flyers, was also able to help with the buttering of brack at the same time, now that is talent.

[blockquote]The Terenure 5 Mile race launch took place this past Tuesday. The event was a great success. Below you can reada summary of events from the press release put out by Special Olympics Ireland. Also a few Sporstworld athletes had pictures taken with  Kenneth Quig, Breda Doyle and Ethan Browne  who train with the Special Olympics team[/blockquote]

At the launch on 6^th March, Mr. Paddy Lynch, Chairperson of Sportsworld Running Club welcomed attendees and introduced guest speakers, Mr. Maurice Redmond, Chairperson of Special Olympics Eastern Region, Mr. Patrick Nally, Director of Marketing, RSA & Ms. Lucinda Creighton TD, Minister for European Affairs.

Mr. Redmond expressed his delight and gratitude to the race organising committee for choosing Special Olympics Eastern region as the charity partner.

Mr. Nally highlighted his delight at RSA’s involvement as Premier Sponsor for the race and  hopes to see many of his colleagues participate on race day.

Ms. Creighton gave her endorsement to the race and expressed her delight at the manner in which the local community, businesses and local residents alike have embraced this event.  Lucinda has given her commitment to support the race by signing up to participate in it on 13^th May.

press release of launch

Thanks to Killian McMorrow for this race report from Maynooth

Away from the glamour of the ‘Ballycotton 10’, Sportsworld runners continued to glide through the mud, at the Business Houses race in Maynooth College on saturday last. Sandra Armstrong stole the show with a sprint finish that saw her secure fourth in the Womens race. Over 4 miles, Nigel Burke (61st) was best, with Garret McGrath (86th) and Brian Conway (87th) not far behind. There were strong showings too from Aodh O’Connor and Philiph Kerr.Killian McMorrow, Conor Kenny and Stephen Willoughby all performed respectably, to get in at or under the half hour. Thanks due to Tommy Armstrong and Dermot Bates for the support.

Race report from Tony Ryan from Ballycotton

A sunny, if a little cool and windy, day greeted the participants of the 35^th annual Ballycotton 10 road race, held in the East Cork town on Sunday 4^th March. A sizeable contingent of Sportsworld runners and supporters made the trek to the rebel county to test themselves on this “classic race at a classic distance”. The route starts with a two mile stretch out of the town, largely flat and downhill, followed by a fairly flat loop of approx 4 miles, and finishes with the starting 2 mile stretch back into the town, where runners need to dig in to tackle the incline. Over 2,600 runners completed the race, with Clonliffe Harriers’ Sergiu Ciobanu romping home to victory again with over a minute to spare in a time of 49.20. The first lady home was Letterkenny’s Maria McCambridge who came home in a time of 54.48, which compares favourably to the 1985 winning time of 56.00 set by our very own Emily Dowling.

First Sportsworld runner home on the day was Conor Butler, who took the first team spot from Kieran Foley in the last half mile. Results (gun time, not chip time) for the 13 Sportsworld RC runners below.

Despite the picture for this post, the sun shone brightly on a mild late February day for the 2012 National inter club cross country championships today. There was very little to be found. Whilst we didn’t have a ladies team taking part this year we had a strong mens team, with 7 runners. Always run at a fast pace, this race hurts pretty much from the start with 12K over 7+ laps of Santry Demesne to contend with.

It takes allot of experience and concentration to keep the focus around the whole course. No better man than Phil to lead the team home finishing very strongly in 43rd position. Finishing anywhere inside the top 50 in a race with such a high caliber field is a credit to the club and Phil. Our only other man to sneak under the 40 minute mark was Paul Duffy who also ran a great race, getting his pacing bang on. Paul O’Connell was 3rd Sportsworld scorer, followed by Karol who recovered well after some time out with the flu. It was a close battle between Ed, Michael and Gareth for the remaining places.

It was great to be running close to home on a familiar course. No more mud 🙂 It’s onto the summer now 🙂 with the national road relays and national 10K to look forward to in April.

Full results below. Well done to everyone who ran for the club in XC this season.

43 34 Kilgannon, Phil Sportsworld A.C. 38.59
55 33 Duffy, Paul Sportsworld A.C. 39.39
65 32 O’Connell, Paul Sportsworld A.C. 40.30
78 36 Cronin, Karol Sportsworld A.C. 41.11
84 37 Murran, Gareth Sportsworld A.C. 41.43
89 35 Cunningham, Michael Sportsworld A.C. 42.02
92 38 Mc Entee, Ed Sportsworld A.C. 42.09

Team finished 10th. Retaining our A league standard.

There was a reasonable turn out from the club at the BHAA Garda cross country race in the Phoenix Park on Saturday. It was a fairly windy morning as the ladies faced a 2 mile course and the guys a nice 4 mile route.

In the ladies event Stephanie came home in 5th position with Erin following up in 11th with Breada and Aileen Melody (1st in here age category!) closing out the sportsworld ladies.

In the men’s race Phil lead home in 9th position. Brian Conway is holding all the xc bragging rights ATM. Phillip Kerr, Conor Kenny, Ray Carpenter and Stephen Willoughby were the other club runners.

Full results are online at http://bhaa.ie/members/app/event/index/tag/garda2012. The next event is the AIB/NUI cross country in Maynooth.

Race Report Written By Stephen Willoughby

On the 05/02/2012 Sportsworld were represented by nearly 30 club members who made the trip to Lough Key Forest Park, Roscommon to take part in the National Masters & Internediate Cross Country Championships.

The Club very kindly organised a mini bus for the majority travelling which was very enjoyable banter on the way down until we saw how muddy those running in the under age races were and after walking the course, banter was soon replaced with silence.

It is very difficult to describe the underfoot conditions, muddy, testing, heavy all come to mind as well as a few others but expletives I believe not allowed in race reports.

Thanks to all those that successfully erected the Club Gazebo which acted as our meeting point, baggage drop, race number pick up, motivational zone.

After Emily’s words of encouragement ringing in their ears, the Masters Women were first up over 4K with Jean Wilson finishing 2nd in her age category. Jean however could not count towards the Team Score but Lucy, Helen, Rachel and Sandra were up to the challenge winning the Team Gold. They were closely followed home by Aideen and Sandra Gowran minus one of her spikes for most of the race.

The Masters Men 7K were next up but the standard in both the Over 40 and Over 50 category is very competitive Nationally so we were always going to struggle to feature in the Medals. No Medals but still good runs by Ed, Martin, Oliver, Ronan, Nigel, Joe, Anthony, Paul, Philip, Ray, Killian in the conditions.

The Intermediate Womens Race over 4K again was very competitive with Caitriona, Ciara, Stephanie, Ruth, Natalia all running very well but just missing a Team Medal finishing 4th.

The last race on the day was the Intermediate Mens Race over 10K which must have felt like a Half Marathon so again we were not in the Medals but all the guys, Michael, Paul, Karol, Gareth should be proud of their 6th place Team Position.

I have forgotten a few names which I apologise for as full results are still not available at the time of writing this report but you all know who you are and all should be very proud of representing your club to the best of your ability on what was a very testing day for all.

A special thanks to Emily and Myles Nugent for all their support and words of encouragement throughout the day.

Looking forward already to next year !!