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Craughwell AC Juvenile AGM

Craughwell AC's Juvenile AGM will take place at 8.30pm to 930pm tomorrow Thurs 23rd Jan in St Michael's Hall in Craughwell village. Its a good opportunity to get an update on and share any opinions you have on activities last year and plans for this year. The update will include full details on facility development plans. All parents and coaches are encouraged to attend as well as athletes aged 16 or older. 

The meeting will be limited to 1 hour so not much of people's time will be taken up.

Strong performances in National Indoor League

National Indoor Arena, Abbotstown

Craughwell AC’s senior women’s team had a strong performance in round 1 of the National Indoor League held at the National Sports Arena in Dublin. The team were placed 6th out of the 12 teams after round 1 with 36 points, just 5 points adrift from 3rd place.

Team captain Sarah Finnegan led by example with a blistering 9.85 to take 3rd place in the 60m hurdles. Sarah's time was just a fraction away from her own club senior record of 9.81 set all the way back in 2008, setting her up for a very promising season. Sinead Treacy placed 4th in the 60m sprint in a solid time of 8.04 while Sinead Gaffney had an impressive 2.21.52 run to place 7th in the 800m. In the field events Leanagh Gilligan leaped 4.85m to take 6th place in the long jump while Aoife Kelly took 9th place in the shot put with a good throw of 6.10 with the 4kg weight.

Jack Miskella competed as a guest in the men’s 1500m running a good early season time of 4.10.

Craughwell 10mile /10K

The craughwell 10 mile / 10k is set for Sunday March 22nd 2020.

Note: It has an earlier start time of 10.30 compared to other years.

Register online at:

https://www.runireland.com/events/craughwell-10-mile-and-10k-2/

More details to follow closer to the race.

Timetable for day 2 of Galway indoors

Provisional timetable for day 2 is available at the following link:

GalwayIndoorTrackAndField2020.day2.timetable.pdf

Timetable for day 1 of Galway indoors

Membership, Club Gear & Lotto

Athletes in form at Northwest Games

Paul Joyce, silver in the Senior Mens 800m and Laura Cunningham, silver in the Junior Womens Long Jump
at the 2019 Northwest Games in Athlone

(report below is still in progress – can athletes/parents let me know re omissions and send more photos if possible)

The last event of the year and the first event of the indoor season for most took place on Saturday in Athlone International Arena with the Northwest Games. Hosted by Donegal Athletics and now in its 5th year, the Northwest Games is a super opportunity for athletes to get an early season competition in. Congratulations to Bernie O'Callaghan and his team on another superbly organised event.

The club had a good number of athletes who took a break from the Christmas festivities to make the short trip over to the indoor arena. First into action, Paul Joyce and John Cormican blitzed their way through the senior 800m with Paul running an exceptional early season 2.01 (approx.) time and face-planting across the line in a valiant attempt to dip under the 2 minute barrier – resulting in an unexpected trip to first aid to tidy up a few scrapes and bruises. John was not far behind with a time of 2.04/5 approx – great early season form from both athletes.

We had a trio in the junior girls long jump with Laura Cunningham, Lorraine Delaney and Siona Lawless, and Alisha Larkin in the U18 girls all competing at the same time. It was the last time competing as a junior for both Laura and Lorraine while Siona and Alisha have more years to go yet.

Craughwell AC long jumpers in the U18 and U20 grade at the Northwest Games in Athlone
Lorraine Delaney, Siona Lawless, Laura Cunningham, Alisha Larkin

Laura’s first 2 jumps were down a little on training form, not getting her normal powerful drive off the board. But she got properly into her stride on her final jump where she powered off the board to leap over 4.90m to claim silver in the U20 event – teeing her up nicely for hopefully a series of 5+ metre jumps in the forthcoming indoor season. Lorraine unfortunately hurt her hamstring on her first jump which restricted her in the remaining jumps to a best of 4.70 approx ... hopefully just a minor injury that a couple of more festive days rest and some medicinal mince pies will cure! Siona found it difficult to hit the board on jumps 1 and 2 but nailed it on the 3rd jump for a good jump in the 4.50s at a guess. Alisha had 1 break but 2 very good jumps with a best in the 4.80s to claim bronze in the U18 event - brilliant jumping.

On the outer track, Keelan Moorhead had a terrific 600m winning his heat and took the overall gold medal when the times from the heats were crunched. Sean Hoade ran strongly in the same 600m race having shortly beforehand put in a brilliant 60m hurdles to take silver or bronze in that event and also leaped an impressive 4.15m in the long jump to take a second medal home with him.

Emma O’Donovan put in a brilliant series of jumps in the U12 girls high jump, clearing every height up to 1.25m before having to make a dash to the start of the 600m where she placed 4th in her heat. With a short break to recover and continue in the high jump where she tried bravely to get over 1.30m but it just wasn’t in the legs so shortly after the 600m and Emma had to settle for silver with 1.25m – a wonderful performance. Emma later added a gold medal in the U12 girls long jump - another super performance. Katelyn Walsh battled hard in the 600m heats, placed in the top 4 I think and twin sister Lillian put in a wonderful performance in her debut in the race walk placing in the top 3 – an event that looks like being a super one for her. 

Jessica Carey made her debut for the club with good performances in the 60m, long jump and 600m while Rachel Warde and Lauren Morgan stepping up an age also ran the 60m both running very well. Lauren finished in the top 6 in the long jumpp and Rachel debuted in the U12 hurdles. Kiera Mernagh was running a stormer in the 60m but lost her balance and had a bad fall but then she continued later with her shot putt competition, which was very brave. Tara Morgan leaped well in the U14 long jump where a huge field of 52 athletes took part. Alan Warde powered his way to 4th place in the U10 Boys 60m.

Later in the final event of the day, a combination of 2 U11 and 2 U12 girls ran a fantastic 4x200m race to power to the bronze medals with Emma O’Donovan, Lauren Morgan, Katelyn Walsh and Rachel Warde.

I’ve a number of other performances from the U12s and U14s to add to the report when I get the info together including the long jump, shot putt and sprints and others in the 600m and hurdles.

Alisha Larkin, bronze medallist in the U18 Girls Long Jump

Sean Cunningham ran an exceptional 60m sprint in the U16 grade, recording a new PB time of 7.80 approx and later followed it up with a solid performance in the long jump. Jade Moorhead was in sublime form in the U16 high jump as was Ellie Cronin in the U18s who were jumping at the same time with both girls clearing 1.50m at their ease and coming very close to clearing 1.55m. Ellie in fact looked to have cleared the 1.55m on her second attempt but by some stroke of misfortune an invisible force or an unlucky fly happened to be passing the bar at the same time and brushed it off! But both girls finished on the podium with Jade taking silver and Ellie gold in their age groups. Leonore Church was very unlucky in the same event to exit at 1.40m, the jumping not going her way today with tired legs after the 800m earlier in the day.

Jade Moorhead and Ellie Cronin, silver and gold in the U16 and U18 high jump and
Lorraine Delaney and Laura Cunningham, 4th and 2nd in the U20 Womens Long Jump

The 400m races saw heartbreak for Freya Bohan who was DQ’ed for a false start – very strict enforcement of the rules in an informal event where a lot of breaks were given a second chance on the inner track but not so on the outer track. Still I guess the rules are the rules but when it happens your own, it’s always tough. Alisha Larkin ran in the 2nd heat of the same 400m, putting in a strong display in her debut in the event. Alisha earlier ran a solid 60m race and also leaped exceptionally well to place third in the U18 long jump.

Final high jump of the day saw Issy Fitzgerald leap her PB of 1.45m and come very close to 1.48m but just missing out on getting it – great early season form and hopefully paving the way for a strong indoor season.

Caron and Sean waltz through the Cowpark

As any runner will tell you, it's been almost impossible to find a dry patch of grass to run on this last month or two, so when the venue for the National Unevens and Novices was announced as "the Cowpark", we didn't feel too optimistic about finding a dry stretch there! So it transpired as the course was flat but almost totally covered in pretty deep mud - several people slipped into the mudbath and many spikes were left behind!!  Despite all that - Craughwell A.C. athletes had a lot to smile about, enjoying perhaps their finest ever day at the national stage, especially at the older age groups with several medals and two podium finishes.

Caron and Sinead rocking the Meath fake-tan legs!

Caron Ryan was the outstanding Galway Senior Athlete of the day as she drove hard all the way to finish in a superb third position in the National Novices, ahead of a large field. She had a big gap on 4th but it still made for an exciting finish as Irish International speed-merchant Nadia Power fresh from the European Cross Country in Portugal bore down on Caron at phenomenal speed on the relatively firm finishing straight, but the gutsy Craughwell girl did enough to hold her off. Caron felt in her last race at Abbotstown that she didn't really do herself justice and this podium position was redemption of the sweetest sort!  Caron's teammate Sinead Gaffney had a fantastic run behind her, finishing well up the field.  

Sean right in the mix with the breakaway leaders

Sean Cotter had the best Galway Juvenile run of the day to take u17 3rd in a phenomenally tough field. Sean has had consistent success over the years but this was his strongest ever Cross Country performance.  Sean was never far from the business end of things - going out hard with the leading group of seven and as the laps progressed it broke to a breakaway group of three with Sean right in the mix.  Just on the last lap, a slight gap started to appear between Sean and the second placed athlete but he kept his concentration and didn't slow enough to give those behind him any hope.  

Mark accidentally hits some "effect" button on the camera!

The Novices was the first national senior event Craughwell ever competed in - if I recall correctly the crack team on the day was me, Michael Tobin, Diarmuid Quill and Bill Doran.   I've ran many novices since, but this was our best team position, and the first time we all came away with medals!  This field was as large as any I can recall - with well over 200 competitors battling for position over the twisty muddy 6k route!  The Craughwell team of Damian O'Boyle (28th), Kevin Mooney (40th), Jack Miskella (41st) and Mark Davis (57th) were first Galway club home, 5th of the 26 club teams, a record high for the club at the event.  Really great to see the Galway clubs attack the event in force - strong teams from Craughwell, GCH, South Galway and Castlegar and other individuals well up the field.  The top 6 from Galway were good enough to win a historic Bronze medal - I say historic as I can't recall the last time Galway won a county Novices medal, and the older result links are dead on the AAI site so I can't check!

All four Craughwell Athletes scored on the Galway county team so each took away Bronze medals for our efforts, sandwiched between the excellent James Frizzell and Jack Maher of GCH.  Damian shook off his jetlag to run superbly - he was in the top 10 for much of the race but faded on the last lap as the mud took its toll.  Jack ran hard throughout - his finest ever cross country run in my experience.  Kevin built from the back and really charged on the final lap, putting in an amazing finish.  He breezed past me with about 2k to go (giving some advice: "it's dry at the edge Mark") and forged ahead just catching and passing Jack at the end.  I have had a hamstring problem for the last few weeks so haven't been running but was pretty happy with the run in the circumstances and definitely the result!  

Boyz in the Mud

[Edit: I since dug around and found the results from the first Craughwell AC trip to the Novices back in 2005 - the individual results are here and the team results here.  We were second-last team on the day, but I remember a big cheer from the kids on the team bus when we announced we beat Athenry :).  James Lundon has his Athenry AC report on that race here]

Mathys Bocquet stepped up in age to take on the u15 3500m. He had plenty of confidence after his 5th place finish in his u14 race three weeks ago. Despite a fall on the last lap, Mathys had a phenomenal run to finish in 14th position, beating all those that were ahead of him in Abbotstown! The fall came at the worst time and I've no doubt it cost him a few positions.  Mathy's teammate Killian Walsh had a solid run in the tough conditions.  Killian played another vital role for Craughwell - after the race he washed down his spikes as they proved a perfect fit for eventual "Cinderella" Bronze medal winner Caron Ryan who had forgotten her own!

What a year for Mathys!

In the u11 boys Race, Stephen Joyce had a sensational run to finish in about 11 to 14th position, winning a Bronze Medal. Stephen's clubmate Alan Hallinan finished a very strong 57th.

Stephen and Alan wrapped up warm after!

In the u15 Girls 3500m race, Holly O'Boyle was first Craughwell Girl home in a great run, followed by Anna Cotter and Leonore Church. The day started with the u11 girls race, Claudia Coyle and Aeveen Kelly had solid runs all the way. In the u13 boys race, Fionn Higgins had a great run to finish in 82nd among the 160 competitors. 

Claudia and Aeveen were brilliant!

Killian and proud Marese after the race

Grand Nationals in Abbotstown 2019

After the heavy rains of late, the National Cross Country course in Abbotstown provided a challenging and muddy venue for the 2019 Even Age and Senior National Cross Country Championships.  The nationals represent a culmination of the year for many - a chance to show the fitness gains made in the long weeks and months of training since the Summer, but also tricky to be right on the day.  Coming from Connacht, the standard can be a shock to the system and medals are always rare.  Fortunately on this occasion almost all of the Craughwell Athletes managed to deliver season-best performances at the right time, and it made for a record-equalling best day for the club at this level in terms of success with no less than two individual medal winners, one club team medal, contributing athletes on a Galway team medal and several breakthrough performances which guarantee the athletes participation in the Connacht Endurance squads for 2020.

The mini-rockets!  Bronze medal winning u12 Boys!!

In the second race of the day, Craughwell AC's under 12 boys team won team Bronze with an excellent score of 205 points in a ferocious race over two challenging 1km laps.  They were led home by Stephen Joyce, stepping up in age who was 22nd, followed by Keelan Moorehead in 36th with Declan O'Connell and Stephen Ruane working well together in 73rd and 74th.  This is a phenomenal result, and great credit goes to them and their coaches, led by the inimitable Ronnie.  The u12 girl's team of Emma O'Donovan (102), Katelyn Walsh (112), Keevagh Barry (127), Ciara O'Connor (143) Amelie Bocquet and Aeveen Kelly all ran strongly in the very challenging conditions.

U12 Girls with Ronnie - all ran brilliantly!

Mathys Bocquet finished 5th in the u14 boys race in a razor tight photo-finish to win Bronze as Craughwell's highest individual finisher of the day.  There were just 5 seconds separating the first 6 athletes.  I have to confess on the day I was convinced Mathys was 4th and a few re-watches of the AAI live stream hasn't changed my mind!  It was as close as it gets!  Mathys had Galway company in Gearoid King of Castlegar who was 10th which is a great result for the county.

Mathys finishes in the medals for two years running!

This is the second year in a row that Mathys has medalled at the nationals - last year he finished 6th - an amazing achievement!

Sean battling for the line against an ambush!

Sean Cotter had a fantastic run, stepping up in age to come 6th in the hotly contested u18 Boys race, one of the most challenging categories and surely a contender for Craughwell performance of the day.  Sean is no stranger to the podium at national level - he looked fresh, fast and full of running. 

Yet another national medal for Sean!

I think my vote, and that of many others I spoke to for performance of the day also came in that race.  Kyle Moorehead has been super-solid in training for the last few months but often walks away from XC races wondering why his training form isn't translating to race position as it should. 

Kyle running one-footed!

Yesterday the 2019 international steeplechaser shook that monkey off his back as he went out fearlessly from the start and drove through the field tirelessly with the big guns.  About 3.5k into the 6km race disaster struck on the uphill as the mud sucked his shoe off him and he was left with one spike for the remainder of the slippery course.  Amazingly, Kyle didn't let that deter him and he only lost a few positions over the last 2.5k.  I have no doubt that the shoe cost Kyle about 20-30 seconds over the course so there is no telling where he might have ended up had is stayed on.  Regardless, it was a fantastic run from Kyle!  When looking for pics of the event, one of the AAI photographers had captured this artistic shot of a shoe hanging from a tree - yes, it's Kyles :D!!

Kyle's Spike is probably still decorating this tree in Abbotstown

Three Craughwell AC Athletes contested the Junior men's race. William Fitzgerald took his place as one of the top prospects in the country with a superb 17th place finishing position with Patrick Noonan in 58th of the 130 finishers.  This was a phenomenal performance for William in particular, to finish second Galway Junior on the day.  William and Patrick both scored in the Galway team which took national Bronze medals.  Ben Ryan is building back to running fitness and also ran in the race and acquitted himself very well.  

Kyle and William after the race

William powers home to a 17th place finish and Galway County Bronze!

One note of hindsight!  Afterwards we were informed that u18s could be entered as Juniors - had we thought of that we would have been 4th Junior team behind Ennis and very close to medalling as a team with the combined performances of Sean, William, Kyle and Patrick.  Doh!! Next year!!  It is FANTASTIC to see Galway Juniors medalling at the Nationals.  A phenomenal Galway result worth mentioning in the race was Thomas McStay of GCH's brilliant Bronze - great to see!  This current crop of Galway Juniors are all super-sound, supportive of each other and have an excellent attitude to the sport - I'm really optimistic about the future of Galway distance running!

Patrick wins Galway County Bronze

In the u16 boys race, Ross McGuinness ran a phenomenally quick race 4000m to finish 32nd and first Connacht man home.  Ross managed to sustain a superb 3:28/km for the distance over atrocious muck.  Anthony Boyle, running his second ever cross country recovered well from a quick start to finish 97th in the very strong field.

Ross and Anthony show great form!

Emily Miskella continued to improve as she finished 38th home and 2nd Connacht girl in the u16 girls race, which had a massive field - Killary sorted for next year!.  

Emily delighted with her top-40 finish!

Emilie's clubmate and training partner Emma Boyle also had an excellent run in the u18 girls race to finish 47th and 3rd Connacht woman - a fantastic performance for Emma and marked step up from her last outing.

Emma enjoying a well-deserved post-race Coffee

Caron Ryan is not a huge fan of the Abbotstown course but had a solid run among the u23 women to finish 10th overall - Caron is only 20 and has another two years in this category and still feels that she has more to prove on the Abbotstown course - I have no doubt that she will enjoy the feeling of banishing those Abbotstown demons next year!.  

Caron showing great form

In the Senior men's race over 10km, I (Mark Davis) was first home for Craughwell in 97th place followed by Jack Miskella who came 16th u23 in the same race.  For anyone that might finish high up in their local road races or win the odd park run, the event is an eye opener and a good reality-check!!  To put in perspective, pretty much anyone in the top 140 would be a potential 5k series winner in Galway!  I actually think the standard has risen in my time involved in the sport and I feel this is the case in many age groups - it's great to see!

10k XC is fun and all, but Jack and Mark happy that's over!!

Great weekend for Mark, Caron and Jack

Mark 3rd from left with the Irish M45 team

Mark Davis made his international debut at the weekend when representing Ireland in the British & Irish Masters Cross Country held in Aintree on Saturday. It was a fantastic achievement for Mark to be selected to represent our country and just reward for years of dedication to the sport. An impressive performance saw Mark place 9th overall and in the process help the Irish team to silver medals behind England and ahead of the Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland teams. Results are here.

Also in action at the weekend, Caron Ryan put in a terrific first leg in the annual Universities Road Relays held in Maynooth to help her Trinity College to team gold in this prestigious event in a time of 34:10, just 12 seconds ahead of DCU in 34:22. The women’s race is a 4-leg relay over 1-2-2-1 miles, while the men compete in a 5-leg relay over 1-2-3-2-1 miles.

In the men’s event, Jack Miskella also had a fine performance when running the first leg of the relay for his NUIG team who went on to win the bronze medal – the first time in the 33-year history of the event that NUIG have medalled. Results are on the very impressive IUAA website which is an excellent resource for anyone with an interest in athletics. Check out also the legendary John O'Connor's 77edenhill website for photos of the road relays including the ones below.

Caron pictured 3rd from right with her Trinity College teammates

Jack 2nd from right on the start line for the men's road relay

Best of luck Mark!

Mark racing to victory in the Headford 8k 2008 (photo nicked from Athenry AC website)

Best of luck to coach extraordinaire and cross country specialist Mark Davis who represents Ireland this Saturday in the British & Irish Masters Cross Country Championships on the fabled grounds of Aintree racecourse. There’s clearly something in the water in Cahercrin that helps its residents make the grade for Aintree or Cheltenham!

To my knowledge, Mark becomes the first coach from the club to be selected to represent Ireland – others have made it in the past, but prior to their coaching careers including Diarmuid Quill (high jump), Mark Gillen (1500m) and Noel Harvey (10k and xcountry).

Mark's contribution to the club is immense. One of the founding members of the senior section of the club back in 2005, Mark helped drive the senior circuit training sessions in the hall for many years - these predated fit4life and became the seed for the club’s very successful fit4life group in later years when AAI launched that initiative. And in parallel with all of that, Mark has been one of the key coaches in the juvenile club, helping many to great achievements particularly in middle distance and cross country.

One would wonder where Mark finds the time to do his own training, but find it he does and like a vintage wine, Mark keeps on getting better with age! He is on the cusp now of breaking personal bests in a range of distances that he set when 10 years younger – amazing stuff!

To be selected to represent Ireland is a massive achievement and honour for Mark. To have Mark in our club is a massive honour and privilege for the rest of us! Best of luck at the weekend Mark!

Medals Galore in Beautiful Beleek

The morning was cold and misty on the road from Galway but as we neared Ballina the sun cracked through to reveal a beautiful Cross Country Course.  Each time I visit Beleek I get a little more envious - with the ample grass, hills, wooded loops, clubhouse and track, it really is a showcase Athletics training facility and is improving all the time - a credit to all concerned.  The event was run splendidly by host club Moy Valley AC and all races went off without a hitch.  The course consisted of one 500m loop and one 1km loop - the larger loop incorporating the famous "Beleek Hill" which is a short sharp stuffing knocker (though not actually as bad as it was "in my day" when it used to go up again through the trees).  The surface was sticky in places but as a whole impressively solid for this time of year!  As the day went on the temperature noticeably dipped and it became bitterly cold for spectators and marshals alike.

We enjoyed another remarkable day as our little village club produced no less than three dominant individual winners in Mathys Bocquet, Sean Cotter and Caron Ryan, several other medals and many wonderful team performances.  More winners than any other club in Connacht - not bad!

Threes company! The u11 girls crew that kicked the day off!

The day kicked off with the u11 Girls - one of the biggest races of the day with over 90 competitors!  Aeveen Kelly (22) was first Craughwell lady home followed by Claudia Coyle (33) and Aisling Lavan in 40th.  Aisling scored on the Silver medal winning Galway team.

u11 men's team! Featuring bronze winning Alan Hallinan

Next up were the u11 boys in what was the biggest race of the day, over 108 finishers!  Craughwell duo Alan Hallinan and Stephen Joyce led club and county home with a stunning 3rd and 4th position, followed by Alan Warde (53rd) and Darragh Higgins (68th).  Craughwell were 5th team in a really tough field and Alan and Stephen were top scorers on the Gold medal winning Galway team.

u13 Boys team had a fantastic run!

In the u13 Girls race, Craughwell had a single competitor in Claudia McGuinness who finished a creditable 39th.  The u13 boys had a solid team, led by Keelan Moorehead in 11th, Stephen Ruane in 14th, Fionn Higgins in 18th and Sean Lavan in 39th.  After the points were totted up Craughwell were incredibly unlucky to finish 4th place, on the same points score as the 3rd place team.  Keelan and Stephen did pick up gold medals as scorers on the winning Galway team however.  

The u15 Girls team were down a lady as Aoibhe Carr was sick, but still won a marvellous Silver with a great team performance in what was a very exciting race.  They were led home by club stalwart Clodagh O'Meara in 13th place, followed by Holly O'Boyle stepping up in 17th place, Anna Cotter in 20th, Leonore Church in 22nd, Siofra Davis 23rd and Allanah Grogan in 24th.  Leonore and Siofra were running off the effects of their all-Ireland Multi-Events the previous day which can't have been easy!

Girl power!  Super team performances from the ladies!

Allanah shows great form under the watchful eyes of her coaches!

The u15 Boys race was one of the races of the day from a spectators point of view.  Craughwell had a solid team in Mathys Bocquet (stepping up in age), Killian Walsh, Cian Laval and Evan Hallinan.  Mathys joined with the leading group of three or four for the first lap and then broke away into a group of two with a very talented North Sligo athlete. The pre-race plan was for Mathys to press the pace on the downhill and flat sections of the route.  On the third "long" lap Mathys made a move and really stretched the field.  It still wasn't quite enough to shake Rian from North Sligo however and on the last hill Rian got his nose in front. 

Mathys celebrates with the team after his fine individual gold!

Killian drives for home!

Knowing there was a very long run-in for hom, Mathys didn't panic when overtaken and pushed again on the home straight for a long gut-wrenching finish to claim the gold - a brilliant run and the perfect blowout!  Killian was next clubmate home in a similar fantastic on that long home straight - this time Killian could not quite find a way around the long elbows of his opponent but he finished in a very strong 22nd position.  Cian Lavan was close behind in 26th and Evan Hallinan in 27th.  Overall the team were unlucky to be just pipped for bronze by a single point!  

The u17 girl's race was mixed with the u19 race and featured perhaps the most dominant winner of the day in the incredible u19 Maeve Gallagher - a stunning athlete and one to watch - definitely a contender for the all-ireland.  Craughwell had one Athlete in the u17 race - the ever reliable Emily Miskella stepping up.   As this race unfolded, Emily got stuck in a rotten position between two groups of athletes, just off the leading group.  In normal circumstances, Emily would have closed the gap but she had a tough Camogie final yesterday and I could see that it took a shade of the usual pop from her legs so she didn't quite manage to recover the ground on this occasion.  She finished 4th of the 14 finishers in a fine run which will stand to her in the weeks ahead!

Ross went back to his favoured plan - go hard and let pride take you home!

The u17 boys race was run in parallel with the u19s, but the u19s were set off at a stagger of 500m.  Craughwell had one late injury in Oisin Davis, so didn't have a team on this occasion.  Sean Cotter fresh from a victorious County football final with Oranmore yesteray took to the front early and pressed home for a comfortable and confident solo victory.  Sean looks to be exactly where you would want to be at this stage of the season - fresh and fast.  Next home for Craughwell was Ross McGuinness stepping up and showing a nice return to form with a superb 5th place.  Ross headed out hard and was in 4th until that last long stretch when he just got caught.  Third man home and also running well was Luke Burke in 14th place - he was going even better but the last two laps just caught up with him.  Luke is showing signs of racing himself back to fitness after a few injury setbacks earlier in the season.  Sean, Ross and Luke scored on the winning Galway team.

The boys all hard solid runs!

The u19 boys race was another high quality field with another dominant winner in Michael Morgan.  In the battle for the "best of the rest", William Fitzgerald had a solid run in 4th, closely followed by Patrick Noonan in 5th and Kyle Moorehead in 7th.  It was fantastic to see three Craughwell lads in the top 10 and they allscored on the winning Galway team.  At this stage, the north wind had picked up and it was quite a biting cold that either suited you or it didn't!  The moods were changing among the spectators!!

Caron driving clear up the hill

The next race was the senior women's race and featured a completely dominant performance by Caron Ryan from start to finish.  Caron looked fresh, strong and fluid and ran like she was looking forward to getting into somewhere warm!  She has had a rotten year with setbacks, and it's fantastic to see her back in action and enjoying her running again - really looking forward to what the future holds!

David doing his "Before" pic!

The final race of the day was the men's 8k race.  This week we had one competitor in David Evans.  At this stage rain had joined the cold wind and raised the misery levels a bit!  Tough conditions, but David is pretty tough himself!!  David went out a little hard but recovered well and enjoyed the experience.  He finished in 26th place out of the nearly 50 competitors - not bad for an m50!