The Meet and Train Road Race Series kicked off in Raheny (Sunday, April 25th). Compared to the winter cross country races Sportsworld had a smaller representation of teams but this doesn’t mean that the red and white was any less prominent. In the top ten alone our club had six finishers with Susan McDonnell winning the race in a time of 12.09, Lorna Quinn was second and Ciara Foster third. Also in top ten was Mairead O’Callaghan, Louise Nolan and Ann Higgins. Well done also to Catherine Higgins who being relatively new to the club showed a great form and finished in 14th place in this 2 mile race.
Next up is Lucan (Sun May 23rd 11am) which is a 3 mile road race and an important part of build-up to the upcoming Flora Mini Marathon.
Here is the list of teams for this series:
Team A
773 Mairead O’Callaghan
774 Susan McDonnell
775 Louise Nolan
776 Ciara Foster
777 Ann Higgins
778 Catherine Higgins
Team B
779 Tara Quirke
780 Natalia Sokolowska
781 Eileen Dalton
782 Ann Sweeney
783 Catherine Gilmore
784 Clare O’Reilly
Team C
785 Kim Masuda
786 Claire O’Brien
787 Maura Maughan
788 Cliona O’Riordan
789 Laurence Delair
790 Milena Delussu

Sunday 11th April at 10.30am I found myself with Jack and Billy Tyrell standing at the start line of the 9th Connemara Marathon. Spectacular was how the view could be described as it temporarily took our minds off the 26.1 miles of road that lay ahead. However it was to get a whole lot better. The sun split the stones and the rugged landscape and the motionless Lake Inagh reflected the surrounding mountains back in their glorious detail.

Once again the hooped sportsworld vest had been taken from the national history museum for its first outing of 2010 through the hills and beauty of Connemara.

Never in all my years of running have I enjoyed a race as much. I was determined to soak up the atmosphere and scenery along the route. And so with Jack and Billy and Mary on the bike with all our supplies we set off on the road ahead.

One hour and 43 mins later we had covered half way through the village of Leenane with the Killary harbour on our left. After a further 2 miles of climbing we started to pick up the back markers on the half marathon race. Thus set the scene for the next 11 miles as we weaved our way in and out of these runners.

Through 20 miles in 2hrs and 39 mins and most of the talk and joking had stopped although we were still feeling quite comfortable on our schedule. At 22 miles we commenced our climb of the ‘hell of the west’ which we had heard so much about. Not much of a hill I suppose compared to the ‘Ballinascorney hill’ on the waterworks run, however after 22 miles in the legs it’s a different story. Eventually the ‘hell’ was conquered and we passed the memorial to Frank Haines at 24 miles . Frank died tragically at this point in the race in 2006 and a plaque and tree along with his commemorative medal is there for all to see.

The final 2 miles and 385 yards was a gentle downhill trot and brought me under the finish clock in a time of 3 hours 27 mins and a credible 32nd place. Billy and Jack, about a minute ahead placed 1st and 2nd respectively in the over 50 age category, congratulations to them. Whilst thanks also to Mary who played a stormer on the bike and catered for our every need along the way.

Hope this piece will encourage a bigger sportsworld entry for next years race. Everything about the event was superb and is certainly in our race diary for ’11 all going well.

Report by
Joe Byrne

Congratulations to the Sportsworld Masters Ladies Team who came second in this years running of the road relays in raheny. Helan White lead out the team on a one mile leg, passing onto Lucy Darcy on a two mile leg and the final leg being ran by Aideen Downes. The senior women and men also had teams on the day.

Sunday afternoon was the 41st running of the Annual Dunboyne 4 mile road race. Dunboyne is located just off the N3 about 10 minutes from the Blanchardstown exit of the M50. One of the first major road races after the cross country season it brings out a strong bunch of runners. This year there was a new apparently faster course over the same 4 mile distance but with a strong head wind and a twisty last mile times on Sunday were very similar to last year’s race.

The reason so many people turn up at Dunboyne is the solid organisation that many road races cant compete with.This year maybe down to the new course there was a mix up at the end where the road was partitioned with cones to carrel the leaders to the finish (and those with 1.5 miles still to go away from finish). Traffic was allowed to overtake the runners and not enough room was left for the lead car and a few cones were flattened. It cost the leader a few second to overtake the lead car but he was already twenty seconds clear. A good few other athletes were impeded by passing cars. It seemed to be a coordination issues between civil defence and club volunteers.

There was only three people from the club running but three very good performances none the less. First home for the club was Paul Duffy in 21:19 followed by Gareth Murran in 21:34 and Sandra Armstrong in 24:43. The race was well won by Joseph Sweeney from DSD in 18:52 and Ciara Durkan in 21:44. I’ll be going back next year it was a very enjoyable race. It would be great to get a few teams out.

Some pictures can be found on racepix

Saturday the 27th March saw 4 members from Sportsworld heading for the Wicklow way Trail and Ultra Races. The Ultra race started at Johnny Foxes and made its way to Ballinastoe Car park and back to Johnny Foxes, were the Trail race people were collected at Johnny Foxes and Dropped of at Ballinastoe Car park.

First up was Ed McEntee in the Ultra race. What lay ahead of Ed was 51kms of trails, fire roads, open mountains and part of the Wicklow way boardwalk with a total climb of 1950m’s. Ed adapted to this Ultra race excellently and completed the course in 4hours 33 minutes, and with it second place behind Eoin Keith. Congratulations to Ed.

Next up was the Trail race that got under way in Ballinastoe car park at 12 o Clock. On the starting line for Sportsworld were Paul O Connell, Jakub Splawski and Liam Mc fadden. The race got of to a steady start with everybody aware of the 25.5kms that lay ahead, we head up the fire trail from Ballinastoe car park for about 2km climbing all the way and then right on to Djouce Mountain and picked up the Wicklow way board walk trail. After ten minutes or so of climbing we got to probably the third most difficult part of the race trying to run on the boardwalk with a near gale force wind blowing side on to you. Once we managed to get through this it was nice to stretch the legs on the down hill section from Djouce. At this stage Paul O Connell was well clear of Jakub and myself, and was doing battle with the race leaders.

Jabuk and I worked excellently together through out the race. Jabuk pushing it out on the down hills and me doing my best to keep us going on the climbs.

After the fast down hill section off Djouce we came to our first major climb of the Day which reduced the field to doing all sorts of power walking movements to get up the steep climb before powerscourt waterfall. Not having time to admire the waterfall it was full steam ahead to the all to familiar Crones Wood Trail, Jabuk and I managed to over take 3 trail runners on this section of the course and when we arrived at Crones wood car park were glad of the water station there and with knowledge we had half the course complete and just under the hour mark, with no time to waste we kept going, after 2km of flat running we got to what looked like a small climb of about 75metres but once we got to the top of it, it was like we had climbed for hours and our legs were like jelly, At this stage we got a very luck break as we came to a road section just past Knockree hostel and we were looking at a runner in the distance and heading the same way when a Ultra runner started to shout at us that we were going the wrong way, we should have just crossed the road, but thank god for the Ultra runner as Jakub and I could still be running around Wicklow. After that we continued on towards Cutlerstown carpark and the last of the climbs which probably was only about a 1km Climb but seemed to last for ages but to our delight we managed to over take 2 trail runners and at the top of the hill had our next target insight. We took off like greyhounds after our hare on the fast down hill section away from Price Williams Seat and by the bottom of the hill we had him caught or thought we had him caught him, but he took off again on the final road section to Johnny Foxes and was the last we saw of him till we crossed the line. It was then down to the the last 1.5km and from somewhere I got a 30th wind and took off from Jakub and I managed to stay ahead till the end. Revenge for last year in Ballinastoe where Jakub beat me on the line.

Excellent days running and great overall result for Sportsworld taking the team victory.

Final Places
1st Diarmaid Collins 1h 56 min
4th Paul O Connell 2h 00 min
16th Liam Mc Fadden 2h 14 min
17th Jakub Splawski 2h 15 min

Report by Liam Mc Fadden

Boyle, Sunday February 21st – The beautiful Lough Key Forest Park was the setting for the National Intermediate & Masters cross country at the weekend. We hired out a club bus and hit for Roscommon at 10 am. As we headed through the midlands, snow covered fields was the theme everywhere but thankfully there was none in the forest park. Weather wise things were perfect – dry and no wind. The course, with one steady uphill followed by its descent at the other side, was medium – heavy, and ploughed up at one corner in particular.

With Emily collecting our numbers in the log cabin, we realised that the master’s women’s race was off in a half an hour, so quick action had to be taken. It was extremely competitive, with 100 girls crossing the finishing line within 5 minutes of each other, so averaging out at a woman every 3 seconds.

Both Lucy (3rd in her age category) and Helen finished in the top 10 overall, and we got a decent display from all of our women. Judith narrowly missed out on an age category medal by less than 10 seconds. The best news was that we came away with team silver with Lucy, Helen, Aideen & Sandra scoring. Helen White helped Dublin to a silver medal.

The team contest was won comfortably by a North Belfast Harriers side that are easily capable of medalling at senior level, indeed they were national senior champions in 2007 albeit with a stronger team on that occasion. They had all team members running in the top twenty five.

While the intermediates was a race for younger (and in some cases faster) girls, it was understandably not as competitive or packed as the masters race that preceded it. Both races were held on the same length of course. The team comprised mainly of October’s Dublin novice winning team, with welcome additions Stephanie and beginner Aoife Lynch. We came away with team bronze medals and were led home by a brilliant Louise. Well done girls.

The master’s men’s field was equally as competitive and condensed as the master’s women’s race was, as the 200 runners completed the course within 9 minutes of each other. It was won by a terrific Peter Matthews who despite being well ahead kept huffing and puffing as he wanted a good workout ahead of the National Inter Clubs XC on Sunday week. There was no joy for us here, but it was great to have a men’s team running in the national master’s; something that we usually don’t get. Well done to Ed, Paul Mitchell, Willers, Seán and Killian for giving up their Sunday and travelling down with us.

The final race of the day was the intermediate men. Their was no joy here either for our men, however it was still a beneficial race that will serve the men’s team well for the Inter Clubs XC on Sunday week. It was won by DSD’s Breandán O Neill. Breandán is on scholarship at DCU, and was bronze medallist in last week’s intervarsities indoors 3000m in 8:34.05. The team title was won by City of Derry, who are also the current National Novice and National Half Marathon champions, and for the record they have Ireland’s current fastest man too in Jason Smyth.

The woman’s Meet and Train cross country series finished on Sunday 21st of February in Irishtown with 4 x 400m relay races and a small prizegiving ceremony. The Sportsworld B team won the Dimond division. Also, by winning each of the four races of the series Edel Madigan won the overall first place and Louise Nolan got the third spot.
The whole event was great fun and for many of us it was a first try on the track so we enjoyed the opportunity of experiencing something new. Running in random teams added novelty to the event and the benefit of it was that we got to know girls from other clubs.

Congratulations to the winners and see you all in the next Meet and Train series. The dates of the races should be known shortly.

Report by Natalia

Leinster Senior Cross Country 2010

Kilmacow, Sunday February 14th – Distance runners are such a romantic race of people that (for some of them anyway) their ideal way of spending Valentine’s day involves a trip to south Kilkenny to run in the Leinster senior cross country, well away from where their partners can nag them. And how worthwhile a trip it was, as it turned out to be one of the most successful days in the club’s history. We passed through a deserted Ballyhale on the way down, as most of the parish would have been in Thurles to see their hurlers beat Newtownshandrum in the club semi finals. Kilmacow is only 4m from Waterford and is home to agriculturally some of the best land I’ve seen in a while. The St Senan’s sports complex is a great example of how when a rural community pulls together they can create something marvellous. There are a soccer club, GAA club, tug of war and athletics club all set up at the clubhouse. They have fantastic GAA and soccer pitches, a long jump straight, an improvised running track and miles of stoned or grassy trails through a forest or along the banks of a tributary of the Suir. All off little if any public funding I would imagine.

We were greeted with gorgeous sunshine and a very firm course that didn’t cut up anywhere despite the amount of kiddies races preceding that of the adults. The course was 95 % flat across pitches and fields and there was one steep hill thrown in and a steep downhill at the opposite side of the course, both of which were no more than 10m long. Both hills were paved with shredded wood bark to prevent any slippages of the large amount of athletes that the organisers were expecting. However most of this expected crowd never showed up possibly due to a number of reasons:

1. People wanted to be fresh for the more important national intermediate & masters XC next week in Roscommon
2. A large amount of club runners showing up at the MySport Enniscorthy 10k
3. Faster athletes ran at the AAA indoor championships in Sheffield

Remember that this event was re-fixed since mid-January due to the ice & snow that crippled Ireland at the time. Athletes usually have schedules planned for up to six months in advance of an event that they’re looking to peak at, and if a race was cancelled along the way they usually would not pencil it in on the re-match. Anyway we could only deal with and dispose of the athletes that did show up. First up were our senior women who had a 90 % strength squad lining out. The race was won by Beijing 08 Olympian Pauline Curley, with Catriona only 14 seconds behind her taking individual bronze. She was followed home by Lucy, Aoife and Crona. With four athletes in the top ten, we were always destined to become Leinster senior champions for 2010; getting the nod over 40 – 50 % strength Raheny and Tullamore sides. Jean also had a magnificent run, finished only 12 seconds off Crona and a minute off the leader; and she was followed closely by Helen. It’s great that there’s so much competition for places on the team.

It is equally difficult to get on the men’s team, although we compete at a lower level than the girls (we are rated in the B category for the national cross country). At the sharp end it was a five horse race for much of the time, with local farmer and Irish international Brian Maher pulling away for victory in the closing stages. Phil had possibly his finest ever half an hour in a Sportsworld singlet, as he finished 6th and a minute behind the leading group. Paul also did magnificently to earn a place in the top ten. Mikey and Garrett completed the Sportsworld scoring. Paul Duffy had to stop to tie his shoelaces in the middle of it, and that took the sting out of his attack. However he’ll be there again next week in Roscommon. Packie also came along for the sunshine following on from his pentathlon the previous day.

Our men’s team ended up battling it out with a large Liffey Valley squad, with ourselves getting the nod by a mere four points (or one place per man). While it’s great to get a team medal, it’s ironic because both clubs would normally be battling it out for 7th or 8th positions in the Dublin senior cross country, yet now we’re the second best Leinster side (in theory anyway). It’s particularly great for Mikey and Garrett, as they never won a medal of any description in their year or two of athletics, so the day belonged to them.

In addition we had Lucy and Aoife scoring on the victorious Meath team, with Catriona and Jean contributing to Dublin’s silver. Phil and Paul scored for the winning Dublin team. Overall it was a fantastic day out in the Kilkenny countryside, and it was great to come away with a haul of medals; especially for people that rarely win them. It was nice to get a relaxed atmosphere at what is normally a very stressful and competitive race; however the national intermediates next week will be a much different kettle of fish. It was also great that we had almost full strength squads out for both races, and hopefully we’ll get more of the same next week. The cross country season will be all over in a two or three weeks. It remains to be seen if this race means anything in a national context, but all we can do for the time being is keep up the hard work.

Leinster Senior Cross Country 2010 Women
 
Place Name Club County
1 Pauline Curley Tullamore Harriers Offaly
3 Catriona Jennings Sportsworld Dublin 
5 Lucy Darcy Sportsworld Meath
6 Aoife Brady Sportsworld Meath
10 Crona Brady Sportsworld Meath
12 Jean Wilson Sportsworld Dublin 
13 Helen White Sportsworld Dublin 
 
Leinster Senior Cross Country 2010 Women – Team Result
 
Place Club Points
1 Sportsworld 24
2 Raheny Shamrocks 59
3 Tullamore Harriers 65
4 St Abban’s 91
 
Leinster Senior Cross Country 2010 Men
 
Place Name Club County
1 Brian Maher KCH Kilkenny
6 Phil Kilgannon Sportsworld Dublin 
10 Paul O Connell Sportsworld Dublin 
15 Mikey Cunningham Sportsworld Dublin 
18 Garrett Murran Sportsworld Dublin
22 Paul Duffy Sportsworld Dublin 
25 Packie Enright Sportsworld Dublin 
 
Leinster Senior Cross Country 2010 Men – Teams
 
Place Club Points
1 Raheny Shamrocks 23
2 Sportsworld 49
3 Liffey Valley  53
4 Tullamore Harriers 100