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Classic Cross Country from Ballybrit to Louisiana

The wind was ferocious and conditions were baltic in Ballybrit, but the forecast rain thankfully mostly held off so it delivered a fantastic day's running.  Ballybrit proved itself an incredible venue, especially in these strange times.  Everything is perfect about the venue: parking, toilets, an elevated area for spectators to watch the race safely (and dryly!).  The course was a classic XC course, and after the unseasonably dry weather in September was perfectly sound underfoot all around with not a spot of mud.  Host club Castlegar AC devised and marked out a gloriously challenging course - full of long sweeping downhills away from the stand and shorter drags back up, cambered and rough footing in places with no shelter from the driving wind.  We just HAVE to bring a big national event back here some day - it's just MADE for it!!

The Senior Men's 8km race was last to kick off and had a very solid field of what looked like 60 participants.  Craughwell were defending champions, but unfortunately were down a man so didn't quite have a team to defend things with!  Jack Miskella, Mark Davis and Oisin Doyle represented Craughwell.  It was an interesting team competition and with the great Gary Thornton turning up for the first time in ages, it was clear that GCH meant business (cleared bouyed by the news Craughwell couldn't field a team they felt they had a half decent chance).  Host club Castlegar have been building strongly of late with their squad boosted by recent tranfers like Irish Eurocross International Damian Landers and with Abas getting better with each race it was clear there would be a good battle.  In the end Thornton led his GCH team to a clear victory followed by Aaron Brennan (GCH) and Abas (Castlegar), David Carter (GCH),  Jack Miskella (Craughwell), Mark Davis (Craughwell) and Cian Coyne (GCH) to round out the top 7. 

Jack and myself had a nice over and back battle as often seems to happen on the country - I thought he was done for about 6km in but when we made the final push it turned out it was me that was finished!  I made the tactical mistake last week of introducing Jack to the inspirational coach Gerry Reilly in Dangan and he told me afterward he used some advice from Gerry to put me away nicely over the last lap!  I won first Masters though which I'm very happy with as I'm getting on and Galway have a lot of really strong Masters athletes at the moment.  Oisin Doyle had a super performance in his first XC in years finishing well up the field - he looks like he could be really good!

We had a nice team in the Senior ladies 4km event which also incorporated the u18 girls.  Emma Boyle only found out on Friday that we had mistakenly entered her for the u20 women's race on Sunday but she gamely turned up for the sake of the team.  Emma had an awesome run, building strongly as the race went on, continuously picking people off to finish a marvelous 4th over all and first under 20.  She looked so comfortable on the final km that she must have been almost disappointed to see the finish line.  Next home was 800m specialist Sinead Gaffney in I think 7th or 8th. 

Sinead tried to go out easy, but like so many of the field didn't quite manage it and went went into debt, however following a recovery patch from 1.5-2.5km she rallied strongly and only 2 people passed her in the whole race.  Next home in the senior race was Grainne McDaid followed by Leanne Freaney both firmly building on the comeback trail. Craughwell ladies pulled off a surprise to many and won Silver in the teams, splitting the two GCH teams.  Hopefully this is the start of us seeing some much needed diversity in women's team running in Galway in the future!

Sarah - Most Happiest XC Finisher EVER!!

In the u18 girls which was run concurrently with the senior women, Sarah Kelly had a superb run to finish well up the field.  Not long ago, Sarah was a Camogie player that used to do some headspace runs about the same time as our crew till we coaxed her to join in with us.  Ever full of positivity and laughs she's been a brilliant addition to the wolfpack endurance squad and now she's running Cross Country and going from strength to strength.  She definitely looked the happiest Cross Country runner I've ever seen as she approached the finish line - after a fine run too!

Kyle still rocking his T-Shirt from his time as an U13 Team Member!

The Junior Men and the u18 men had their own race over 6km.  At the moment at this age group Craughwell are very hard to beat.  It turned out that way with the top 6 positions going to Craughwell AC Wolfpack members.  William Fitzgerald running his trademark sit and surge style to win the u20 race clearly.  Behind William a good battle unfolded between Kyle Moorehead, Oisin Davis and Patrick Noonan. On the second lap Oisin and Kyle broke away from Patrick but he had a stormer on the last 2km loop to reel them back in and pass them for 2nd u20.  Next home was Oisin Davis (1st u18) and Kyle Moorehead (3rd u20).  Not far behind Anthony Boyle and Luke Burke had an excellent over and back duel for the final medal positions.  Anthony who was stepping up from u17 seemed to rally strongly in the last lap to win Silver in the u18 closely followed by Luke.  Excellent runs from both men, not least because they had a hard swim session in the morning!  Pff Triathletes! 

The victorious Junior and u18 Crew along with u16 Winner Mathys

[Slight soap-box moment! - Mark's opinion, not the clubs]  We have a brilliant Junior crew this year and hope to challenge with them at the nationals .. if it does actually happen which seems unlikely now :(. Sadly the Galway XC was not a great preparation for them as there was only one other athlete in the race - a very fine u18 athlete mind you!  A few years ago a change was brought in at the County Board to reduce the length of the Senior men's XC to 6km and allow teams to be entered which combined u18/Juniors and Seniors in a single team - kind of like the Women's format or that used in national Juniors.  This is the same format used in Mayo among other counties.  While the change lasted, it made for an excellent few years of competition with large fields and allowed the best Juniors to try their mettle versus the best Seniors before leaving Galway and Connacht. It was also a draw for Juniors to run to help their clubmates to make up a team and build a rapport with seniors athletes in their area which kept them involved.   

Inexplicably despite the obvious success of the format, it was changed back and standards immediately slipped again in Galway to the point where has-beens like me were plodding their way to the business end of things nearly winning overall last year.  There are three 8km races at connacht level so it's not like Seniors or Masters are lacking for longer XC races, and for most Galway Seniors the national XC target of the year is the 6km Novices in Dec or 7km vets race in Spring.  It is too late for this Craughwell Junior team, but there are always strong Juniors rising all around the county so would be great for the youth from my perspective if we could revert to this format and support the young talent while also making it more fun for new Seniors to try the sport. I could enter them in the 8km to give them a race, but in my opinion 8km is just too far and too slow for most u18-u20s these days. [Soap box over :D]

In the u16 Boys race, 2020 Schools International Mathys Bocquet stepped up in age to tackle the 4km event.  The popular Mathys is a joy to coach and we had decided on a race strategy which consisted of him going with the pace until a certain point and then making his move from about 1300m in (towards the top of the first steep hill).  Mathys pulled the trigger at the appropriate point and didn't look back.  He didn't have it all his own way however and had some close company for a lengthy portion from a South Galway athlete and Gearoid King of Castlegar who also wasn't far behind.  However it became clear after a few minutes that Mathys wasn't just surging temporarily, he kept pressing relentlessly for the remainder of the race and managed to set a good sized gap on the chasing pack by the end.  

Holly gets off quick with the u16 girls

In the u16 girls race Holly O'Boyle stepped up in age and almost missed the start as (ahem) someone asked her to do her warmup too late!  Holly went out a little too hard but settled and finished well up the field in 6th position overall.

 

Connacht and National Cross Country

Connacht Cross Country

Provisional dates to be confirmed:-

• Sligo, Even age groups (U12 upwards), possible 25th/26th October
• Galway, Uneven age groups (U11 upwards), Sunday 8th November
  
  

Due to Covid 19 restrictions, Connacht AAI need to cap the numbers attending the Connachts. As some Counties have already taken entries for their Even age groups, it was decided to allow open entry to Connacht for U16 and U18 only. It is assumed that U12 and U14 will all have entered their county competition therefore the following qualification will stand for U12/U14 and all the Uneven age groups;

• Top 12 individuals and top 2 teams of 4 to run
• If a county goes into lockdown then the competition will go ahead without the said county.
• It is intended to hold Senior XC after the Juveniles on both dates.
• Connacht AAI will meet again by Zoom on Monday 19th October to confirm arrangements.
  
  

National Cross Country

The following link on the AAI website has the information regarding the National cross country.

https://www.athleticsireland.ie/news/juvenile-cross-country-championships-2020/

Its structured into an inter-provencial competition on 2 dates before Christmas:

• Even age groups (U12s upwards) on 21/22 Nov
• Uneven age groups (U11s upwards) on 29 Nov

The top 15 in each provencial championship qualify for above.

Then in January or February, an inter-club competition will be held for the uneven age groups (evens ages can step up. This will be restricted to 3 teams of 5 athletes each from the regional championships.

Fitzgerald shines at Brilliant Galway T&F

The Galway Country board were determined to have some a Galway Track & Field Competition in pandemic-struck 2020 and gambled on the Irish Weather being somewhat favourable at the end of September.  The weather was glorious for track - sunny and cold but not too cold, with just the right amount of breeze.  The track competition consisted of 400m, 800m, mile and 5000m events they were ferociously contested.  Craughwell AC had an outstanding day with a large contingent of competitors, and all performed fantastically.  Also this weekend - on Friday a brave gang of four lads headed to the wilds of Clare to run a Cross Country and performed exceptionally!

William steals the show in 5000m win

Star of the show was definitely William Fitzgerald who won a stacked 5000m with an incredible 36 second personal best.  Along with William, Sean Cotter, Kyle Moorehead, Ross McGuinness and Mark Davis competed in the green and white. The race started out at a decent clip with most of the leading bunch together - apart from National u23 Bronze Medallist David Carter of GCH who speared off alone at a ferocious pace - rightly so as he came into the race with the best personal best of a fine 15:31. William prefers to ease into a race and settled into the lead of the chasing pack.   

William checks if it's time to hit the turbo

At 3000m, William made his move closely followed by Sean - picking up the pace noticeably to reel in Carter - as they caught up, William continued on as Sean tried to tuck in.  (At least that's what I think happened - at this stage it was getting pretty hard for me to see from my vanishing vantage point :D).  William got stronger lap after lap to finish with a brilliant 15.21.  He finished feeling like there was more in the tank which is exactly how it looked!! 

William makes the decisive move and never looked back!

Next home was the Carter in 15.31 and then Sean Cotter 3rd in a fantastic new PB of 15.46.  Sean literally ran in his dad's old trainers so there is definitely more in him!  Next home for Craughwell and in 5th overall (first Masters) was Mark Davis in 16.21 followed by Ross McGuinness in 16.52.  Ross led me through 3km in 9.35 (which is exactly 16 minute pace) but then the wheels came off a little for both of us - especially Ross.  It was a fine run from the young lad and he will go from strength to strength!  Kyle was one of the favourites and went with the early pace but ran into trouble and had to pull up about half way - it happens, we know what's needed - easily sorted!!.

Top Three in the 5000m

Emily Caps off the season with 800m Win

Emily (1st), Saoirse (3rd) and Grainne (4th) in the Women's 800m

Emily Miskella won the girls 800m in dominant fashion with a 2.22 finishing time, a four second personal best.  This was even more impressive as her legs couldn't have been that fresh!  On Thursday night Emily found out she had a Camogie match on the same time as the race so she pulled out of the event and she joined into a hard cross country workout on Friday evening.  When she got back from training she found the match was cancelled so we decided to run the event anyhow as it was the last one.  To blitz out an 800m personal best the day after a hard training session shows great conditioning and mental strength.  She was just 0.3s off the club junior 800m record of 2.22.60 which was set by Linda Porter in 2008. In the race itself, Emily took it from the gun and ran the first lap way too fast but held on well for a fantastic time.  

Saoirse Moore was next home for Craughwell in 3rd place and she was gaining all the way with a tremendous second lap to finish in 2.34.  Saoirse is relatively inexperienced at track racing but this was the most comfortable 800m she ever had which is a great sign.  Next home for Craughwell in 4th place was Grainne McDaid who is chopping the seconds off with each of her comeback races and ran a fine season's best of 2.52.

One-two from Oisin and Gavin in fantastic 800m tussle

The 800m was set up to be a great race with no less than 5 contestants who were capable and hoping to run under the magic two minutes.  Oisin Davis had a game plan to go out hard and see what happened - not very original but effective!.  He was a little quick to 200m but settled and led them through the first lap in an ideal 58.5s with the 4 of Gavin Cooney, Neil Keane and Shane Moran stacked up behind looking to pounce.  Gavin made his move and pushed on at 500m to take the lead and a gap developed with Neil very close behind, all on for sub-2. 

Are we having fun yet?  The lads wade through the last 200m!

About 700m into the race it was as though a sniper hit all 3 front-men with some kind of lactic acid bullet and they went to jelly.  Oisin held it together somewhat and swam through the line in 2.00.63 followed by a drunken Gavin Cooney in 2.01.79 and woozy Neil Keane in 2.02.31.  Brilliant running by all the guys - the real winner was that lactic sniper who took out all 3!  Oisin now wins the coveted John Cormican trophy for the most number of 2.00.x times in a season (without going under!).

All Smiles after - Oisin Davis and Gavin Cooney, 1st and 2nd in the 800m

Luke Smashes his PB in the Mile

Luke Burke went with the pace in the Mile race and a pretty ferocious pace it was, smashing the first lap in under 65s.  He settled back to a more manageable pace for the next three and smashed 5 minutes for the first time, with a fine time of 4.57, beating my prediction by 10 seconds!  Noel Gorman also raced for Craughwell in this race and he had a target of 6 minutes on his mind.  Noel was hit by the lactic acid gods in the last lap but held on mightily to get his target by the slimmest of margins: 5.59.69.

The mixed Mile race gets off to a start

400m Brian and Arlene Sets Season's best!

Brian Malone had one goal today on the 400m - to smash the magical 60s barrier. He certainly achieved that with a fine time of 58s in a strong run with even pace all the way. There are many more improvements to come from Ronnies protege!

Gone in 60-seconds - Brian delighted with smashing the barrier!

Arlene Earls ran an excellent season's best o 63.67 to finish second in the Womens 400m.  Arlene got off to a very strong start and was gaining in the early stages but couldn't quite manage to bridge the gap on double European Silver medalist Annette Quaid over the last 200m.  A fine performance all the same and a nice end to 2020.

Arlene and Grainne all Smiles!

Fantastic Cross Country Performances in Clare

On Friday evening Ronnie took his A-Team of cross country nuts to Clare and the four lads delivered unbelievable performances on the course which was just over 2km long.  First home on the day and in 4th overall in the high standard race with another breakthrough run was Declan O'Connell who continues to grow physically and aerobically with a fantastic 7.05.   Declan was closely followed by Keelan Moorehead and Stephen Ruane in 8th and 9th positions and young Alan Warde in 16th in the large field.  Brilliant running all!

Gang of Four give it all in West Clare!

2020 Track Season Ends with a Bang

The strangest track season ever wrapped up in glorious but breezy sunshine at Santry Stadium on Sunday. Six athletes from Craughwell made the trip and all performed very well in stacked fields - Oisin Davis, Emma Boyle, Ellie Cronin, Ross McGuinness, Anthony Boyle and Ellie Cronin.

The direct links to their events are here if you want to watch them over:

• Oisin 800m Heat
• Oisin 800m Final
• Emma 3000m
• Ellie 400m Hurdles
• Ross/Anthony 3000m
• William 3000m

First up was Oisin Davis in the Junior men's 800m which was run over heats and a final.  Oisin had two goals - to break the magic 2 minutes and to make his first ever final.  The first two athletes and the 4 fastest losers would qualify, so times were important! Oisin knew if he was to go sub-2, the first race of the day was his best bet so he took the lead at the bell to keep the pace moving along. With 200m to go a couple of athletes passed him, when he sat in he caught his feet on the athlete ahead and stumbled, losing some momentum.  In the end he finished 5th in the heat with a slight 0.6s pb of 2.00.26 - no sub-2 today but with the breezy conditions and the stumble, you would have to think it is there soon - alas we have run out of track in 2020!!

Galway 800m finalists - Barry Murphy GCH (9th), Oisin Davis (6th)

The next two heats turned out to be quite a bit slower than the first so 5th was good enough to qualify for the final!  The final was an absolute cracker at the front between Louis O'Loughlin and Jake Bagge with O'Loughlin breaking Bagge and a 20 year old championship record en route to victory.  Oisin got caught in some traffic and the first lap was slow.  He picked it up on the second lap and felt good, but you are unlikely to set a pb with a slow first lap in an 800 - he finished in 6th place with 2.02 in the final.  Altogether, an excellent day's work - I think the first u18 home and top-7 in both 1500m and 800m is a solid week's work!

Emma tells the lads what to look out for in the 3000m!

Next up for Craughwell was Emma Boyle in the junior women's 3000m.  Our plan was for a steady start and pick it up from 800m, but the field went out at a ferocious pace and Emma had to decide whether to go with it or isolate herself - a tough decision!  She came into the race with a 10.50 pb and as lap after lap of 10' pace went past in the baking heat the inevitable payback came for a lot of the athletes in the field.  Emma got stranded between groups but held on bravely and came home in the top 10 with a very creditable 11.04 - not quite a personal best but not far off and I was hugely impressed with her resilience and mental fortitude in holding her form throughout.

Ellie Cronin had a new departure taking on the tough 400m Hurdles for the first time and decided to debut on the toughest stage!.  This event should suit Ellie as she has excellent hurdling technique.  She started out brightly but 400m is a looong sprint and as the hurdles passed her endurance started to fade.  She finished in a personal best of 1:17, but was swimming in lactate for the last two sections showing that there are massive improvements to be had in the event as she works on her endurance.  

Ross, William and Anthony arrive at Santry

The last event for Craughwell was the men's 3000m and this had truly incredible fields - the toughest of the day with 40 people turning up!  They were split into two heats but such was the depth of talent that both races were very very fast.  William Fitzgerald had another excellent race - building from the back.  Each time he came around I shouted "another one William" at him and he obediently immediately moved up and picked off another one - in hindsight I should have shouted "another two William" and he might have won the thing!  In the end he finished 8th overall in a near-pb of 8:57 which in my mind on that hot day IS a pb-level performance!  Next home was Ross McGuinness.  Ross had been homing for a 9:20 but for some reason couldn't find the right pace to settle on and ultimately finished in 9:39 which was about 10s off his personal best, but still a solid showing.  Anthony O'Boyle wasn't too optimistic heading in, but he is a really good competitor and I have never seen him run a bad race so I wasn't worried.  He defied the heat to run to his second fastest time ever of 9:52 - as usual he raising his game to deliver a solid performance and just 3s off his PB on a hot breezy day.   

Damian’s Ragin’ Cajun Cross Season goes ahead.

                                                                     Damian in Lafayette 

As the curtain closes on what has been an interesting outdoor track season here at home and around the world, we can now begin to cast an eye forward to what is sure to be a similarly interesting Cross Country Season, especially so on the far side of the Atlantic for Damian O’Boyle currently on his second Scholarship at the University of Louisiana in Lafayette. 

First point of interest is that many of the conferences and colleges in the USA and the NCAA itself have already cancelled all sports for the fall semester amid concerns related to COVID-19. There will be next to no conference championship events hosted this fall stateside, including zero national or regional events. However, Damian is now attending one of a small number of schools in an even smaller number of conferences (The Sunbelt Conference) that have decided to implement a stringent COVID-19 limitation, reduction and testing policy within their athletic department. This sees athletes screened every day and tested for the virus on a weekly basis in order to allow them to go ahead with the regular fall sports line-up this year. We will see Damian in action at the end of this week when the Ragin’ Cajuns travel to Mobile, AL to open their season at the University of South Alabama’s “Azalea City Classic”. 

And thanks to a ruling by the NCAA in response to the large number of institutions cancelling fall sports, we will see Damian return to the Cross again next year in 2021 with yet another year of eligibility!

All of this on the back of Hurricane Laura, a strong Category 4 Storm (150mph winds) which caused an evacuation order and battered the southwest coast of Louisiana, to be recorded as the strongest hurricane ever to make landfall in the state and the most brutal storm in over 150 years. While the city of Lafayette, where Damian is now based, managed to avoid much of the damage experienced, the city of Lake Charles which hosts his alma mater McNeese State has been devastated by the storm. With much of the essential infrastructure being compromised and both commercial and residential property taking severe damage, the city has been brought to its knees and is still without power and water as a result, with many of the city’s residents still displaced across the South.

Our hearts are with all of those that have lost so much to this storm and we wish the city and its people all the best in their rebuilding efforts and hope that they come out of this tragic occurrence stronger for the experience.

Craughwells Masters sprint group excel in Santry

From top: Cormac & John, Ronnie, Brian & David

Craughwell's masters sprint group travelled to Santry at the weekend for the National Masters Track & Field Championships with some excellent performances.

The day started off with David Mulligan taking silver in the M35 100m in 12.33. A great achievement for David as this is his first National championship and to complement his fine win at the Connaughts, which were held in Athlone in August.

 Next up in the 100m M40 were Cormac Kearney and Ronnie Warde in a hotly contested race. Cormac finishing 5th and a PB of 12.27 to add. Ronnie placed 3rd in 11.84 to take the bronze medal home to Galway

The 200m event was next and John Walkin M40 received a silver medal for his fine run in a time of 26.74, which adds to his collection of medals from last year Nationals both indoors and outdoors. Keep up the great work John!

Finally it was our last master’s turn to compete and it was Brian Malone in the M40 400m race. Like David, this was Brian's first national race and for his hard work and early morning training he came away with a Bronze medal and narrowly missing sub 60sec target with a swift time of 60.18. Brian also took silver medal in the Connaughts which was held in Athlone recently.

Well done all!! Ronnie can be contacted at 086 880 5696 if interested in joining the masters sprint group. So if your fast-twitch fibres have been resting for the last 20 years, why not give Ronnie a shout to see if his sprint group can reactivate them!

Records fall in National Juniors Day 1

With no Juvenile Championships taking place in 2020, we have seen more Juveniles than ever stepping up to both the Senior and Junior all-Irelands.  Yesterday in Santry we had 5 athletes competing over the "metric mile" distance of 1500m and incredibly ALL of them finished in the top 10 of the big talented fields.  It is really a dark art to get things right for championships, and usually we get it wrong for someone - however for our middle distance crew it was one of those unusual days where everyone had a good day.  We saw a new Club Junior record and almost everyone had significant personal bests and almost a stunning national medal from Kyle which would have put the icing on the cake.  We also saw some excellent performances from long-jumpers Alicia Larkin and Leanagh Gilligan in the Long Jump and Freya Bohan in the 200m who also scored a fine new personal best.

Direct links to the event videos are here and report below:

• Emily Miskella 1500m Club Junior Record
• Oisin, Patrick (first race) and Sean, Kyle (Second race)
• Alicia and Leaghna long jumping
• Freya sets new 200m PB

 Emily Shatters Club Junior 1500m Record

With most not competing until 6:20, in our journey planning, the first milestone was to make Applegreen in time to watch Emily Miskella take part in her 1500m at 3:30.  There was a lot of cheering in the car park as she delivered a show that fired up her teammates and set the tone for a great day! 

Emily rightly delighted with her new Club Record!

About 18 months ago, Emily had a breakthrough run in the National Indoors to run an incredible 5:03 and score in the top nationally 7 of her age group.  Right after that race she set a goal for herself to break the magical 5-minute barrier - it would not be easy!  This is faster than 3:20 per kilometer which is fairly moving - just try it!!  The club Junior outdoor record of 5:02.03 set by the talented Linda Porter has stood for an incredible 13 years which shows how hard it is to do.  The form after lockdown looked good with a 3k pb of 10:49 in Ennis and a comfortable 800m pb of 2:26 in Ballina showing that she both had the necessary endurance and speed.

Emily stuck gamely to the plan - slotting in where it suited and moving up when the clock showed it necessary to hit her goal.  Especially impressive was the brave and difficult move at lap 2 to bridge the growing gap from the main pack to the breakaway group of 3.  As the laps ticked by it was clear she had it in her grasp - passing the 1100m mark at 3:38 (two seconds to spare) and pushing out a cracking last lap of 78 to finish in 4:56.75 - a full 6 seconds under the old record and a fantastic 3rd in her heat.  The second heat was run faster than the first, and ultimately she didn't hold onto her 3rd place position but a brilliant day and so satisfying to set a target and achieve it! An appreciating crowd of teammates roared at their phones 40 miles away in Applegreen carpark, and all around Craughwell!!

CLICK HERE to take a look at Emily's race with brilliant commentary!

Craughwell Takeover in the Male 1500m

About 3 hours later, it was the turn of our male milers.  This was again run over two heats and the Craughwell lads found themselves split into different legs based on seedings, personal bests and guesses. The poor soul doing the seedings asked that they not make him look bad and they did their best to disobey!  Knowing that the heats were to be decided on time, Oisin Davis took an early lead from about 150m and pushed to the front with an honest hard pace - no room for tactics here!  As they hit 800m in about 2:10, clubmate Patrick Noonan had moved up to share in the lead and turn it into a cracking race between the two good friends.  By the bell, Patrick had a lead of about a metre and a Waterford AC runner edged up on Oisin's heel - the hillarious stream commentators noted that Oisin woke from a "stirring dream" and he jerked into life to put in a really strong last lap of about 62 seconds and finish with 4:07.74, and Patrick just a hair's breath behind in 4:08.02.  This was a huge 7-second pb for both men and gave themselves a realistic chance of medals depending on how the next heat played out.

Oisin and Patrick win heat 1 (photo courtesy of Sportsfile)

In the second heat, the talented trio of Tadgh Donnelly, Sean Donoghue and Michael Morgan were the outstanding favourites, however we came so, so close to a Craughwell AC athlete getting among them.  Kyle Moorehead and Sean Cotter were rightly seeded in this faster heat and were involved heavily in the action throughout.  Kyle has been in ferocious form this year, as evidenced by his superb new club outdoor 800m record and a fast last lap suited him down to the ground.  In a fantastically quick last lap of 61s, Kyle seemed to be storming to 3rd until an accidental tangle with the man ahead of him took away his momentum.  Try as he could he couldn't quite get another surge going, but he ended up with a superb 11-second pb of 4:03.68 - lots more to come!  Sean got slightly boxed in and caught in traffic but the surge in pace was also challenging - however he always delivers and held on to finish with an excellent 4:08.09, just two seconds outside of his personal best.  

All the lads and support team before their race!

No medals, but a crazy four men 4:08 or lower is some day for us!! All the lads in the top 9 - Kyle (4th), Oisin (7th), Paddy (8th) and Sean (9th) out of the 24 competitors.  If it were a cross country we'd have won the team competition by a mile!! :D.  Incidentally the male Club Junior Record is held by Jamie Fallon at 4.00.40 - a great time, I wonder how much longer it will be top of the leaderboard?

CLICK HERE to take a look at the lads races with brilliant commentary!

Jumping up a storm

It has been impossible to get competition practice in the jumping events in 2020 but Leanagh Gilligan and Alicia Larkin performed very well, leaping to 4.97 and 4.77 to finish 10th and 11th respectively in an exceptional field.  Not personal bests on this occasion, but fine jumping in a crazy year!  The stream coverage of the field events was spotty but some of the jumping action can be seen from this point on if you click here!

Freya flies to new 200m Personal Best

Freya Bohan set a fantastic new 200m outdoor personal best blazing to a 27.71 which was good enough for 4th in heat 2.  This has been a horribly tough year for sprinters so for the popular Craughwell AC athlete to claim a personal best in one of your only blow-outs of the year is really an excellent achievement!!  

Watch Freya grab her new PB by clicking here!

Strong 800m Performances at Day 2 of the Senior Championships

Across the country thousands of spectators tuned into their TV Screens and Phones as Weekend 2 of one of the weirdest but best national championships in recent years unfolded.  Once again, spectators and coaches were not permitted to enter the stadium so we either stood outside the gate watching our phones and catching the occasional glimpse of our athletes flitting past, or we sat at home.  Athletics Ireland are to be applauded on their running of the event - both in how they handled the schedule changes and how they kept it all running with a maximum of safety.

Unfortunately for any looking for fast times, both weekends were quite windy.  This week the wind was just a shade less strong than last but in the opposite direction to last week - hitting the runners on the back stretch from 50m-250m and time-critically from 450-650m, leaving very little in the tank for the last 100.  Craughwell AC had 4 athletes in the 800m and all performed very well.

Sinead looking Good at 300m

First up was club 800m recorder holder Sinead Gaffney fresh from setting a fine club record for 1500m last weekend.  Sinead has been in great shape this year, comfortably running a near pb of 2:20 twice in the run up to the championships and she was rightly optimistic of claiming another personal best. A female 2:20 is roughly the equivalent of a male 2:00 time. She started brightly and settled towards the middle of the pack for the first lap, splitting 66 at half way and feeling strong.  She fought the wind well on the back stretch to stay on pace at 600m, however at that stage the pack had stretched out and she started to tie up - finishing with yet another 2:20.3!  A very fine run, if not quite what she was hoping for!  

Next for Craughwell was Ben Garrard.  Ben had a few setbacks this year with injury leading to some layoffs at various stages of the spring/summer.  He has been back training in the last couple of week and though he wasn't fully prepared for the 800m he decided to give it a go as it was the last race of the year.  He had no idea what to expect as he hasn't raced in ages, but it didn't show.  Ben ran good splits of 59 and 62 to finish with a solid 2:01.74.

Third man for Craughwell was Luke Evans.  Luke also has not had the season he would like wioth respect to injury, but decided to compete anyhow as it was the last track race of the season.  Luke is a fast starter but settled it a little this time, running a 60 first lap.  He still has not enough endurance work done to sustain his pace so he finished with a 65 to end in 2.05.  He felt strong throughout and is heading in the right direction!  When it "comes together" for Luke he will run some serious times!

Miskey takes the field through 400m

Last competitor for Craughwell was Jack Miskella.  Jack found himself in a slow last 1500m heat last week which spoilt his chances for qualifying for the finals, and wasn't about to let it happen a second week in a row.  After a fast start he immediately merged into lane 1 and drove the field forward from the front with a fast 57s first lap.  However Jack is not a small man and is built to catch the wind so on the back straight the effort of doing all the work started to take its toll .  Despite his best efforts, he was swallowed up with 250m to go and finished with a 62s last lap to end up on 1.59.  A brave strategy and a valliant effort which might have paid dividends on a calmer day.

Well done all!  The last major track event of the strangest year ever is the National Junior Championships which takes place next Saturday.  Craughwell AC have a record 10 Athletes taking part in the Junior Middle Distance, just amazing  for a small village and reflects the buzz in the club at the moment.  I'll put up some article in the coming days as a preview.  If you are from the area and interested in learning how to run safely whilst having a bit of craic - drop down!  We are always looking to welcome new faces, regardless of how good you think you are - we will make you better than you ever thought possible!!

September 2020 Athletics Training Times

Please see the list below for details of training times for this autumn. 

There have been some revisions to times so that the club can safely handle the groups during the pandemic in accordance with HSE guidelines. The list includes the age group coordinators, training times and the dates each group resumes. 

It will be necessary for the club to impose some restrictions on group size in some of the age groups due to the public health guidelines ... as if groups grow too large, it will be very difficult to ensure social distancing in some groups. This decision will be taken by the coordinator and the coaches in each age group depending on the current size of the group.

For new members, waiting lists of new athletes wanting to join will be used if necessary – please contact the age group coordinator in regard to joining. Hopefully parents will understand if their child cannot immediately join – the safety of all our members is paramount and the club can only take new members where the numbers in the age group allow that to be done safely. Contacting the coordinator by text or WhatsApp message is preferable to a phone call in case it’s during their working hours.

Priority will be given to current members and members who are renewing their membership this September.

Existing members whose membership expires this Autumn can renew online at the clubforce membership link. Members returning are asked to renew as soon as possible in order for us to determine group sizes and the number of new members we can accept. Coordinators will be in touch with members due for renewal.

If the list below does not display correctly in your browser, please doubleclick the image or click here to open it on a separate page.

New Little Athletics Session for Senior Infants

A new Little Athletics training session will be commencing on Wednesday 16th September for children who are in Senior Infants - from 5.30pm to 6.30pm on Wednesdays for 10 weeks at Craughwell AstroTurf. The cost is €40 for the 10 weeks, payable at the first session.

Athletics is highly regarded as an ideal introduction to all sports due to its focus on the fundamental movement skills of running, jumping and throwing.

The session will be coordinated by Mark Gillen (086 816 2637) but we will need help from parents of children joining the group to run it. Please contact Mark if interested in getting involved – the club will provide training for coaches as the year progresses. No prior knowledge is required as other coaches and athletes from the club will be assisting in the initial weeks.

Due the pandemic, numbers in the group will be restricted to 30 children so that it is easier to split the group into subgroups meeting HSE guidelines.

After the initial 10 weeks, the group will only continue if we enlist sufficient assistance from parents during these initial weeks. Unfortunately if we don't get enough new parents to help, we won't be able to continue it beyond those initial 10 weeks as our coaches are already maxed out in other training sessions.

Note this session is only for senior infants - there are other sessions for older children. I will be putting on update on the website later today in regard to training times for the older age groups.