National Track and Field medals for Masters

Last Friday evening the An Tobar Ardmore 5 brought a fitting end to this years Ger Wyley Sports /Nike summer series which was hosted by West Waterford athletic club. A huge turn out of 181 athletes completed the An Tobar sponsored event, which was yet again a fantastic turn out especially considering it was such a very wet night. This large gathering of runners pleased the organisers and sponsor alike who put so much effort into such an event but unfortunately they have no control over the weather, never the less it was encouraging that such a huge gathering supported the event on the night.

The winner this year was West Waterford’s Sandis Bralitis who was taking his second victory in a row in Ardmore as he was the reining champions from 2006,Sandis lead from start to finish recording a winning time of 25.26 which was a some what slowish finishing time but considering the night that was in it fast times were in the minority.

Going out hard form the gun which is his trade mark running Sandis had the race in the bag as he had opened up an 80 meter gap with in the first mile on club mate Raivis Zakis increasing his lead from there to the finish line. Raivis likewise was well clear in 2^{nd place and he recorded time of 26.30.It doesn’t happen to often that you run a race which passes your front door, well such was the occasion for local Ardmore man Sean Stilwell who had a terrific run to finish 3rd overall in a time of 26.58,great running from Seán on home turf.}

Again despite the bad weather some very useful times were recorded by many of the runners, which also included some personal best time for the 5-mile distance. Declan McGrath played a blinder finishing 6th and now has a new P.B.of 28.20 likewise how about the flying Rory Moloney 7th overall in 28.25.Elma Nugent recorded an impressive P.B.with a fine run 33.52 she is one to watch for the future. Justin Coonan is in fine form presently and was clocked at 31.43,Karen Ryan also had a good run and was well under the 40 minute barrier 38.08,Paul McGrath also broke the 40 with a run of 39.19,like wise Eamon Flavin will be well pleased with his run of 38.56.Inese Melne was unlucky not to break the 40 when she ran a time of 40.17,Andrea Gaffney showed her visiting sister how it’s done when she ran a good time of 40.51 while Hugh was looking after the inlaw, Hugh and Niamh recorded time’s of 44.05 and 44.06 respectively ,Niamh is a member of the countries newest running club the newly formed Lakeside Striders in Blessington.another runner to catch the eye was the performance of Tracy Dwyer 41.08 great running, speaking of Dwyer’s how about the P.B.of Sean Dwyer 34.53.Dermo we need to get the skates on don’t we. Well done to all.

The ladies race saw Sligo’s Lucy Brennan make the long journey a fruitful one when she was the only female athlete to break the 30 minute mark to come home a clear winner in a time of 29.31 from West Waterford ‘s Sinead Crotty 2nd in 30.02. Another good performance from Sineád to be on the 30-minute mark. But she was up against one of the countries best Female road racers in Brennan on the night, and despite being in close proximity of the leader for much of the race Sineád had to settle for 2nd place on the night. The winner of this prestigious race over the last two years Kilmore’s Jackie Carty had to be content with third on the night when she was clocked at 31.13

Matt Faherty was on hand to present Lucy Brennan with the Noel Faherty memorial cup for the first Lady finisher. Our thanks to Matt for this.

The Zodiac signs competition is a unique element to the Ardmore race and brings great banter and fun into the event, This is where each male and female runner race for the honour of being the first in their particular star sign.

The following are the list of winners for this year.

ARIES Peter Francis Mary Burke

TAURIS Andrew Leary Brenda Lowe

GEMINI Ted Flannelly Esther Murphy

CANCER Keith Radley Catriona Gough

LEO Vasily Neumerzkitskig Brea Cooke

VIRGO Denis Carroll Miriam Smith

LIBRA Brian O’Connor Ruth Aherne

SCORPIO Ian Walsh Helen Doyle

SAGITTARIUS Valerin Turcan Patricia O’Brien

CAPRICORN Peter Duggan Elma Nugent

AQUARIUS Declan McGrath Suzanne Rath

PISCES Brian Byrne N/A

After the race the presentation of prizes took place at An Tobar our race sponsor, We would like to thank manager Ken Pallister and his staff at An Tobar for their kind hospitality and of course their welcome sponsorship of the race plus on behalf of the runners a big thanks to them for the sandwiches they were very welcome, A special word of thanks to West Waterford club man Michael Hennessey and all his helpers and stewards who once again looked after the organising of the race in Ardmore a job well done by all. Everything went like clockwork on the night, to Ardmore G.A.A.club for the kind use of their fine club facilities, which was much appreciated especially the showers on such a wet night. To our hard working club administrators, those who looked after entries and results and finish area, To Gerry Cantwell our road racing co-ordinator, Thanks to the Ryan and Faherty families for there ongoing association with this race.

A full end of summer series report will feature in next week’s notes.

TQS LEAGUE ROUND SEVEN

PADDY "POWERS" ONTO PERFECT FINISH

The penultimate stage of the popular TQS League was held last Tuesday night, August 14th and despite the wet weather, there were 48 participants in total. Out of the 48 runners, 26 were faster than their predicted time and 22 were slower. On the night, victory went to Paddy Power as he paced himself to perfection and claimed the top spot on the night. He ran as accurate as it can get, crossing the line in exactly the time he predicted that he would. What are the odds that he will have a repeat performance for the final stage? We will have to wait and see! Susie Keane was quite close as she was only 3 seconds slower, Carol Elstead 7 seconds and Carol Whelan just 8 seconds slower than the predicted time. On the other side of the clock, that is those that were just that little bit too fast we had Martina Ryan who was a mere one second too fast, Pearse Moloney 3 seconds too fast and Mark Vespa just four seconds too fast. The following are the top four leaders after seven stages of the league.

1. Brigid Coffey 125

2. Brìd Veale 122

3. Pat Morrissey 120

4. Onra Power 118

It couldn’t be any closer between these top four at the moment and with the nature of the league being what it is it’s impossible to tell who will be crowned the TQS champion for 2007. It all rests on the final run. We hope all participants enjoyed the league and that you will come along to all our upcoming leagues, more to follow on these leagues. We wish you all the very best of luck on the final night.

West Waterford Athletic Club would like to sincerely thank Tom and Maura Quilty for their most generous sponsorship of the TQS League. It is wonderful to be associated with them and they have provided invaluable help and support throughout the duration of the league. Many thanks.

Times for round 7 of the TQS League