Track training began in earnest for the majority at Tallaght stadium but the Dublin graded series has been in full swing for two weeks now.

Last Wednesday the night began with the Dublin 10000 metres championships at a windswept Irishtown Stadium. With Richard Corcoran, Eddie McGinley, Brian Maher,Tomás Fitzpatrick and Sean Hehir in action the scene was set for a battle over 25 laps. The race did not disappoint. Going through 5K in 14:58 the pace for the first half was fast and only got faster as the second half unfolded. As the bell was passed in 28.47.14 it was Richie Corocran who proved he had the best kick with an impressive 62.04s final lap.

The club only had two runners taking part on the night. Paul Duffy and myself ran the 1500M B standard. After both running hard on Monday in Gowran it was tough to inject any speed in the important 3rd lap. We went around neck and neck for over three and a half lap finishing in 5th and 6th place in 4:19 and 4:20. Lots of work to be done considering the A standard was won in 3:53 and B in 4:09 but it’s early days.

The Summer Meet and Train league kicked off on Sunday 17th of April with a 2 mile race in Irishtown hosted by Crusaders.

On a sunny morning five Sportsworld teams came along to give the best ever performance of our club in M&T league. We had eight Sportsworld athletes in the top ten. Also all top five ladies wore the familiar red and white singlets. Ruth Kelly was 1st, Ciara Forster 2nd, Rachel Mannion 3rd, Catriona Higgins 4th and Natalia Sokolowska 5th.Orla Jordan (8th), Ann Higgins (9th) and Katherine Reynolds (10th) were also in top ten. We are still awaiting full results.

The course which lead along the seaside was truly scenic but the middle mile was quite muddy and surprisingly hilly for the road race. But beautiful weather definitely made up for inconveniences.

After the race we also received prizes for winter races when Sportsworld’s A Team was first and B Team was second in gold division. We were also second in bronze. Mairead O’Callaghan was the overall individual winner of the winter series. Well done!

Next two races are pencilled for 8th and 11th of May. Updates and pictures as usual are available on www.womensmeetandtrain.blogspot.com. Keep an eye on this website for race venue and date confirmations.

The Leinster Novice and Masters championships took place in windy conditions in Gowran county Kilkenny this morning with the first race going off at 12.00 noon at a pace for akin to the local race course. The masters and senior ladies ran together over two laps of the 1.5k course.

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Sportsworld athletes put in strong performances with the senior ladies and masters teams taking gold. Mairead was first finisher in the senior ladies and  continued a great run of form taking 2nd place in the senior race.  Helen did equally well in the masters race. Everyone else taking part for the club gave 110% and had excellent individual races.

In the mens 6k race the team came home in second place being narrowly beaten for first by just two places in the end. Paul Duffy after putting in almost all of the early running was outpaced on the final hill and took 2nd place in the senior mens.

It was a great day out and highly recommended  as a good spend of a sunny  bank holiday Monday for everyone’s

Full results with names, finish times will be up on Athletics Leinster over the next few days.

Initial results (Ladies) from the road race in Gowran on 2nd May. Download here and the mens

Photos are up in the Gallery or on Picasa

A race report from our dearly departed Packie Enright.
Newmarket on Fergus – Packie ran a 10K road race recently in Co Clare. 1682 competitors attended the charity event in the glorious sunshine; including walkers and cyclists (there was a walk, run and cycle race all on the one day). Charities included TLC4CF, Clare Crusaders, and Mid Western Cancer Care Foundation. The event is in it’s second year and is in memory of a local man who died of a brain hemorrhage at only 31 years old. Former WBA Super Bantamweight champion Bernard Dunne (who is a relative of the family) was the official starter.

2nd Annual Pakie Ryan Memorial 10k Run, 5k Walk 30k and 50k Cycle Saturday 26 March 2011.
Place Time Name Team Category
Male senior
1 0:32:26 KENNY ROGERS, St Johns (Clare) M
2 0:33:07 MICHAEL SHANNON, Kilnaboy A. C. M
3 0:34:01 BRIAN MURPHY, Ennis Track Club M
14 0:39:07 PAKIE ENRIGHT, Sportsworld A. C. M

Female senior
11 0:38:28 VERONICA COLLERAN, Ennis Track Club F
25 0:40:09 TRACY GUILFOYLE, Kilnaboy A. C. F
29 0:40:50 IMOGEN COTTER, Ennis Track Club F

Full results at:
http://www.pakieryanrun.com/Results/10K_Results_2011.pdf

The national road relays 2011 took place on the now familiar Raheny mile last Sunday. With many of the clubs top runners recovering from injury or taking time out for study getting both the numbers and our strongest teams together was always going to be difficult. We did really well considering fitness, injuries etc and had some great performances from late entrants.

The race is run on a course around Raheny which is a little over a mile. Times are always slower than they would be on the track with the slightest incline being felt whilst running at the faster pace. The standard is very high with the top runners in the country taking part.

The club had no masters teams taking place part this year in either the mens or womens races. Two of our masters were running in the senior ladies. The team put in a fantastic performance coming home in 6th place. The men did well also coming home 16th out of 23 but not far behind allot of other teams.

Helen White – 00:05:37
Jean Wilson – 00:11:32
Lucy Darcy – 00:05:46

————————

Paul O’Connell – 10:08
Gareth Murran – 4:47
Paul Duffy – 15:46
Liam Mc Fadden – 11:25

Following on its previous club outings success, last saturday morning saw the remergence of the party bus – disco lights et al – as 9 members of the club made their way to the luxurious setting of the K Club, minus golf clubs, but with running gear in tow.

A very early start (at least for the author anyway) saw us wind our way down country roads to Straffan in the county of Kildare for the 2nd running of the BHAA K Club 10 K race. There were definitely some people on the bus that were more morning people than others as our driver Noel was asked to put on the lights and the music at 9 in the morning on the way down. The accompanying video showing what appeared to be pole dancing was a bit too much for some people and the idea was quickly abandoned (to the dissapointment of some – names withheld – what goes on tour stays on tour).

The race proved to be very fortutous for everyone on the bus I reckon as a number of PB’s were recorded and everyone seemed happy with their race. After some fine grub at the club, we made our way home a bit tired but content with our lot. Lets do it again – soon !

The times of the people on the bus were :

Stephen – 42 : 40
Conor – 43 : 58
Killian – 44 : 57
Enda – 45 : 14
Terri – 45 : 39
Paul C – 45 : 57
Ellen – 46 : 32
Trevor – 47 : 11
Melanie – 48 : 50

There were a number of other sportsworld people in the race amongst which were Paul O’C (33 : 00), Sandra (39 : 19), Nigel (40 : 08), Kathleen (40 : 32) and Dermot (48 :07) Apologies to anybody I missed.

Enda Mc Morrow

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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