WATERFORD COUNTY SENIOR CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS.
SANDIS RULES O.K.
GOLD AND SILVER TEAM AWARDS FOR WEST WATERFORD AC.
West Waterford AC kept it’s great tradition of cross country running intact at the recent Waterford Senior Cross Country championships which were held at St.Augustine’s College in conjunction with the Garveys SuperValue sponsored cross country Gallop last Sunday week. Our club recorded a great double in races, Individually as well as team; Sandis Bralitis took an easy victory in the Men’s event and Corinna Walsh after somewhat of a battle with club mate Diane Behan was the victor in the Ladies race. This was Sandis’s second Waterford Senior County cross country championship win in a row and he did it in style leading from gun to tape, His team mate Raivis Zakis who was the champion from 2005 had to settle for the silver medal again this year as was the case last year .The bronze medal was won by ten times senior winner James Sullivan Waterford AC who is running as well now as he was 10 years ago, despite now running as a master, The club had another good day in the team sections winning gold and silver team awards.Sandis and Raivis lead the club to gold along with one of the club’s the new kid’s on the block Rory Moloney who finishing a superb 4th overall in his very first Senior cross country race and like wise another youngster who’s name we haven’t heard the last of Mark Shalloe was our fourth scoring member finishing 6th overall, this gave us 13 points. The silver winning West Waterford team finished with a tally of 36 points and here too we saw some great performances when Declan McGrath headed the team up finishing 7th, Kevin Kennelly was hot on his heels in 8th place as was Martin McCarthy who is always in the top 10 or 12 at this championship race each year, He finished 10 on this occasion, just one place behind Martin was Des Feeney in 11th place, Des is making a great fist of the cross country running this year and is in his best form ever over the country. Good team running from all. Waterford AC took the bronze medals here with 39 points.
CORINNA WALSH CLAIMS HER FIRST SENIOR COUNTY CROSS COUNTRY TITLE.
WEST WATERFORD LADIES TAKE GOLD AND BRONZE TEAM AWARDS.
The Ladies championship saw the welcome return of Corinna Walsh who has suffered her share of injury this past year and a half. However all that seems to be behind her now and she gave a fine display of cross country running when taking the title from club mate and holder of the title from 2006 Diane Behan who had to be content with the silver on this occasion. Diane and Corinna were together for the first of two laps of the Friary course then on the final lap Corinna made her move drawing away from Diane over the final couple of hundred meters. Diane had won the title on three previous occasion when winning in 2003 and she then did the double in 2005 and 2006,Diane will not begrudge Corinna her Senior title and these two athlete will be the back bone of our Ladies cross country squad for the coming cross county season. Well done to both. Waterford’s Maria Griffin finished third to take the Bronze medal. Corinna and Diane lead the club to the gold team title also with the third scoring member Norma Wall in an excellent 4th overall, Norma is most consistent when it comes to cross country running and she also finished in this exact position last year. The fourth scoring member was one of the clubs upcoming bright young stars Elma Nugent who finished 8th overall in her very first Senior cross country championship race, not bad for one so young, remember the name. This is the clubs umpteen time winning this county team award, so well done to all concerned in keeping up our rich tradition. The silver winning team were from Waterford AC and they had 21 points Maria Griffin 3rd,Brea Cooke 5th,Sylvia Malone 6th and Mary Burke 7th.West Waterford also took the bronze team medals with the team consisting of Brenda Hunt 9th. Eibhlis Ní hAdoha 10th,Anne Whalen 11th,Ann Dunford 12th 42 points were their tally. Well done to all medal winners and we are now eagerly looking forward to the Cross Country season ahead.
MUNSTER NOVICE CROSS COUNTRY.
The club was well represented at the Munster Novice cross-country championships, which were held in Bilboa, Limerick last Sunday afternoon. However as we got to print the full results are still unavailable so we will hold our report over until next week.
ELITE PAINT BALL ONE LAP CHALLENGE A HUGE SUCCESS.
They came, they ran and they conquered. And so the story goes for the fifty or so people that ran each night of the Elite Paintball One Lap Challenge and all passed with flying colours!! To some it was a challenge that they were well used to, to others it was something completely new and unknown to them and to these people especially we extend our congratulations. We are delighted that you made the decision to join and give it a go and doubly delighted that you all endured the six weeks of the league and that you rose to the challenge on every occasion. Many of you out there would have been complete newcomers to the scene but not anymore and for this you must all be complimented. Now it’s your turn to encourage a friend or two to give it a go. Now that you have proved to yourself that you are up for the challenge, it’s time to set a new one! That’s the thing about running, you set yourself a target, you achieve it and straight away you find yourself setting a new goal. This means that you are getting fitter, stronger, healthier and faster all at the one time. Not bad for €2 per night. Well done again to everybody. During the course of the league participants were allocated into divisions of five and it was each person’s best four nights out of the six nights that counted and this is how we calculated the division winners. However, in our minds, each and every one of you are a winner. You may not have been at the top of a division but if you came out with the intention of running a lap without stopping and this you duly achieved, then you are certainly a winner and no doubt in the not too distant future you will be a division winner in one of our future leagues.
MICHAEL “MOTORS” ON AS SINEAD BREAKS TWELVE MINUTES
It’s always on the final night that people will muster up all their determination and energy and give it they’re all and round six of the Elite Paintball One Lap Challenge was no different. Many of you achieved personal bests and were thrilled with the results. Brenda Hunt recorded 7.38 and was more than happy with that. Stacey Lyons, who has been hovering between 8.10 and 8.30, clocked 8.01, which was fantastic running. She must be picking up a few tips from Dad Colin who was winner of division two. Michael Tutty was really motoring on the night and achieved a personal best for his efforts, clocking 8.10, three seconds faster than his previous best. Mairead Murphy was a very strong finisher and passed the finishing line in a time of 8.20. Sinead Hogan had a mere second to spare in her effort to break eleven minutes and was happy with 10.59. Marie Hyslop was another out to break the twelve-minute barrier and clocked 11.58, which was a great achievement. Well done all and we hope to see you all at our upcoming leagues. You have all worked hard for the autumn; it would be a shame to undo all that hard work for the winter.
DIVISIONAL WINNERS.
There were eight division winners and well done to all. Raivis Zakis won division one, closely followed by the man from the Kingdom, Johnny O’ Connor on nine points. Alan Lyons was only one point behind Johnny so division one was very close indeed. Colin Lyons was a clear winner of division two. Brigid Coffey won division three on 37 points. Ann Whelan finished up with 36 points, which unfortunately for Ann pushed her up to the next division. Pearse Moloney had four points to spare over Geraldine Heffernan in division 4. A former division winner in the TQS League, Diana Chizhikova finds herself a division winner yet again and claimed the honours for division 5 on a score of 85 points, a 5 point lead over second placed Karolina Mazur. In division 6, another former division winner, Susie Keane takes the top spot with 115 points. Division 7 went to Shirley Flynn with a score of 144, giving her an eight-point lead over Mary O’Riordan. A gallant effort by Marie Hyslop to break 12 minutes on the final night certainly paid off and as a result Marie became winner of division eight on a score of 166 points. So well done to you all and we hope that you can come along to Minnie’s Bar on Friday 26 October for the prize giving and have a night out to celebrate your win.
PRIZE GIVING.
The Prize-giving for the Elite Paintball One Lap Challenge will take place in Minnie’s Bar on Friday night, October 26 at 10 p.m. Prizes will be given to the division winners and all participants are invited to attend. A great night is guaranteed for you all.
SPONSORS.
Once again, the club would like to sincerely thank Jeff and Marie Allen for their ongoing support and co-operation throughout the league. They came along and participated each night and in no small way made the league the huge success that it was. We were delighted to welcome them on board as sponsors and as runners and we are indebted to them for their very generous sponsorship. Many thanks.
ENRIGHTS EUROSPAR AUTUMN LEAGUE DRAWS TO A SUCESSFUL CONCLUSION.
The sixth and final night of the Eurospar Autumn League was held last Thursday night in the Friary and it was a resounding success. With the light fading, proceedings got underway promptly and there were many on top form for the final night. Whether you ran in the one, two, three or four lap league, thanks to you all for participating and we hope you all enjoyed the league. We were very fortunate throughout the duration of the league with the weather and the grounds were in tip-top shape each night. Our thanks to St. Augustine’s for the use of the grounds for the league. Now that the Autumn has come and gone, it’s time to turn your attention to the winter league. Don’t undo all your good work in the Autumn, use the Winter League to capitalise on your present level of fitness and health. For round six there were many runners that hit top form and many went home with a personal best to their credit.
VERY CLOSE IN ONE LAP LEAGUE.
It was fast and furious for the one lap and many were side-by-side coming in to the home straight. Fiona O’ Riordan led one group home in a time of 10.42, closely followed by Eunice Power in10.43 and Helena Morrissey in 10.44. It doesn’t get any closer than that. Lisa Moore wasn’t too far behind in 10.51. Susie Keane, Paula Early and Brigid Blackwell all recorded great runs and were unlucky to finish just outside of eleven minutes for the one lap.
YEVGENIY CHIZHIKOV RECORDS 15 MINUTES EVEN FOR TWO LAPS.
Yevgeniy Chizhikov pulled off a great performance in the two-lap league. He started off nice and steady and just after half way he really upped the pace and led the field of two lappers home to record fifteen minutes even. Another great performance of the night went to Corinna Walsh who clocked 15.12 for the distance. Caroline Flynn will be well pleased with her run as she recorded 23.20 as will Mary O’ Riordan who broke 27 minutes for the run.
CAHILL ON THE MARK.
Mark Cahill recorded a great personal best for the three-lap course. He ran the first two laps an even eight minutes per lap and going into the third and final lap he took off and came home in a time of 23.29, his fastest time for the league. This run earned him the title of division one winner for the three laps so well done. Noel McKenna also had a great run and clocked 27.01, so close to the 27 minutes even and for this Noel went on to claim the honour of leader of division two on 24 points. Onra Power ran a steady 29.47 and so was well under thirty minutes for the distance.
RAIVIS IS OVERALL WINNER OF FOUR-LAP LEAGUE.
Raivis Zakis was the hot favourite at the beginning of the league to take the title and this he duly achieved. Along with Ravis, there were four others that broke 30 minutes on the night. Kevin kenneally, Denis McCarthy, Brian Byrne and Des Feeney will be well pleased with their sub 30-minute runs. Jim Barry had a great run on the night and recorded 32.35 for his efforts and this earned him the top spot for division 3 ahead of Jason Dee who also had a terrific run to record 32.44. David Connors also had a personal best and will be delighted with 32.41. Newcomer Rosaleen Ryan showed that she knows a thing or two about running and was well under 40 minutes for the four laps, recording 38.29
The following are the division winners for the various laps of the league.
One Lap:
Division 1
Diana Chizhikova
Rosemarie Fleming
Susie Flynn
Division 2 Brigid Blackwell
Divisin 3: Ann Wright
Two Laps
Division 1
Yevgeniy Chizhikov
Corinna Walsh
Ann Whelan
Division 2: Nikki McKenna
Three Laps
Division 1
Mark Cahill
Shane Power
Paddy Power
Division 2: Noel McKenna
Four Laps
Division 1
Ravis Zakis
Rory Moloney
Division 2: Alan Lyons
Division 3: Jim Barry
Division 4: David Connors
Division 5: Michael Tutty
Division 6: Michael Deegan
SPONSORS.
As the league draws to a close, we would like to take this opportunity to thank Ger Enright of Eurospar for his generous sponsorship of the league. It was great to have Ger on board again this year and we would like to thank him for his support of local athletics over the last number of years. Many thanks.
PRIZE GIVING.
The prize giving for the Autumn League will be held in Minnie’s Bar, Abbeyside on Friday night October 26 at 10 p.m. As we had two leagues on each week, the prize giving for both will be held at the one time. A great night is in store for you all and we hope that as many as possible will turn up on the night. See you all there.
ALLROUNDER SPORTS WINTER LEAGUE.
REGRISTRATION TONIGHT WEDNESDAY 24TH.
The 14th Annual All-rounder Sports winter league registration night is on tonight with the league proper starting the following Wednesday October 31st. The league as in previous years will start and finish at Dungarvan Sports Centre Quanns. As with all West Waterford events we try and cater for all levels, and all are welcome no matter what your back round or what your sport may be. If you feel like keeping fit over the winter months The All-rounder Sports winter league is there for you. We have our usual two distances the 2.6 mile and the 5.6 mile runs, so a distance to suit all. Please make the effort to come along tonight from 6.30-7.30 pm.to registar, anyone who wishes to run the course on this night can do so but it will not be counting as a league night proper. The first league night proper will be the next Wednesday evening October 31st.
SIXTEEN-WEEK LEAGUE.
The organizing committee under Gerry Cantwell have decided on a 16-week league this year with eight nights of league running before Christmas and eight nights after Christmas. We will have the traditional Christmas break finishing on Wednesday night December 19th our final league run in 2007 and the league will resume on Wednesday night January 2nd .The league will finish on Wednesday 20th February. The mystery tour night will be Friday night 22nd February. Entry will remain the same as previous years 2 Euro per night to members of the club and 3 Euro to non members, As was the case last year there will be a once off payment on registration night of 5 Euro this extra amount will be used to cover the cost of purchasing the numbers which are quite expensive but they are waterproof and have to be used each night for the duration of the league. All participants are asked to note also that the penalty points system " which is designed to give all runners an equal chance of winning the league" will come into play from week one, and is based on your times from last year’s league. These penalty points for those who receive them will come into being from week number 1.The various division placings are made during the Christmas break. And will be displayed weekly on our return night in January. Remember rule number one, no bib no run! Rule number 2 no watches. It is quite a task to organize such a big event and with this in mind we appeal to anyone who might have an hour or so to spear any Wednesday evening and would be willing to give a hand we would be more that delighted to hear from you. Tony Ryan is looking after the stewards etc and he can be contacted on 087-7657805.
WEST WATERFORD ATHLETES LEAVE THEIR MARK ON AMSTERDAM MARATHON.
With conditions ideal for Marathon running in Amsterdam last Sunday the West Waterford Marathon troop returned some fine performances. The club had many first time half and full marathoners running and we are delighted to report that all finished their task. West Waterford’s first two athletes out of the blocks were Onra Power and Carmel Corcoran who took part in the 5k event, both did very well here with Carmel finishing with a time of 24.19 and Onra was clocked at 25.41.The scene was set for the half and full marathon which were to follow we had 15 competing in the half Marathon Tom Condon lead the club home here with a time of 1.40.This was 4 minutes faster than Tom’s time last year in Amsterdam. He was followed by Ray Moore 1.41,Ray opted for the half this year after completing the full marathon last year, next we had two great runs from first timer Trevor Walsh 1.42 and Michael Tutty who “motored” his way around the course in 1.44.Martina Ryan lead our Ladies finishers with a time of 1.53 and was followed by training partners Marie O’Gorman 1.55 and Sheilanne O’Donoghue 1.56.
31 from West Waterford ran the full Marathon and as expected with the training done by all, performances lived up to most people’s expectations. Raivis Zakis once again proved with the right conditions he is a fine Marathon runner when finishing just outside his personal best time he was clocked at 2.30 giving him a 44th overall finishing position. Breaking the magic 3-hour barrier in any marathon is no mean feat as many who attempt this will vouch for. Michael Dunford is no stranger to marathon pacing and once again he got his figures spot on when breaking that 3 hour mark 2.58.Michael was 1 minute faster that his time for last years race
We had five athletes under the 3.15 mark and they were Pat O’Riordan 3.01,Liam Budds 3.02,Eamon Phelan 3.04 and Brett Lynam 3.06.The 3 hours in beckoning here for these boy’s. Our first Lady finisher was Triona Wall and her improvement in recent months is evident, last year Triona ran a time of 3.34 and this year she was focused on breaking the 3.30 mark and of course she did just that when clocking 3.28 last Sunday. Karen Ryan was our second Lady finisher and will be well pleased with her 3.57.Angeline Drennan was our third Lady finisher with another great run of 4.14
There were many other great performances including all Albert’s gang who acquitted themselves admirably, So it’s a big congratulations to all of them especially, They trained like no other and all richly deserve great praise and congratulations on their achievements.
Well done to all and a big thanks to the big travelling contingent that came over to support the runners this was much appreciated. Finally to Jacinta,Albert,Chairmaine and Co for all their work in organising the trip a super job which was very well done with everything going off without a hitch, all arriving back to the old Boro tired and weary but happy campers.
The winner in Amsterdam was the 29-year old Kenyan Emmanuel Mutai who was somewhat of a surprise winner in 2.06.29.His time was just 9 seconds outside the course record of Haile Gebrselasssie of 2005. This year only the same Gebrselassie was faster on the world ranking 2007 with his world record. Before Amsterdam last Sunday Mutai fastest time was 2.13.06. Impressive was also the performance of his fellow countryman Richard Limo, who finished in second place in his first marathon ever in 2.06.45. The battle for the third place was a photo finish. James Rotich was less than a second faster than his Kenyan fellow countryman and favourite Paul Kirui both in 2.07.12. Eleven athletes finished within 2.10.00.
In the ladies race Kenyan Magdaline Chemjor took the victory. The 28-year-old Chemjor won in her debut at the marathon distance in 2.28.16. The Polish Dorota Gruca (2.30.10) was just a little faster than the Ethiopian Ayelech Worku (2.30.15).
In total 24,000 participants took part in the ING Amsterdam Marathon. A record!
Top 10 men:
1) Emmanuel Mutai Kenya 2.06.29
2) Richard Limo Kenya 2.06.45
3) James Rotich Kenya 2.07.12
4) Paul Kirui Kenya 2.07.12
5) Yonas Kifle Eritrea 2.07.34
Top 10 women:
1) Magdaline Chemjor Kenya 2.28.16
2) Dorota Gruca Poland 2.30.10
3) Ayelech Worku Ethiopia 2.30.15
4) Shiru Deriba Ethiopia 2.30.30
5) Liza Hunter-Galvan New Sealand 2.30.40
FULL WEST WATERFORD AC MARATHON RESULTS.
Raivis Zakis 2.30
Michael Dunford 2.58
Patrick Riordan 3.01
Liam Budds 3.02
Eamon Phelan 3.04
Brett Lynam 3.06
Tom O’Brien 3.11
Andrew Leary 3.25
Vincent Tutty 3.26
Dermot Ryan 3.29
Triona Wall 3.28
Ray Burke 3.36
Tomas Coleman 3.38
Richie Kelly 3.40
Brian Collins 3.44
Pat Morrissey 3.47
Alan Hickey 3.53
Karen Ryan 3.57
Pat O’Brien 4.02
Vincent O’ Donovan 4.03
Eamon Flavin 4.10
Liam Sandford 4.14
Angeline Drennan 4.14
Sharon O’Brien 4.34
Tom Scanlon 4.36
Catriona O’Brien 4.50
Clare Walsh 4.54
Sinead Moore 4.54
Mary Harney 4.56
Jacinta Sheil 5.18
Albert McGrath 5.18
HALF MARATHON RESULTS.
Tom Condon 1.40
Ray Moore 1.41
Trevor Walsh 1.42
Michael Tutty 1.44
Michael Deegan 1.50
Pascal Proctor 1.52
Martina Ryan 1.53
Maria O’Gorman 1.55
Sheilanne O’Donoghue 1.56
Patrick Lannon 1.57
Olivere Crotty 1.59
Martina Walsh 2.26
Niamh Budds 2.26
Alice Shanley 2.27
Don Sheil 2.30
5k
Carmel Corcoran 24.19
Onra Power 25.41
RUNNING QUOTE.
Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.Sineád Moore
CHECK OUT THE CLUB WEB SITE.
Have you checked out the countries most frequently updated athletics web site on the net. Well you should because its your very own www.westwaterfordathletics.org Filled with all the clubs up to date photos, league tables, Race results, notes etc, It’s a vital tool now in the day to day happenings in the club and keeps all members up to date with all that’s happening on the local running scene. The lady responsible for looking after the site behind the scenes is club member Andrea Gaffney who is doing a terrific job for the club we thank her for all her work with the site, If there’s anything that you would like to see on the site or you would like to contribute anything for the site please e mail it to info@westwaterfordathletics.org come on everybody its up to all of us to avail of this club facility.
IRELAND TO HOST THE 2009 EUROPEAN CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS.
The 2009 European Cross Country Championships will be staged at Santry in Dublin. The European Athletics Council announced last week that the Irish bid had edged out French hopeful Carcassone and Polish city Bydogoszcz. Athletics Ireland has earmarked 13 December as the date for the event. Ireland hosted the 1979 and 2002 World Cross Country Championships but it will be the first occasion the country has staged the European Championships.Mo Farah and Ukraine’s Tatyana Golovchenko claimed the individual titles in last year’s championships while Irish athlete Fionnuala Britton was second in the Under-23 event. Irish athlete Catherina McKiernan won the European title in 1994. Meanwhile, Paris has been chosen to host the European Indoor Championships in 2011 and Gothenburg was selected to host the 2013 event. The European Indoor Championships were first held in 1966 in Dortmund. Paris has hosted it once, in 1994.
DUBLIN CITY MARATHON ON BANK HOLIDAY MONDAY.
FOR PADDY JOE DELANEY MEMORIAL SHIELD.
With the majority of our Marathon runner’s jet setting around various parts of the World these last couple of weeks. We had runners taking part in Marathons in Berlin, Amsterdam and Chicago. Obviously our numbers taking part in this coming bank holiday Monday’s Dublin City Marathon will be a much smaller contingent than usual. However that said we will be well represented on the day. The Irish National Marathon championship will, as has been the case for a few years now, held in conjunction with the race. Those from the club taking part will include Benji Whelan, (winner of the shield at last years race) Eoin O’Riordan, Paul Brunnock, Ann Moroney, Terri Gough, Declan McGrath, and David Connors. Among others, we wish them all the very best for the day.
