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Inflatable Colour Run Coming to Craughwell AC!

The highly popular Inflatable Colour Run which is currently running at venues throughout Ireland have selected Craughwell AC as their only Galway venue ... on Saturday 16th September. The organisers of this nationwide event will donate 20% of the entrance fee to the club's facility funds for every ticket booked through the club's website/link. A discount of 10% will be given for bookings that use the promotional code CRAUGHWEL10.

Note its important to use this website link rather than the main eventbrite Galway link as the organisers use this to determine the bookings associated with the club and the funds raised for the club is determined by just the bookings though our own link.

The event will run back to back with the club's Xyea Family 5k on the same day. Families or individuals booking into both the colour run and the 5k will receive a discount on the 5k entry fee. 

Who can forget the wonderful day we had last year when we hosted Operation Transformation at our colour run and our Xyea Family 5k. This year’s event promises to be even bigger and better. Pat Reidy's Xyea are back on board as the main sponsor of the Family 5k and we will be adding more prizes for dad/daughter pair, mum/son pair etc ... more information will be announced on this shortly.

The colour run is a seperate event and is part of a nationwide series of inflatable colour runs throughout Ireland with the organisers hiring our grounds for the day and donating

All funds generated from the event will go to the next phase of the club’s development – which is the provision of a walking pathway around the facility and the first phase of a fabulous multi-sport indoor training centre.

So the club is encouraging all of our members and supporters to check out www.craughwellac.com and book your tickets early through its link https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/inflatable-colour-run-craughwell-ac-galway-tickets-35641075416. Members and friends are asked to use this link in order for the organisers to pass 20% of the income to the club. It promises to be fabulous fun day out for all of the family and community right on our doorsteps, while at the same time raising much needed funds for what is becoming a wonderful community facility.

Flashback to last year's event

Most of our members and the community will have seen the work done on the facility so far. We have made such massive progress in a short space of time since buying the 8 acre side beside the school in September 2014. The event will be the 3-year anniversary of the site purchase and together with the purchase and initial development, the club has so far invested €460k in the project through a combination of fund-raising, loans and grants. Alongside this, our coaches and committee are working hard through the different age groups to make training and competition enjoyable and help our members achieve to their potential. Our facility will be instrumental in supporting our members to enjoy the sport even more and will make training easier in adverse weather conditions.

The next phase of the facility is another major undertaking but the club is strong and with everyone's support, it will be a success. So please support our day. If not taking part, come on down to enjoy the fun and support us anyway as it promises to be a great community day out.

Artistic impressiion of our new facility by the talented Emma Urquhart

Record Breakers and Tops Lists

U18 4x400m Record Setters

With just 1 or 2 events remaining in the outdoor track & field season, it has been another remarkable season for athletes from the club with countless PB performances and several club records broken - with 8 senior records broken and 9 junior records broken.

The updated list of club records is here Outdoor Track and Field. The following is a brief recapture of the fantastic record breaking performances. I have also compiled a list of the outdoor bests across all the age groups for this year and also the top 25 alltime bests in each event irrespective of age and the top 10 bests in each age group. If there are any inaccuracies, please let me know and I will correct. The lists are here:-

• All-time Bests (top 25)
• Age-groups Bests (top 10)
• 2017 Outdoor Performances
  
  

	Sineád Gaffney who has been in flying form all year broke the club's senior 800m record twice, lowering it to 2.21.34 at the Dublin Graded Meet in Irishtown and following this up days later with 2.20.43 in rain-sodden conditions in her internatonal debut in the Universities International against Scotland. A fantastic year for a very dedicated athlete.
	Caron Ryan who quietly smashed both the club's junior and senior 3000m record during the Connacht Schools track and field in May running an incredible 10.36.87. Caron's main focus has been triathlons and will almost certainly take further chunks off our club records in the months and years to come.
	Laura Cunningham who leaped a massive 11 metres in the triple jump at the Connacht Schools championships to break both the junior and senior record for the club and in the process add almost a half-metre to her indoor best from earlier in the year, fantastic progress in this event.
	Ciana Reidy who has been tearing chunks out of the club's pole vault records, clearing 2.65m at the Connacht Championships to set both junior and senior records in an event in which Ciana has huge potential and I'm sure we will see further record breaking performances next year.
	Arlene Earls who switched down from 800m to 400m in the recent National League and in the process knocked a second off the club record when running 61.63 in the National League in what was her first ever 400m and  clearly an event in which Arlene is going to shine.
	Chloe Casey who thew the discus for the first time in the Connacht Schools Championships in June and went on to break the club record several times, most recently in the Celtic Games International with a huge throw of 33.39m - again an event in which Chloe is going to shine, incredible to make an international so quickly.
	Lorraine Delaney, Caoilin Milton, Arlene Earls and Laura Cunningham with sub Shauna Tobin in the 4x400m, setting the club record in the National U18 relays in a time of 4.21.87 - a time that normally would have medalled in the championships and great potential for the girls in this event.
	Jerry Keary who smashed his own PB and club record 3 times on the same day in the National League, clearing 2.01m to eclipse his previous best of 2 metres and then going on to clear 2.04m and 2.07m and almost nail 2.10m in an amazing series of jumps - with Jerry's 2.07m rankning him as Ireland's 27th best ever high jumper - incredible for a 17 year old to be placed so highly in over 100 years of high jumpers.
	Ben Garrard with a powerful throw in an unaccustomed event at the National League - heaving the 7.26kg shot putt out to a massive 7.86m to break the club's junior men's record.
	Oisin Lyons in an even more unaccustomed event, bravely tackling the 2kg discus to gain points for the Galway team in the National League and slinging it out to a huge 21.70m on his first time ever even handling a discus - fantastic performance and great team spirit.

Craughwell Goes International!

Chloe, Jerry and Laura representing Ireland at the Celtic Games

Today was a pretty historic day for the club with 3 athletes competing for Ireland in the Celtic Games, the first time the club has had 3 athletes on the same international team. Our athletes combined with other Galway athletes for an even more unique achievement with 8 Galway athletes all on the same team – our own Chloe Casey (discus), Jerry Keary (high jump) and Laura Cunningham (triple jump), Loughrea AC’s Daniel Callanan-Forde (triple jump), Athenry AC’s Ryan McNeilis (400m hurdles) and GCH’s Aoife Sheehy (400m hurdles and 4x400m), Laura Nally (4x400m) and Lydia Doyle (100m hurdles and 4x100m). It illustrates a real strength in Galway athletics at the moment.

The 8 Galway Internationals!
Laura N, Aoife, Ryan, Chloe, Laura C, Lydia, Jerry, Daniel

Our athletes put in very strong performances on the big occasion to represent their country proudly. Jerry soared over 1.95m to claim victory in the U18 Boys High Jump, Chloe slung the discus out to 33.39m to claim a new PB and club record and silver medal in the U16 Girls Discus and Laura leaped 10.59m to take 4th place in the U18 Girls Triple Jump. There were fine performances also from the other Galway athletes most of whom were in action in their first international. And special mention to Daniel Callanan-Forde who spent many years in Craughwell AC before transferring in April to Loughrea AC and here in first international leaped 12.73m to take the bronze medal in the U18 Boys Triple Jump.

It was a very special occasion for all of the athletes and hopefully the taste of international action will help all of the athletes go on to greater things as senior athletes in the years ahead. A few more photos of the occasion below.

St Raphael's Loughrea Athletes Chloe Jerry and Daniel and Pres Athenry Athletes Ryan and Laura

And with the coaches!

And below - Jerry and Laura representing Connacht at the Tailteann Games in Santry in 2016 
and a year later in almost the same spot representing Ireland at the Celtic Games

Above Laura, Jerry and Daniel at the Celtic Games and below when aged 10 in Nenagh in 2011!

Daniel, Cillian, Sean, Peter, Jerry, Dearbhla, Aoife, Laura, Caoilin

A View From Above

A big thank you to Dermot Fahy for an aerial fly-over of our fine facility during the week … I will get a video of it up on our website over the weekend. But below is a view from the skies as the helicopter zoomed over our facility. It gives a really good overview of the work to date.

Thank you also to all who responded to our recent survey on facility priorities. 117 people replied to the survey which is a very good responce rate and will allow us to make informed decisions on the next phae of development. I will email the results out to all who responded and the committee will be deliberating the findings in detail in September/October when finalising plans for the next phase. Top priorities include a 400m track, indoor facilities, perimeter walkway and throwing facilities. What exactly goes into the next phase will be heavily influenced by the availability of grants, loans and other sources of funds. We hope to set out the detail of all this in October.

On the image below, it shows the current facilities and also the outline of a 400m track and gives us a better perspective on where best to locate new facilities being developed in the next phase.

Fit4Youth on the run again!

Fit4youth restarts on Thursday August 16th in preparation for the Craughwell Color run and 5k in mid-September. We hope to have an even more enjoyable year than last year and start by aiming to complete our 2017 4 provinces runs over the next couple of months...Munster & Ulster awaits! For any new teenagers wishing to join, you can get in touch with Brendan at 087 248 7720 for more information.

Fit4Youth on Tour in Glasgow!

Following our pre-Christmas training the group took to the road more than once in 2017 with the group making its international debut when 6 of our group proudly represented the Fit4Youth group for the Glasgow Pollock Park Run. Travelling out with the 60-plus other athletes, parents and caches on Friday night, the group quickly settled into to Jury's Hotel and then an all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet nearby! All were up bright and early the next morning to get a taxi out to Pollock Park, where we joined over 300 runners. Ailvhe, Kate, Géaroid, Lauren, Alison, Andrea and Joey all completed the 5k loop in style, encouraged all the way by Anne and Lorraine (who were so excited they had stayed up all previous night in eager anticipation of cheering us on!). Once the group hugs and photos were done it was time for some great Scottish hospitality as we enjoyed tea and scones, while we shared stories with our Scottish hosts. And that was only the start of the day and by 11.30 some of us were dashing to Celtic Park to catch Celtic v Inverness and more were already in the shops! A stop over at the nearby fabulous Emirates stadium to cheer on the Craughwell AC athletes followed the Celtic match for us. Later that evening we all headed out for dinner and a not so early night! Next morning, first stop was the all-important breakfast. Thereafter it appeared the choice was shopping, shopping or shopping for most except for those of us that escaped back to the Emirates stadium for some more fantastic performances from our own club athletes. A late flight out of Glasgow saw us home safe and well in the early hours of Monday morning. A huge thank you for all that travelled that made this such a memorable weekend , especially the athletes who's excellent behavior and performances ensures we will be doing it all again next year . A special word for Micheal Tobin who coordinated the whole weekend and did everything except fly the plane and cook us breakfast..... He even stayed up late on Friday night / Saturday morning to take care of Lorraine & Anne! .... Thanks again.

Fit4Youth on Tour in Marley Park!

Next the group travelled to Marlay Park Rathfarnham Dublin on Easter Saturday morning for their first leg of our 2017 4 Provinces runs. With a 6.30 meet at the Plaza this 9 strong group must now hold the club record for the earliest start (well everyone except for Kate who was late as Ailvhe predicted! ...although Ailvhe herself hadn't even got of a bed to join us, on this occasion). Arriving in Dublin all was quite in Marlay Park but not for long and by 9.30 over 500 runners took to the start line and we were off. The course setting is absolutely fantastic, a full 5km meandering flat loop, along the tree lined park paths .With lots of encouragement from the volunteers, other park users, fellow runners and each other we all had a thoroughly enjoyable run. Once we got our breaths back the next race was on... to see who would make it first to their next destination.... either Dundrum shopping centre, IKEA or a full Irish breakfast (Guess where my car was headed ....yes and I enjoyed that breakfast!) A special thanks to the parents who car pooled and especially Ann-Marie and Declan for joining us on the run. Well done to all, Kate, Tara, Aisling, Maria. Grace, Niamh, Sarah, Holly and Claire. Looking forward already to the next road trip!.

Fit4Youth on Tour in Craughwell !!

Thereafter the Fit4Youth group “stayed local” and took part in the Craughwell, Loughrea & Athenry Legs of the Galway 5k series.

On a glorious sunny Tuesday evening 9 of our group joined over 700 runners down the main street in Craughwell, on what was a truly memorable sight. Going at a strong pace down the hill from Craughwell School, the group took advantage of the downhill run to set a strong early pace. Encouraged they continued to run strong as they turned up by the hurling field, ignoring the strong incline, before turning out of the village where the runners began to spread out a little. Working hard, encouraged by each other, the many spectators and other runners, they all quickly passed the 3km marker and confidently headed for the finish. It was great to see them all “empty the tank” as they strided over the finish line... tired but smiling! Well done to Géaroid, Lauren, Ailvhe, Kate, Grace, Tara, Holly, Niamh and Sarah.

Fit4Youth on Tour in Loughrea !!

Encouraged by the first week’s run Géaroid, Lauren, Kate, Rosin & Caoimhe took to the hills of Loughrea with Cepta & I on the following Tuesday. Not daunted by the 1Km uphill start or even the 4th km up Tulla Hill, the group took on the challenge and ran extremely well. The first 1km as ever was at a good strong pace despite the steep incline. From there they found their rhythm, weaving in and out among the runners, encouraged by all around them. Turning at the 3k mark Tulla hill awaited but they took it in their stride, enjoying the last 1km downhill finish. A wonderful sunny evening, capped by a wonderful performance, well done to all.

We then took on the “fast” Athenry to wrap up the 5k series with Ailvhe & Kate once again leading the charge.

The last run of the season was the Killeeneen 5k, where. Grace and Tara joined us on their first “free “ evening after the junior cert exams and it was the first outing with the group for Leah Newell, Leah Farrelly, Cait Daley and Leanne Jordon. They all pushed on strong and did themselves proud. Once again well done and a fantastic end to a fantastic year.

Best of luck Chloe, Jerry and Laura !!

The club wishes the best of luck to its 3 international stars who compete tomorrow in the Celtic Games International in Santry in Dublin. Jerry is n action in the high jump at 2.30pm, Laura in the triple jump at the same time and Chloe in the discus at 4.15pm. The timetable is online here. Specators welcome to support the Irish team and our international trio!!

Chloe Casey, Laura Cuningham and Jerry Keary pictured receiving training grants from
Craughwell AC Chairperson Marion McEvilly

PBs and Club Records at National League!

County Galway Men's 4x400m Relay Team
Justin Lane (Tuam), Patryk Woleniuk (Athenry), Gavin Cooney (Craughwell AC), Ben Garrard (Craughwell AC)

Several athletes from the club proudly represented County Galway in round 2 of the National League at the weekend where both men’s and women’s teams were in action in Templemore.

On the women’s team, Arlene Earls had a fine run to take 2nd place in the 400m in a time of 61.63, breaking Sineád Gaffney’s 5-year old club record of 62.41. Arlene also combined with Lorraine Delaney to help the Galway team take 4th place in the 4x400m in the Women’s Premier Division. Sineád Treacy anchored the 4x100m to 2nd place and also placed 2nd in the 200m with 26.04 and leaped 4.70m in the long jump for 3rd place. Maeve Curley strode to victory in the 1500m walk while Sarah Finnegan placed 4th in the 100m hurdles in 18.92 and 6th in the shot putt. Laura Cunningham took 3rd place in the triple jump with 10.25m in windy conditions while Lorraine Delaney leaped 1.50m to take 3rd in the high jump.

In the men’s events, Jerry Keary stole the show with a fantastic series of high jumps to leap 3 personal bests, breaking the 2 metre barrier for the first time with a clearance of 2.01m and continuing on to jump 2.04m on his 1st attempt and then 2.07m on his 3rd attempt and coming very close to nailing the 2.10m on his 1st attempt. His jumps easily claimed 1st place and for good measure he added a 2nd place finish in the long jump with a leap of 6.23m. Ben Garrard placed 3rd in the 800m with 2.01.14 while Gavin Cooney recorded 2 PBs with a time of 54.68 in the 400m and 2.03.29 in the 800m to take 4th place in each race. Oisin Lyons placed 5th in the 200m in 25.37, 4th in the 1500m and along with Ben Garrard and Gavin Cooney recorded valuable points for the team in the men's javelin, discus and shot putt. Tuam’s Justin Lane and Athenry’s Patryk Woleniuk also contributed vital points to the Galway team with Justin in the pole vault, hammer and 400 hurdles and Patryk in the triple jump and 100m and both athletes combining with some of the aforementioned Craughwell athletes in the relays.

But more on Jerry’s remarkable series of high jumps. Not being biased or anything, but it was the highlight of the day for many spectators and athletes with the crowd really getting behind Jerry, giving him the Olympic hand-clap for a number of his jumps including the incredible 2.07 clearance. It’s a real good example of keep your patience and the big PBs will come. Jerry’s last PB in high jump was over a year ago in the Connacht championships and despite coming close a number of times since, it just didn’t happen on the day. And occasionally 1.85m caused problems a couple of months ago.

But patience, dedication and confidence are 3 of the most important attributes of an athlete and they all came together big-time for Jerry on Sunday in Templemore with what was just a crazy series of personal bests that very almost culminated in a 2.10 clearance. Jerry’s 2.07 ranks him 6th best amongst Irish male high jumpers so far this year and catapults him from unranked into joint 26th place on the Irish all-time list of male high jumpers. That’s’ 4 athletes the club now have in the all-time Irish lists with Cathriona Farrell holding 10th place on the women’s high jump list and Ann Loughnane and Maeve Curley 3rd and 12th on the race walking lists. And its boding well for other athletes also such as Laura Cunningham whose 11m triple jump from earlier this year puts her close to the standard for the top 50 all-time best ever triple jumpers in Ireland as does Ciana Reidy’s 2.40 in the pole vault at this year’s National U18s.

Timetable for National League Round 2

Timetable for Sunday in Templemore is here:-

• http://www.athleticsireland.ie/downloads/events-timetable/Round_2_League_.pdf

Best of luck to all of our athletes who are taking part on the County teams.

Irish Call-up for Laura, Jerry and Chloe!

Fantastic news filtered its way during the week to three of our most talented athletes Chloe Casey, Jerry Keary and Laura Cunningham each of whom have been selected for Irish U16 and U18 teams to contest the forthcoming Celtic Games international which will be held in Dublin on August 5^th.

To be selected to represent your country in any sporting discipline is one of the highest honours that an athlete can aspire to and for three of the club’s athletes to be selected for the same international is just incredible and one of the proudest moments in the history of the club.

It’s no coincidence that all 3 athletes are three of the most consistent athletes at training every week with each having trained more than 100 times in the past 12 months. Its great encouragement for everyone in the club to see their efforts rewarded at the highest levels. And it’s only a matter of time before several other very talented and very dedicated athletes in the club also get called up for Ireland.

Well done Chloe, Jerry and Laura! They are pictured below with Club Chairperson Marion McEvilly after receiving a training grant from the club in support of their endeavours to be the best.

For Chloe, this is her second international vest having been selected last year on the Irish Schools Pentathlon team.  On this occasion, Chloe has been selected for the discus on the U16 team – remarkable progress in a new event in such a short space of time and an event which in which this multi-talented athlete has huge potential.

For Jerry, this is also his second international vest having been selected last year on the Irish Schools track and field team, where he went on to take the silver in the high jump against elite opposition. Jerry has again been selected for his favourite event the high jump.

And for Laura, this is her first international vest having gone very close to selection last year in a few competitions. Laura has been selected for the triple jump and it is a just reward for years of hard work and dedication from Laura that commenced way back in 2007 when she joined the club when in 1st class.

Laura’s selection makes her the 18^th juvenile athlete from the club who has been selected for international duty, a growing list as follows: 

• Ann Loughnane, Race Walk
• Ben Ryan, Mountain running
• Cathriona Farrell, High Jump and Pentathlon
• Chloe Casey, Discus and Pentathlon
• Claire Ryder, Long Jump
• Conor Duggan, 100m and 4x100m
• Conor Gillen, Cross country
• Damien O'Boyle, Cross country and Steeplechase
• Jamie Fallon, Cross country and Mountain running
• Jerry Keary, High Jump
• Laura Cunningham Triple Jump
• Maria McNamara, Pentathlon and Heptathlon
• Nicholas Sheehan, 800m
• Oisin Lyons, Cross country
• Shauna Bocquet, 400m
• Sineád Gaffney, 800m
• Sineád Treacy, 200m and Pentathlon
• Tomas Keehan, High Jump

Triple Gold For Michelle!

Big congratulations to Michelle Tobin who won 3 gold medals at the Laois Paralympic Games held today at St Lawrence O’Toole Athletic Club in Carlow. Michelle’s medals came in the shot putt, discus and javelin with PBs in all 3 events. Well done Michelle!

Another Brilliant Day at National Finals!

Champions of Ireland - Jerry Keary and Laura Cunningham

Another fantastic day of action in Tullamore saw athletes from the club come away with 5 more medals and many fine performance on the final day of the National Juvenile Track & Field in Tullamore.

It was a big day for Laura Cunningham and Jerry Keary who both claimed National titles in the U18 age group with Jerry claiming the high jump title for the first time and Laura adding the outdoor triple jump title to the indoor one from earlier this year. Jerry had a tiny blip at 1.90m with a knocked bar but got it on his second attempt and the same at 1.93. Then sailing over 1.96m on his first attempt, he heaped the pressure on his opponents. With just 2 left after 1.96m, Jerry had a brilliant leap over 1.99m to take the gold medal. Remarkably despite coming close on a number of occasions, its Jerry’s first National title in the club championships. Laura kept her best 2 jumps until last in the U18 triple jump, moving into the lead on her 5th jump with a fine leap of 10.46m and improving her lead further with a leap of 10.63m on her final attempt. Lorraine Delaney was unlucky in the same triple jump competition to break 3 of her 6 jumps and had to settle for 5th place with a best of 9.59m.

Chloe Casey, Silver Medalist in the U16 Girls Shot Putt at the National Championships

Chloe Casey continued to impress in the throws when adding shot putt silver to the discus silver she won a week ago – heaving the shot out to 12.77 metres on her second throw. This is Chloe’s 3rd National medal of the year and great progress for a very dedicated athlete. Laura Cunningham make it a very special day for herself and the club when taking her second National medal of the day in the U18 Girls high jump, claiming the bronze with a clearance of 1.55m on her first attempt. It’s a rare achievement to win a National medal and to win two on the same day is exceptional. Both Ciana Reidy and Lorraine Delaney were unlucky in the same high jump competition with both clearing 1.50m and going close to clearing the 1.55m but it was not to be with Ciana having to settle for 4th place and Lorraine 7th on countback.

A remarkable day for the club continued with one of the final events of the day where Conor Trehy was in action in the U15 Boys triple jump. This is Conor’s first season of competing in this event and he put in an incredible series of jumps in these National finals – leaping over the 10m mark on four of his six jumps with a best of 10.33 on his third jump claiming the bronze medal.

Conor Trehy, bronze medalist in the U15 Boys Triple Jump at the National Championships

Liam McDonagh and Oisin Keane went close to the medals in the U14 Boys discus with Liam placing 5th with a best of 30.03 and Oisin 6th with a best of 30.00. Again this is the first year the U14s competed in discus and both lads have plenty to look forward to in this event in the future based on today’s performances. Ellie Cronin took 8th place in the final of the U15 Girls 250m hurdles in a time of 39.21 having earlier ran a PB of 39.08 to take 2nd place in heat 2 – a super performance again in her first year of this event. James Furey placed 13th in the U15 Boys high jump with a PB of 1.40m. The club had just 2 athletes in action on the track today in the 1500m races. The 1500s at National level are possibly the toughest events of them all with elite opposition grinding it out over 4 laps of the track on a hot day. Both Sean Cotter and Ciara Sheppard acquitted themselves very well against the nation’s best with Sean placing 12th in the U15 Boys race in 4.44.73 and Ciara placing 13th in the U16 Girls race in 5.53.74.

Meanwhile a day earlier 3 of our U13s travelled to Tullamore for the National B Championships with all 3 girls putting in excellent performances. Fauve Aylmer had a brilliant run to win her heat of the U13 80m in a time of 12.04 and went on to place 8th in the final. Later in the day Fauve had a fine run in the U13 600m, knocking over 2 seconds off her PB with a time of 1.55.35. Erin Kelly had a good series of jumps culminating with a 1.15m clearance in the U13 high jump while Maireád Tucker jumped strongly in the U13 long jump with a best of 3.50m.

So that wrapped up the juvenile track and field season for another year. With 11 medals over the 3 days of National finals and a large participation, the club is punching above its weight at National level – all testament to the dedication of the athletes and their coaches and their parents. There are no short-cuts to National success and it’s great to see so many of our athletes making it at the top level and so tough on many more who train just as hard and come up just short of the medals. But they live to fight another day and I am certain we will see many of those athletes on the National podium in the next 12 months. I will publish a statistical summary of the season later in the week for those who like stats.

Well done Alanna!!

Massive congratulations to Galway's Alanna Lally formerly of GCH and now of UCD and Ireland, who finished 4th today in the final of the European U23 800m. Our athletes have competed with Alanna on Pres Athenry teams and against Alanna on GCH teams on many occasions in the past.

Coming 4th in the final of a major international is an amazing achievement and to come within inches of a medal incredible. 

She was always right up there at the top and a great inspiration to all involved in the sport in Galway to see her make such an impressive mark on the European stage.

Well done Alanna! And well done to her parents Clodagh and Dave who travel the country and continent with her. And well done to her current coaches in UCD and to her former coaches and clubmates in GCH.

A video of the race is here for anyone that wants to catch it https://youtu.be/d1w4GngDS50.

Alanna pictured below receiving the trophy for the most successful school at the Irish Schools Track & Field Championships in 2010, pictured with Craughwell athletes Jessica Heneghan, Claire Ryder, Sinead Gaffney and Maria McNamara.