The Athletics Ireland national Senior league finals took place last Sunday in beautiful warm summer sunshine in the immaculately turned-out Tullamore Harriers stadium. Warm temperatures and a stiff breeze down the home straight made for fast racing and good conditions for field events. The first decent day of weather for the penultimate weekend of athletics track and field competition of the year brought more senior medals to Carraig Na BhFear AC. Competing in the inter county competition with the East Cork Athletics Division team we had 16 athletes and numerous coaches & parents in attendance. A wonderfully busy day out for all involved is what makes this format of competition so special. A team competition for individual sportspeople to compete for national medals that can only be achieved by the team doing well. Our girls were defending champions and had a target on their backs since they took a surprise win last year but were competitive throughout as always and took bronze behind winners Tipperary and Silver medallists Galway. A great success for this bunch of women who had some terrific performances on the day with some PBs to boot.
Lucy lynch had a terrific win in the high jump competition and Katie Walsh ran the fastest time of the day over the 400 hurdles to win that event. Sonya Walsh threw two PBs in the weight for distance for 4th place in what is becoming a very popular & competitive discipline. Three of our members Lucy, Katie and Isobel O’Meara ran legs of the 4 X 400 relay for an East Cork team record of 4 minutes 5 seconds and third place on the day epitomising the theory that how you execute the long relay is your placing overall. Our men’s team were heartbroken again this year having to settle for 5th place this time out. Closer on points to that elusive medal this year but still not gaining the rewards for their efforts. Ruaidhri Boyle won his 400 hurdles race and Aidan Maher his 3000-meter steeplechase to give the team every chance. The two boys also made up half of the 4 X 400 team that took a dramatic win in what is the last event of a long day to do everything they could to get their hands on a medal. Not to be again this year but the boys are getting closer with higher points total this year than last. Overall another successful day’s competition with 4 new senior medallists added to our club role of honour. The full list of participants and events is as follows, well done to every athlete who played their part: Katie Walsh - 100H, 400H & 4 X 400 relay, Aoife Martin - 1500 walk, Lucy Lynch - High Jump, 400, triple jump & 4 X 400 relay, Caoimhe Geoghegan - 100 meters, Blessing Alamu - Long Jump & Discus, Sonya Walsh - 28lb weight for distance, Lily O’Riordan – Javelin, Emma Akinkoulie - 4 X 100m relay, Isobel O’Meara - 4 X 100m & 4 X 400m relay, Caoimhe Gray Walsh - 4 X 100 m relay, Abigail Geary - 4 X 100 relay. Mens Teams: Ruaidhri Boyle - 400H, 200 , long jump & 4 X 400m relay, Ciarán Nugent - Pole Vault, 400m & 4 X 100m relay, Aidan Maher – 3000m Steeplechase & 4 X 400 relay, Michael Mullins - 4 X 100 relay, Willie Walsh - Hammer & 1500m walk.
Ruadihri Boyle and Aidan Maher had competed in he U13-U19 Juvenile Championships Day 3 on Saturday, also in Tullamore. Ruaidhri hadt his best performance of the season securing the bronze medal in the U19 Boys 400m hurdles in a fast time of 56:46, well done Ruaidhri! Aidan Maher finished in 8th position overall in the U19 Boys 1500m. It was a high-standard competition run on times with 3 athletes in Heat 2 going under the Championship record time of 3:58:12. Aidan ran in heat 1 and took another sizeable chunk from his pb finishing in 4:07:95.
The East Cork track Championships hosted by Carraig Na BhFear AC on our grass tracks were the perfect sharpener for the Championship races at the weekend. A beautiful evening and a typically relaxed atmosphere set the tone for a great night competition on our immaculately prepared tracks, thanks to Willie Walsh & Co. Such was the level of participation that we were able to hold seperate races for each age category which made every race a fight to the end! Sincere thanks to everyone who attended both racing and helping out, the feedback from the other East Cork clubs was very positive as always. Too many medal winners to name individually, the full set of results are available on the East Cork Division website.
Other news: Our members were in action far and wide this week with races aplenty to choose from. Apple Running club held their first BHAA race in Hollyhill, a very challenging course with a 600m hill to contend with on each of the tow loops! Darragh O’Keefe finished in 39th place from the 362 finishers in a time of 19:18 with Michael Mulcahy closely following in 19:34. Darragh was in action again on Saturday in the Kilkee Half Marathon, a hot day and hilly course didn’t deter Darragh from finishing in an excellent 21st place from 837 finishers in a time of 1:27:26, well done Darragh! Another athlete taking to the coast was young Oscar O’Riordan who put in a storming effort in the Brandon Bay 5k to finish in a time of 21:22, a fast time for running on sand!. In Saturdays Parkruns’, Rian O’Luasa was first over the line in Glen River in a time of 19:2 8 and Tadhg Crowley finished 4th in Tramore Valley event in a time of 18:15, both events giving a nice level of competition.
Look Ahead: Ruaidhri Boyle will double up in the 200m and 400m hurdles in the National Junior Championships in Tullamore while Sonya Walsh will compete in the National Masters in the Weight-for-Distance competition. Best of luck to Ruaidhri and Sonya!
Featured Image: Aidan Maher competing for the East Cork Athletics Division at the National League in Tullamore. Photo by Jo Martin