One of our top contributors to the club website Packie has written a few race reports from races that took place over the past few weeks.

Ballycotton 10m 2011 – Sunday March 6th 2011
Ballycotton – There were some fine Sportsworld performances at the Ballycotton 10 mile road race in County Cork. The famous race is sold out six months in advance and is known overseas for its hospitality. Amongst the large field of competitors, Lucy was 8th. Well done Lucy.

1 LEE, Lizzie F Leevale AC 00:58:48
2 MCCANN, Angela F40 Clonmel AC 00:59:13
3 CONWAY, Catherine F Mayo AC 01:00:12
8 D’ARCY, Lucy F40 Sportsworld RC 01:03:01

Other Sportsworld runners to make the long trip away were MADIGAN, Edel 01:05:41, O’BRIEN, Eoin 01:09:46, BERGIN, Stephanie 01:11:23 and HIGGINS, Ann 01:12:34. Well done to all.

BHAA Garda XC – March 5th 2011

Phoenix Park – With AAI cross country championships finished for the year, the season is in its dying embers. But there are still a few to be found, and amongst them was a 2 mile cross country race organised by the Business Houses Athletics Association. We had four girls in the top twelve. Well done to the Bradys, Jean and Sandra.

Garda/St Raphaels Garda Boat Club Islandbridge, Phoenix Park 2mCC 05/03/2011
1 Kate O’Neill 00:11:48
2 Aoife Brady 00:11:50
3 Fiona Mahon 00:11:56
6 Crona Brady 00:12:09
7 Jean Wilson 00:12:12
12 Sandra Armstrong 00:13:19 Dublin Hospitals

BHAA NUIM/AIB XC 2011 – March 12th 2011
Maynooth – We had two girls in the top six at this two mile cross country race. Well done to Crona and Sandra.

NUI & AIB Maynooth College CC 12/03/2011
1 Fiona Mahon 00:11:42 Primary Teacher
2 Adrienne Jordan 00:11:55
3 Crona Brady 00:12:24 Grant Thornton
6 Sandra Armstrong 00:12:42 Dublin Hospitals

Fr Murphy’s AC 5m 2011 – March 17th 2011
Athboy – On our national holiday, many clubs around the country host road races as people are off work. Paul was narrowly beaten here in county Meath. Catriona also had a fine run, coming in seventh. Well done to both athletes.

Fr. Murphy AC 5 Mile Road Race St Patrick’s Day 17th March 2011

1 Evan Scully Dundrum South Dublin AC 26:06:00
2 Paul Duffy Sportsworld 26:11:00
3 Keith Daly Donore Harriers 26:24:00

1 Fiona Mahon Donore Harriers 29:49:00
2 Mary Hanley Na Fianna AC 30:15:00
3 Sharon Monaghan Fr Murphy AC 32:54:00
7 Catriona Higgins Sportsworld 34:13:00

Saturday, February 26^th

Santry Demesne – The Athletics Association of Ireland Woodies DIY National Inter Clubs Cross Country Championships were held in Santry Demense Dublin on Saturday on an excellent cross country course with some patches of  heavy underfoot conditions. There was a strong breeze with sunny spells and scattered showers.

A small field of six teams assembled for the women’s race, with all the big stars missing. UK based Ava Hutchinson from Dundrum South Dublin (DSD) was a clear winner. She also led her team home to a narrow five point victory over Raheny Shamrocks. DSD completed a clean sweep of team titles on the day, winning all junior and senior male and female races.

Our seven Sportsworld girls, led home by Jean, gave their best over the eight kilometre course, and were rewarded with bronze medals. Well done girls.

In the mens race, Joe Sweeney from DSD made all the running from the start. This came two weeks after running a 30 kilometre road race in Holland in 94 minutes. Garry Thornton from Galway City Harriers was the only athlete to put him under pressure for the first three laps out of seven, and he paid a heavy price over the final four laps to drop off the pace. Joe Sweeney won easily in (38mins . 42secs) from his club mate Breandán O Neill.

Our men, led home by Phil, didn’t disgrace themselves either at this pinnacle level of Irish competition, coming 13^th out of 21 teams and thus maintaining their A status for another year.

That night most people that ran, along with other club mates, socialised at Toast in Rathmines and later The Globe on George’s St, glad that the hardship of cross country and the winter were finished for another year.

Woodie’s DIY National Inter Club Cross Country Championships Santry Demesne

Pos      Athlete                                    Club                                        Finish

1          Hutchinson, Ava         Dundrum South Dublin A.C. 00:29:17

2          Kelly, Eilish                Raheny Shamrock A.C.          00:29:50

3          Ganiel-O’Neill, Gladys           Abbey A.C.                 00:29:56

16        Wilson, Jean                Sportsworld A.C.                    00:31:46

19        Darcy, Lucy                Sportsworld A.C.                    00:32:48

20        Brady, Aoife               Sportsworld A.C.                    00:32:52

24        Brady, Crona              Sportsworld A.C.                    00:33:27

25        White, Helen               Sportsworld A.C.                    00:33:43

26        O’Callaghan, Mairead Sportsworld A.C.                    00:33:59

27        Bergin, Stephanie        Sportsworld A.C.                    00:34:43
1 DSD 1,7,9,10 = 27
2 Raheny Shamrocks 2,4,12,14 = 32
3 Sportsworld 16,19,20,24 = 79

Pos      Athlete            Club                Finish

1          Sweeney, Joseph         Dundrum South Dublin          00:38:40

2          O’Neill, Breandán       Dundrum South Dublin A.C.             00:39:36

3          Clohissey, Mick          Raheny Shamrock A.C.          00:39:42

41        Phil Kilgannon            Sportsworld A.C.                    00:43:28

56        Paul O’Connell           Sportsworld A.C.                    00:44:30

65        Paul Duffy                  Sportsworld A.C.                    00:45:19

101      Merrick, Ronan           Sportsworld A.C.                    00:48:16

103      Murran, Gareth           Sportsworld A.C.                   00:48:32

113      Cronin, Karol              Sportsworld A.C.                   00:51:11 (timing error, real time 45:2X)

1 DSD
1,2,8,14 = 25
2 Raheny 3,4,15,25 = 47
3 Clonliffe 6,12,13,29 = 60
4 Ferrybank 23,31,32,34 = 120
5 Rathfarnham WSAF 9,43,46,47 = 145
6 Donore Harriers 11,35,40,64 = 150
7 East Cork 17,22,52,72 = 163
8 Galway City Harriers 5,41,68,78 = 192
9 St Malachy’s 16,38,58,85 = 197
10 An Riocht 39,44,66,96 = 245
11 Tullamore Harriers 49,65,61,87 = 252
12 Togher 53,57,74,77 = 261
13 Sportsworld 42,56,65,100 = 263

The National Masters and Intermediate championships were held at the ALSAA complex on Sunday, along with the National Juvenile B Cross Country Championships and also the Celtic U23 international races. A week of wet and stormy weather meant that walking out through the flat pitches to where the action began felt spongy, as the pitches were waterlogged. So it was inevitable that the course would cut up deeply with hundreds of spike wearing athletes due to run.

Ploughing through six inches of muck was the order of the day, and there wasn’t a patch of grass where you could open up your stride. It was a struggle to stay upright, and many athletes dropped like flies. This was true hardman cross country, in similar conditions to when John Treacy won his two world cross countries in Glasgow and then Limerick in the late 1970’s. Anyway it was the same conditions for everybody, and the strong survived.

Helen was our best competitor on the day – she always races well despite limited training. She set a fast pace from the gun with the leaders, and had the strength endurance to hold it for the 20 min duration of the race. She was in fifth place for most of it and lost a place in the last 300m, but it was still a brilliant performance given that she was up with the country’s top runners – including Beijing 2008 Olympian Pauline Curley. She came home with two national silver medals – an individual one for the F2 category, along with scoring for the second placed Dublin side in the county championships.

The master’s men were next to wade through the custard, and Peter Matthews powered straight through the slop for a gun to tape victory. There were no diagonal runs to try and find any dryer patches for him, just straight through instead.

In the intermediate women’s contest, Stephanie and Máiread recorded good top twenty finishes to lead our team to sixth place. This paved the way for the final race of the day – the intermediate men; where Karole was the best Sportsworld athlete.

Many thanks to the enthusiasm showed by Myles Nugent and Paul O’Connell, who encouraged the troops to run their best in the absence of Emily (who’s away on a training trip with both senior teams).

Master Women Cross Country Championships of Ireland
4,000m, ALSAA, Dublin; 6th February 2011

Place Name Club County Time
1 Annette Kealy V1 Raheny Shamrocks 17:32
6 Helen White V2 Sportsworld Dublin 18:30
30 Eileen Dalton V2 Sportsworld 21:11
53 Kim Masuda V2 Sportsworld 23:10
62 Ann Sweeney V2 Sportsworld 24:50

1 Raheny Shamrock A.C. 64 1 12 14 37
7 Sportsworld A.C. 151 6 30 53 62

Masters Men Cross Country Championships of Ireland
7,000m, ALSAA, Dublin; 6th February 2011

Place Name Club County Time
1 Peter Matthews V1 DSD Dublin 27:19
86 Martin Keenan V1 Sportsworld 33:25
99 Joe Byrne V1 Sportsworld 34:08
120 Kieran Foley V1 Sportsworld Dublin 35:15
127 Ger Prenderville V1 Sportsworld 35:33
139 Nigel Burke V1 Sportsworld 36:10
156 Phillip Kerr V3 Sportsworld 37:13

1 North Laois A.C. 64 7 15 19 23
18 Sportsworld A.C. 432 86 99 120 127

Intermediate Women Cross Country Championships of Ireland
4,000m, ALSAA Complex, Dublin; 6th February 2011

Place Name Club County Time
1 Eilish Kelly Raheny Shamrocks 17:30
18 Stephanie Bergin Sportsworld 20:37
19 Máiread O’Callaghan Sportsworld 20:38
32 Catriona Higgins Sportsworld 21:20
53 Louise Nolan Sportsworld 22:34
59 Orla Jordan Sportsworld 23:00
60 Susan McDonnell Sportsworld 23:00
72 Siobheal Waldron Sportsworld 24:19
75 Nuala O’Connor Sportsworld 24:43

1 Leevale A.C. 64 3 5 27 29
6 Sportsworld A.C. 122 18 19 32 53

Men’s Intermediate Cross Country Championships
10,000m ALSAA Complex, Dublin; 6th February 2011

Place Name Club County Time
1 Michael Mulhare North Laois AC Laois 38:33
56 Karole Cronin Sportsworld 47:17
93 Michael Cunningham Sportsworld 49:34
103 Derek Sportsworld 50:23
123 Packie Enright Sportsworld 54:55
124 Kevin Curran Sportsworld 54:59

1 Donore Harriers A.C. 70 8 9 10 43
17 Sportsworld A.C. 375 56 93 103 123

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Sportsworld had great team and individual performances at the National Novice XC in Tullamore today. Very damp conditions underfoot meant the going was tough at Charleville Demesne. Add to that fields of well over 100 runners in each race.  Highlight of the day was the womens team taking 3rd place in a very competitive race. The mens team were 15th.

Womens Results
20 797 O’Callaghan Mairead Sportsworld A.C.
27 799 Foster Ciara Sportsworld A.C. Dublin – Dublin Team
28 801 Kelly Ruth Sportsworld A.C Dublin
56 798 Mc Donnell Susan Sportsworld A.C
69 803 Nolan Louise Sportsworld A.C
76 802 Jordan Orla Sportsworld A.C
77 800 Higgins Caitriona Sportsworld A.C

The women’s novice race saw Eilish Kelly (Raheny Shamrock AC) dominate the race to win with thirteen seconds to spare over Fiona Clinton (Dundrum South Dublin AC) and Una Britton (Sli Cualann AC) a further six seconds back. 122 runners finished the course with Dundrum South Dublin AC winning the club title from Raheny Shamrock AC and Sportsworld. Cork won the inter county title from Dublin and Sligo.

Mens Results

64 521 Bolger Colin Sportsworld A.C.
85 128 Cronin Karole Sportsworld A.C
94 524 Duffy Paul Sportsworld A.C
99 518 Murran Gareth Sportsworld A.C
120 517 Cunningham Michael Sportsworld A.C
146 519 Mc Fadden Liam Sportsworld A.C
152 509 Enright Packie Sportsworld A.C
158 520 Kevin Sportsworld A.C

In the mens race Michael Mulhare’s continued his fantastic cross country season with a comprehensive win to add to his European U23 team gold from last month. Chasing his home was Michael Herlihy from North Cork AC who won the Bord Gais Cork City Marathon last June. Roger Barrett (Balina AC was third. North Laois AC won the club title from Donore Harriers and Tullamore Harriers, while Cork won the inter county title from Kerry and Offaly

After a long break the Meet and Train is back. The race which was hosted by Sportsworld took place in Tymon Park on Sunday 9th.
Many familiar faces showed up to help before and after the race leading to the smoothly run event. Also appreciated are those who came to cheer for us along the course. Regardless of the freezing cold and muddy conditions most of our teams had enough runners to score. As usual, our A team absolutely dominated the top ten places. Mairead O’Callaghan was first, Ruth Kelly finiahed second and Susan McDonnell third! Louis Nolan was eighth. Also, Catriona Higgins and Orla Jordan from team B finished in top ten. Well done!

Full results and many good pictures available on www.womensmeetandtrain.blogspot.com

Next race on Sunday 23rd in Swords. The fourth and last winter race will take place at the beginning of February.

Congratulations to all those who took part for the club, in the Leinster Senior XC in Kilmacow, Kilkenny on Sunday.

In the womens race Aoife Brady led her teammates to victory taking the bronze medal.  Well done to all the womens team who packed well to beat the competition. Bring on the national seniors.

The mens team also had a great day and took the bronze team prize. The team was bolstered by a great run from Paul Duffy and a the comeback king Ronan Merrick.

Conditions were perfect for cross country. Full results aree posted on the Athletics Leinster website and shown below. Some pictures to follow also.

Heavy snow and white fields that once bore grass were the settings for the All Ireland Inter Counties Cross Country Championships, which were held in Gransha Park, Derry last Sunday. It was not a case of representing Sportsworld, but representing your county. This championship gathers the best handful of distance runners from each county throughout Ireland and Northern Ireland (athletics is an all-island sport like rugby). As a general rule, a top fifteen finish at your own county senior cross country championship (early November) leads you to being selected as a team member; though individual entries are welcome too regardless of whether you ran in your county senior championships.

The biggest incentive behind running in heavy snowfall against the island’s best is that the top three runners were guaranteed a spot on the Irish team for the upcoming European Cross Country Championships, due to be held in Albufeira PT on Sunday week. Nobody from our club actually made the international team, but some came pretty close.

Senior Women

We were lead home by a magnificent Eimear Power (representing Co Clare), whose husband finished in the leading bunch of the men’s race but declined an offer of a place on the plane to Portugal due to injury concerns. Eimear also won team gold with Clare in the B category (therefore the Clare women’s team will be re-classified as an A team for next year’s event). Catriona (Donegal) had a magnificent run, and thus put the ghost of a disappointing Dublin senior XC behind her. Our three Meath women were next in – the two Brady’s and Lucy. Well done girls.

Senior Men

Phil was the eight Dubliner past the post (six men to score), and he was followed home by Kildare man Paul.

Well done to everyone for making such a long trip away to Northern Ireland and for running in extremely uncomfortable conditions.

Senior Women, 8K

1          Britton, Fionnualla      Sli Cualann A.C. (IND)          27.44

2          Lee, Elizabeth             Cork                                        29.04

3          O’Doherty, Siobhain   Borrisokane A.C. (IND)         29.10

13        Power, Eimear             Clare                                        30.23

16        Jennings, Catriona       Donegal                                   30.47

22        Brady, Aoife               Meath                                      31.13

32        Brady, Crona              Meath                                      32.18

35        Darcy, Lucy                Meath                                      32.41

Senior Men, 10K

1          Sweeney, Joseph         Dublin                                     30.07

2          Christie, Mark             Mullingar Harriers A.C. (IND)30.40

3          O’Neill, Brendan (U.23)Dublin                                  30.45

57        Kilgannon, Phil           Dublin                                     34.38

71        O’Connell, Paul           Kildare                                    35.29