Congratulations to Helen White who won a fabulous bronze medal in the World Masters Mountain Running Championships which were held in Paluzza in Northern Italy on Sunday 18th September 2011. This is a fantastic achievement for Helen particularly with record numbers competing this year and the race being held on a particularly difficult course. The Irish ladies team also picked up third place in the team competition. Well done!
Dublin Medals at Frank Duffy 10 Mile Road Race
Dublin’s Phoenix Park played host to the annual Frank Duffy 10 mile road race. As always, any Phoenix Park race will a be challenging test of stamina, fitness and speed.
This race also doubles up as the Dublin 10 mile Championship and, as ever, Sportsworld were again in the medals.
Congratulations then to our;
Men’s Senior Team – Senior Silver – Phil Kilgannon, Paul O’Connell and Paul Duffy
Ladies Senior Team – Senior Silver – Caitriona Jennings, Lucy Darcy, Stephanie Bergin, Ruth Kelly
Men’s Masters Team – Bronze – Conor Kenny, Enda McMorrow, Killian McMorrow, Sean O’Byrne
Ladies Individual – Senior Silver – Caitriona Jennings
Ladies Individual Masters – Silver – Lucy Darcy
Woodie’s DIY Track & Field Championships of Ireland 2011
The national track championships took place this past weekend in Santry stadium. The club had 3 runners taking part this year.
First up was Phil Kilgannon on Saturday. Phil was running the 10K. 25 laps of the track requires allot of mental toughness and concentration. Phil ran a great finishing in a very respectable 13th place. Running a time of 32:53 Never letting the head drop Phil ran the whole race neck and neck with some of the best long distance runners in the country.
Aoife Brady ran the 5K on Saturday. Aoife was up there setting the pace for much of the early part of the race. Even when she fell back into second place Aoife still looked relaxed and smooth as always on the track. For the 2nd time in 3 years Aoife took home the national sliver medal. If there had been an extra lap she would have been likely to win the gold.
Last up was Paul Duffy on Sunday. In one of the toughest races of the championships Paul was always going to be looking for some runners to hang on to. Unfortunately many of the lower ranked runners dropped out or managed to hang onto an early lead over Paul. With the top 10 runners all going under 15 minutes the pace was tough. Paul put in a good effort and finished the last few laps strong.
It’s not until you see the national championships that you realize the standard that exists out there. Well done all!
Dun Laoghaire Bay 10km
There is something about runners. Why would you get up early on a Bank Holiday to push your body to its limits and ignore its pleas to rest and relax? The answer? Runners like to achieve, to test, to compete and to challenge. Runners know that the ‘easy’ thing is never the rewarding thing. They know that success lies on the far side of failure and that running brings you alive.
The summer has been a drizzly grey affair. This day was no different. Driving through the quiet suburban streets you would be forgiven for thinking the entire world was sleeping. In Joe and Mary Byrne’s car, along with the effervescent Lucy, we were approaching the race route, the 6K mark to be precise. The view changed and way beneath we could see the sea. Thing is, this was the summit of a very tough course and now we could see the challenge in stark reality.
The sea was flat calm and curtains were drawn in the wonderful terraced Dun Laoghaire houses. The DJ was limbering up and the curtains began to move. A big swathe of green was the assembly point and Teddy’s Ice Cream was for another time. The countdown had begun.
The great thing about the Sportsworld singlet is that it’s so easy to see your club mates. Soon, they were popping up as the clock ticked down.
Dun Laoghaire Rathdown were our hosts and what a great job they had done. The atmosphere was building beautifully and the voice of Irish athletics, Frank Greally, was calming the rising nerves. The roads were completely closed and smart Marshalls had covered every base. It was good enough to rival a marathon, let alone a 10K.
Gently we took up our places to the dulcet tones of Mr. Greally. He should have been a doctor, he certainly knew how to inspire, calm and excite a field of over one thousand.
The elite coral had our own Captain Elite, Paul O’Connell. Ever cheerful and relaxed he eyed up the competition. Calmly he said “No one here who scares me” I looked around and thought the opposite.
We were off and a short hill threw us all. After that, we raced by the calm grey sea all the way just short of Blackrock. The sound of rubber on a wet smooth surface was all that broke the holiday silent. Everyone was adjusting, gauging and fine tuning their pace.
A sharp left and a daunting breath taking climb and we broke free onto the Monkstown road. We admired the wealthy houses and knew what lay ahead. The course got tougher and we climbed solidly until almost 6K. The Gardai were amazing, not one car in sight. Up down, left right, we twisted through this beautiful place and wondered at the manicured lawns rising over the sea.
Jill, Sean O’Byrne’s good wife, knows runners and running. On a long slow tough drag who gave us the biggest cheer along with the biggest smile? – Yes, Jill. It was heartening and we lifted our legs just that bit higher.
Through Glasthule and back to where we started but 1K still to go. It was hanging in there time with a few tests yet.
A long straight and the finish line insight. Like always, we found the last bit of energy to sprint for home.
We collected our medals and gathered on the pier. It was time for breakfast and 8 of us recounted epic, exaggerated tales of almost brilliant runs. We ate and talked for longer than we ran but isn’t that the point?
Forgive me if I leave anyone out (I was locked in a deadly battle to the end with Ray Carpenter – he won, I was deadly). But, on a really tough course we were all exceptionally proud to learn that Paul O’Connell had won this inaugural race. Not for Paul to hang around in the limelight – no. Paul was back out on the course encouraging us, that lifted us again.
Thanks too to our great friend Ellen Lavin. Ellen spent 50 minutes trying to get to the course but the Gardai had done too good a job.
Our Runners were; Paul O’Connell, Lucy Darcy (39:50) Joe Byrne – who was out for an easy run (41:30) Stephen Willoughby (43:35) Ray Carpenter (44:11) Conor Kenny (44:16) Killian McMorrow (46:05) Sean O’Byrne (48:01)
I know what we will all be doing next August Bank Holiday, I hope you do too.
Conor Kenny
http://www.dlrbay10k.ie/
BHAA Irish Prison Service 5km Trail Race
There was a large turn out of Sportsworld runners for the 5km race in the Phoenix Park last Tuesday evening. As I walked into the registration hall I met Catriona Higgins at her car and saw Crona doing her warm up, they’ve a good chance of a prize I thought. In the queue to collect race numbers from Kathleen Horgan were Lucy, Rachel and Jean – this is going to be competitive. Out for a quick warm up myself to find Stephanie, Edel, Mairead and Ruth on a jog around. Having spotted Tommy Armstrong with his granddaughter and pram in tow, I was sure trouble herself Sandra couldn’t be far away and double trouble it was when Val pops up. Emily is going to kill me since there will be no ladies at club training! The last surprise was to see our Iron-lady Aideen out for a short hop. Nigel, Antony, Killian and I represents the male side of club, with Ray arriving late to back up the troops.
The race itself is a two lap course around the civil service grounds. The results in the ladies was a clean sweep for the Sportworld girls, with Mairead, Jean and Lucy taking the top prizes. Full rssults below by clicking on the photo. The next BHAA race is the Dublin City Council 5km race in Irishtown on Wednesday 13th July
