GER WYLEY / NIKE SUMMER SERIES RACE NO.8.
GLAXOSMITHKLINE 5.
4.500 EURO DONATED TO WEST WATERFORD HOSPICE.
The 9th Annual Glaxosmithkline 5 mile road race had the largest field ever participate in a road race in the clubs Ger Wyley/Nike summer series last Friday evening when 273 runners which was well up on last years number and the previous best turn out of 248 runners participate, Added to this we also saw the largest turn out of walkers too, when over 40 stepped it out on the GSK 5 mile course, It was encouraging for the race organisers Glaxosmithkline to see such support for the event and they were delighted to be handing over the largest donation ever in the 9 year history of the event to this years chosen charity The West Waterford Hospice an organisation which rightly gets huge support from the community for the great work they do. Despite the recent disappointing weather by race start the evening was dry and warm with little wind to hamper the walkers and runners as they made their merry way from the start line at Kilrush.The superb turn out was also it must be said a attribute to our fantastic sponsors and race organisers Glaxosmithkline and all those who put in Trojan work behind the scenes at the company in organising the race, Sometimes we take these events a little for granted when we arrive and all is in readiness for the race, But many hours and days and weeks of pre race organisation goes into an event and that takes lots of organisation on the ground, All who ran and walked contributed to collecting a substantial 4.500 Euro for this years chosen charity West Waterford Hospice and a delighted Mrs Una Dowd representing West Waterford Hospice was on hand to accept the cheque on behalf of her committee.Mrs Dowd then spoke on behalf of the organisation and thanked all those involved in organising the race and all who took part and G.S.K. who adding to the overall total collect from the race and walk participants to bring the figure up to 4.500 Euro. She also spoke of the ongoing work of Hospice and she spoke of their next project one of the biggest yet undertaken, The opening of a new facility at Waterford Regional hospital which her organisation West Waterford Hospice have given a commitment to raising funds for, This she said will need a big fundraising drive to reach our target but Mrs Dowd continued that the donation tonight gets the fund raising campaign well and truly underway.
The race was an outstanding success from all view points, as already mentioned race organisers Glaxosmithkline had everything done to perfection with every aspect of the race organised in top class fashion and all concerned are to be congratulated on a really super event which was enjoyed by all. The standard in the race was of the highest, and the proof is in the reading of the results, which says that 33 runners broke the 30-minute mark, proving that the GSK course is one of the fastest 5-mile course around the road running scene. West Waterford athletic club had a huge turn out of members taking part when 130 club members participated in the race a remarkable turn out from one club. We must also take the opportunity to thank and congratulate all who came along and walked the course; you helped in no small way to make the night the success that it was. The usual G.S.K.Goodie bag was awarded to all participants and the traditional quality T- Shirt as well.
SANDIS BRALITIS BACK TO HIS BEST TO SMASH COURSE RECORD.
The overall race winner was Sandis Bralitis West Waterford AC after having had a mixed year of fortune for most of the year with an ongoing Achilles injury he now seems to be well and truly over any injury worries now and his return to the top of his sport, road running was evident when he smashed the old course record held by William Harty of 24.47 a standard set back in 2001,Last year Sandis ran a brilliant race to record a time of 24.53 close to the record but not better, Friday night was a different more determined Sandis, when running a very smart race he smashed that record mark with a time of 24.34.”The great blond fellow is back” as one bystander commented at the finish line and yes he was in super form on the night and made his intentions well known from the off, he felt he was in the shape to have a crack at the course record. After a very fast opening mile of 4.45 the record attempt was truly on when running another sub 5 minute mile, 4.53 for mile two, A slightly slower mile 3 was clocked at 5.04 and likewise mile 4 was 5.06.Sandis had it all to do for the final mile as he was slightly down on record breaking pace, but when your good your good and despite the incline at Boreenarue to contend with he power his way to a final 4.46 minute mile to break the tape at 24.34 a new course record for the Glaxosmithkline employee. In second place was West Waterford’s Raivis Zakis and this is how the top two pairings finished last year as well, actually if memory serves me right this is Raivis fourth year finishing as runner up in this race, However I’m sure he won’t mind on this occasion finishing 2nd to his record breaking team mate, Raivis’s gave a sterling performance which i suppose was a little overshadowed by the super run of the winner but he came away a very happy "clamper" when recording a new personal best time for 5 miles when breaking that magical 25 minute mark for the first time with a super time of 24.54 which on another day would win a 5 mile road race anywhere in the country, after a titanic battle Ferrybanks John Cleary was third with a time of 25.38 he held off Shane Mullaney Thurles Crokes who finished fourth in 26.15,Shane was in third place for 4 miles of the race before being over hauled by the fast finishing Cleary who ran a very fast last mile to take that third spot, The fifth finisher was Peter Duggan who after many years at the top of the sports is still finishing among the prize winners much to his credit,
MASTERS SERVE UP GOOD TIMES.
Some interesting tussles took place for the Masters categories with the over 40-winner Noel Curtin Youghal AC winning for the second year in a row this title, he recorded a time of 27.59 this was four seconds faster than his time of 2007 so his going in the right direction, second here was Vasily Neumerzhitsyiy Clonmel AC 28.13 who is becoming a regular on the podium at our races this year and third was our very own Martin Hayes 29.00 his fastest 5 mile time for 15 years and that’s the official time Martin. There was keen competition also in the over 45’s The winner here again for the second year in succession was Larry Kennedy Waterford AC 27.28 Larry again broke his winning time of last year which was 27.54,West Waterford’s Martin McCarthy can be well pleased with his current form when finishing 2nd over 45 with a time of 28.48 Martin was also 2nd here last year with a time of 29.10 so improvement in times seems to have been the order of the night, and Billy Maguire Waterford was third in 29.15 last year, and this year he also finishing third in this section he was clocked at 29.20.The winner of the over 50 category was Larry Lacey St.Josephs AC who covered the 5 miles in a very fast 28.23.Tim Twomey East Cork took the over 55 section in a time of 31.16.Michael Hennessey West Waterford AC duly won the over 60’s in a time of 36.43 the Junior prize went to Thurles Crokes Vincent Molumby in 27.36 Gerry Forde Blarney was our sole wheelchair competitor and clocked 41.26.
CORINNA WALSH TAKES A HUGE LEAP FORWARD.
All people involved in sport of athletics have goals and targets which they wish to achieve, From a road running point of view for many its to break the thirty minutes for 5 miles. No doubt last Friday evenings Ladies winner Corinna Walsh will be delighted to have achieved that goal in a time of 29.58 and in doing so she wrote her name into the club’s history books as one of the few Female members to have broken that target. It takes not months but years of dedicated training to achieve this level and such is Corinna’s dedication to her sport that all on sundry were delighted to see her take a huge leap forward last Friday onto a new Plato in road running.
To break the 30 minutes it take’s good planning and most of all good race pacing, don’t go off too fast, don’t go off too slow, you need a happy medium and this Corinna got spot on in the GSK 5.Her time splits were impeccable, after a fast 5.53 first mile she settled into her rhythm and pumped out miles of 6.04-6.09-6.07 At the four mile mark she was slightly outside goal pace but after a tremendous effort over the last mile when she clocked a very fast 5.43 to dip inside the 30 by two seconds, You might say that two seconds isn’t much but the important thing she did it.
This performance for the Modeligo Lady has to go down as one of her best performance ever on the road racing scene, there are very few Ladies breaking the 30 minutes anywhere around the country presently, which makes Corinna now one of the elite crew. The second Lady on the night is no stranger to our races. One of the South Kilkenny’s and St.Senans AC’s top Female performers Adele Walsh her time of 30.59 would like our second finishing man have won the race on another night but Adele will be delighted with this from non the less. Clonmel’s Angela Mc Cann is making quite a name for herself down these parts in recent months and is hardly outside the top three or four Ladies finishers in all our events now, her time was 31.16 just 17 seconds behind Adele. Fourth Lady finisher was West Waterford’s Diane Behan in 31.37,Diane is starting to find her form once again and at her best will be battling for that top spot, she is showing much improvement of late and is always a top Lady finisher. One of the Ladies performances of the evening came from our hard working Senior club Secretary Norma Wall having finished in this spot in last years race when she clocked a time of 34.04,what a difference a year can make, Norma thrashed her best 5 mile time last Friday when clocking a hugely improved personal best 31.53.Well done it must be the high altitude in Ballinroad.
In the Masters categories for Ladies there was also some great battles for the prizes and many winners hear were also winners in last years race much like the Men’s master category winners. The over 35-section saw Brea Cooke Waterford AC make it three wins in three years here with a time of 33.54. In the over 40’s West Waterford’s Anne Whelan had to pull out all the stops and she too recorded a personal best 5 mile time of 34.10 to take the title. Ailish Ní hAodha West Waterford was our winner over 45 in a time of 32.29 a great run for the teak tough Ailish, The over 50 winner was Joan Hough Midleton AC in 33.40. Our Ladies category for over 55’s went to Terri Gough West Waterford AC in 47.17,and our final Ladies prize was won by West Waterford youngster Elma Nugent with a fine run of 33.59 another personal best time for Elma with her previous best 34.55.An array of spot prizes was drawn among non-prize-winners.
DZINTARS AND CAMILLE FIRST GSK FINISHERS.
The race within the race for the first Glaxosmithkline finishers was keenly contested as it is every year with many great performances all round, in the Men’s section it was great to see Dzintars Klava return to the sport after many months sidelined through injury, Hopefully now we will see a lot more of him in the months to come. Dzintars time was 28.09 gave his a very good 13th overall finishing position, In second place was Damien Travers 40th place in a time of 30.19 a good run also from Damien, Tom Byrne was next in 104th place with a time of 34.12 and he was closely followed by Kieran Russell in 109th place recording a time of 34.24,The 6th GSK finisher was Alan Curran 128th in 35.32.Turning to the Ladies Camille Mulhearne was the Lady to beat on the night as she crossed the line first in 155th place recording a good time of 36.48,Camille was followed by Catriona O’Brien in 220th place with a time of 41.33 the third GSK lady finisher was Denise Nugent 258th in 48.30,Well done to all at G.S.K. employees on some fine performances.
RACE ORGANISATION.
The organisers of the race Glaxosmithkline would like to thank all who supported the race both runners and walkers, All helped in raising the highest amount of money ever donated to a charity in the nine year history of the event, Race committee member Dermot Dwyer on behalf of G.S.K. spoke and thanked all his fellow race committee members who were involved with the organisation of the race, he especially thanked Michael Verling, Denise Regan and Siobhan Hassett a small committee but a dedicated bunch who left no stone unturned to make sure that the event was the success it turned out to be. He also on behalf G.S.K. kindly topped up the monies collected from the race entries to round off the figure to 4.500 Euro, The employees and management alike are to be congratulated for this gesture and they were delighted to hand over the substantial cheque to this years chosen charity The West Waterford Hospice who was represented on the night by Mrs Una Dowd.
The organisers would also like to thank all the stewards, time keepers, recorders, Dungarvan Crystal sports centre and Dungarvan united football club, all our own crew headed up by Gerry Cantwell our very efficient road racing coordinator, who had the entries and results out in jig time a big thank you, to Tony and Michael P.A. Special thanks to Conor Norris and Jamie Mills for their help insuring the road was safe for the runners and walkers on the night. Special thanks to Garda Declan Walsh for his invaluable help also on motor bike duty, To our overall sponsors of the series Ger Wyley sports and Nike thank you for your continued support of the local athletics scene.
NEXT RACE IN SERIES.
Please note race number 9 in the series the Ballymacarbry 5 will take place on Friday August 1st at 7.30 PM. (please note the change from the traditional bank holiday Monday date to the previous Friday)
TQS FIT4LIFE LEAGUE ROUND TWO
NORMA WALL MAKES HER MARK.
They have ladies day at Ascot and at the Galway races and at the TQS League last Tuesday in the Friary College it was ladies night all round as all the positions were filled by ladies. Those that were just too fast and those that got it right or just a little bit slower than their predicted time were all ladies. It’s fair to say that for round two that the men didn’t get a look in! There was a total of 73 runners altogether on the night which is an increase on the numbers from the previous week. Already this league is following the same trend as our other leagues, growing in popularity week by week. A total beginner could come along next week and have as much a chance as winning as anybody else there. It’s time to come along and join in the fun and you’d never know, you could be next week’s winner. Out of the 73 participants for round two, 55 were faster than their predicted time while 18 were on the right side of the clock. It was a lot more one-sided for round two than round one. With so many being faster it was all the harder to judge and there certainly was an element of luck involved. For round two, luck was on the side of our hard working senior club secretary Norma Wall (0.00), School teacher Norma got her sums spot on in the Colligan Cup style Handicap league,Norma had a busy week and it has to be said a good one also as after winning the league Tuesday evening she went on to record her fastest time ever for 5 miles on the road at the GSK race Friday evening with a very fast 31.53.well done on a great weeks work Norma. Corinna Walsh was next (0.02), Ann Dunford (0.08) and Aisling Hourigan (0.10) these four Ladies filled the top four positions. On the other side of the clock, that is, those who were faster than their predicted time were Clare Walsh who was a mere second too fast and Brigid Coffey who was only three seconds outside of her predicted time. There was no strong breeze as we had for round one and this was certainly a factor in the running with so many being much faster than anticipated. Eadaoin Ashe was 9.52 faster than she predicted. This is a sure indicator that her training is going much better than she thought. Geraldine Barry is also another that underestimated her capabilities along with Raivis Zakis, Keith Radley, Caroline McCarthy, Dermot Sullivan and Angeline Drennan. The circuit training is certainly paying dividends Angeline! Those that were very close last week were some way off for round two. The winner of round one Alan Curran was 31 seconds out and Tomas Coleman was 30 seconds too fast. My money was on Liam Kavanagh for this week but it wasn’t to be for Liam who crossed the line 31 seconds too fast but with six weeks left no doubt he’ll manage it at some stage! The Walsh sisters have both been just a little too fast as well. Round one saw Clare being just seven seconds too fast and for round two Martina was unlucky not to claim the title as she was just one second too fast. Going on last week’s times a lot of us will have to readjust our times to get that bit closer to the clock. For those that have never ran the TQS League it follows a system whereby the clock starts at 45 minutes and works backwards down to 0.00. Everybody keeps a watchful eye on the clock and when the clock shows the time you think you will complete the distance in, you begin your run. If you think it will take 40 minutes to run the four laps then you start running at 40 minutes, if you are running the three laps and you figure that you need 32 minutes to run the course then when the clock reaches 32 minutes you will start running. The same goes for those running the two laps and the one lap. At this stage all the runners are out on the course and there is only one winner, the winner can be anyone from either the one, two, three or four lap runners. It really is a great system and is so suited to newcomers so we hope to see as many as possible out there over the next few weeks. There are six weeks left in the league which is held every Tuesday night in the grounds of the Friary College at 7 p.m. Registration begins at 6.40 p.m. each night with an entry fee of €2 each night. Water is provided at the finish for all competitors and all are welcome to come along any night that they can.
SPONSORS
Our sincere thanks must go to Tom and Maura Quilty for coming on board once again this year as sponsors of this league. They have always been ardent supporters of local athletics and their co-operation and generosity is greatly appreciated by all at the club. Their contribution certainly adds to the success of the league. Many thanks.
GREEN MILE LEAGUE AT ST.AUGUSTINES.
Continuing on from the success of this one-mile challenge from last year, West Waterford A.C. will once again host the one-mile challenge. This is open to all sorts of runners, from the complete beginner to the seasoned runner. It was set up with the newcomer in mind. We know that to run a mile when you have never done so is a real challenge but with the help of West Waterford AC we aim to help you realise and accomplish that challenge. You are most welcome to run a bit, walk or jog, in actual fact just do whatever it takes to complete the mile. You will find that as the weeks go by the distance you are able to run without stopping will increase gradually and eventually you will be able to run the full mile without stopping. It’s always a good idea to bring along a friend for support but there are always plenty of participants in the same boat that will provide you with the support and encouragement you need. This one mile challenge begins this week on Thursday night, July 17 and we would like to see as many as possible out there. We all have to start somewhere and for many of our now regular runners, the one mile challenge is where it all began and they have never looked back since. The entry fee is €2 per night and registration begins at 7.15 p.m. with the run itself having a 7.30 p.m. start. See you all out there.
CORK CITY SPORTS.
DAVID MC CARTHY RECORDS PERSONAL BEST TIME FOR 3.000 METERS.
David Mc Carthy was in action last Saturday at the Cork City Sports international meeting, which attracted an array of top class athlete’s form around the globe. David was running the 3.000 meters and pitted against some very good middle distance runners. The race was won by Mike Kigen Kenya in a time of 7.49.50, In second place was Irish Beijing bound Olympian Alistair Cragg with a time of 7.55.86,Bobby Curtis of the USA was third in 8.00.82.David had a personal best 3.000 meters time of 8.03.94 to finish in 8th place. He has lowered his best 3.000 meters time three times over the past couple of weeks, Starting with an 8.14 and followed that with an 8.08 two weeks ago. David is now finished his Track season here and will return to Providence College in a couple of weeks time for the start of another academic year.
NIALL MELLON TRUST FUND BENEFITS FORM MINNIE’S BAR CRUCHAN CHALLENGE.
The previously postponed Cruchán Challenge in aid of the Niall Melon Township trust took place last Sunday morning, Thankfully the weather obliged this time and the 50 walkers got probably the best morning ever in the 5 years of the event with clear sky’s over the county and beyond as we made our way to the top of the mountain to witness the beautiful sight of the sun rising over the Déise county, We assembled at 4 AM at Minnie’s Abbeyside and made our way by car to the mountain then we walked the mile or so to the top, It was worth the effort financially for the Niall Mellon fund and for the spectacular display the sun gave us on this occasion.
To round off the morning an energetic group ran back to Minnie’s from Cruchán in the traditional Breakfast run. On our arrival back at Minnie’s we were served a top-notch breakfast and our thanks in a special way to Paddy and Betty all the O’Brien family and staff of Minnie’s Bar Abbeyside for providing all the participants with a full Irish breakfast. Michael Tutty on behalf of the club presented Bertie Hallahan of The Niall Mellon Trust Fund with the proceeds from the walk, finally thanks to all who made the early morning effort to help raise funds for a very worthy cause.
RAIVIS RETAINS FERMOY 5.
The 2nd Annual Grange/Fermoy AC organised 5-mile road race was held last Sunday and Raivis Zakis retained his title from last year with a winning time of 26.39
Brigid Coffey took 2nd in the Ladies over 35 section in 39.03 and Michael Mc Carthy was the clubs only other representative he ran a time of 40.58.
MORRIS OIL PILTOWN 10K.
Race 3 in the Outfield Sports summer series the Morris Oil sponsored Piltown 10k takes place this Friday July 18th at 7.30 PM.The race starts and finishes in Kildalton College. Entries will be taken at Piltown G.A.A.centre from 6.30.
SYMPATHY.
West Waterford Athletic Club extends sincere sympathy to the family and friends of Walter Tobin 25 Woodview Park Tallow who passed to his eternal reward last week. May he rest in peace.
RUNNING QUOTE.
Tough times don’t last but tough people do.
