Senior Section News

Back On The Road Again

At last the road racing action has kick started for the New Year. After a trail of postponements the large entry in Little Island on Sunday came as no surprise. Now with the Dungravan ‘10’ on the immediate horizon and with the rescheduling of the Mallow ‘10’ to Sunday week, February 7, we have a feast of exciting action on the agenda.

Little Island

The FMC ‘4’ which is run annually by the Cork BHAA always attracts big numbers even in leaner running times. The boom is back again and our club is certainly making a rich contribution to boasting the numbers at all the local fixtures. It was encouraging to see some of our new members in action on Sunday last and many will no doubt be scanning through the year’s fixture guide and setting new targets for themselves.

On Sunday last we had a very large representation in Little Island. In fact the total number of entries overall – 410, was the biggest in the history of the race.
A frosty scene greeted early risers on Sunday and even by race time the temperature was still cool and all participants had to travel with care as they were some tricky underfoot conditions on the 4 mile journey.

Nevertheless there were plenty of positive performances from our crew with three of our ladies winning their respective age categories and two of our men making it into the honours list.
Congrats to Michelle Nolan (O35), Joan Hough (O50) and Kathleen O’Connell who all carried off top prizes. Elsewhere Neilus Aherne was second Over 50 and John Cashman third Over 45.

Well done also to our Midleton UDC trio who were prize winners in the team category.

East Cork Series

Despite the terrible weather conditions which battered the county earlier in the day Race 4 in the 3K Series did go ahead two weeks ago. Numbers as expected fell short of previous races, but all the absentees should be back when the penultimate fixture in this highly popular Series takes place on Tuesday February 2nd – 7.30pm. Remember due to the cancellation earlier of one of the races, the requirement now is to compete in 4 of the 6 races to qualify for a souvineer long sleeved running tee-shirt.

Dungarvan

All roads will lead to Dungarvan on Sunday next for the Quantum Life West Waterford AC ‘10’ Mile Race, the first in the John Buckley Sports Spring Classic Series. The organisers were overwhelmed with the response to the event in advance of the cut off point for entries last week and realistically they could probably have got several hundred extra entries since deadline day.

This event has really gathered momentum in recent years with a huge Cork entry participating regularly. Midleton AC will be very much to the fore on the start line on Sunday next and we wish the best to all our competitors especially those running the event for the first time.

The good news for everybody is that course is considered one of the fastest 10 mile routes in the in the country and given any luck with weather conditions some cracking times should be recorded. Recent changes have according to the committee made the route even faster.

It was icy cold last year so we are all hoping for the return of the sun which makes the venue such a picture postcard scene.

Remember race time is 1pm sharp and with that very large entry give yourself plenty of time in advance for parking, changing etc. All race numbers and chip time pieces have now been sent out and should arrive in post by early in the week. Tee shirts and goody bags will be handed out at the finish line. In the meantime if you require any further information on the big race, the advice is go to info@westwaterfordathletics.org.

Mallow ‘10’

A week later on February 7th, it will destination Mallow for the second race in the Series. Four weeks on form the original date, it now appears as if the North Cork Club should get as big and possibly a bigger entry than they would have got on January 10.

Again like their colleagues in West Waterford, the Mallow AC committee have put a huge amount of work into organising this race. This race starts at 12.30pm and whilst entries will be taken on the day, the organisers urge all intending runners to register in advance by going on line to the Mallow AC web site. This step is recommended as it saves valuable time on the day of the race. Mallow AC have confirmed that all existing registrations for the original date still stand.



County Road Championships

The fact that the Mallow event now goes ahead on February 7, means a rethink in relation to the Cork County Road Championships, originally scheduled for that day. The fixture which was listed for Ballinhassig might have doubled up with the Paddy Desmond Memorial ‘4’ miler at the same venue on St Patrick’s Day. However, this will not be the case now, following a discussion at the County AGM. An alternative date for the Championships will be announced following next month’s county meeting.


10 Milers

The 10 mile distance is certainly becoming increasingly popular. Apart from the introduction of the Great Island ‘10’ in Cobh on Sunday April 18, we also have a new race over the distance in Bantry on Sunday February 14, which has an 11am start.
On the same day incidentally, those looking for a change from the road surface may opt to run in the Cork BHAA Cross Country at Beaumont, Blackrock – 11am.

Other Races

Elsewhere, just a quick mention for the rest of February. On Sunday 21st the BHAA fixture list continues with the ESB 5K in Mahon at 11am, the East Cork 3K Series concludes two days later whilst the Eagle AC ‘5’ Mile Race will be held on Sunday February 28th in Carrigaline with an 11am start.

By then the excitement and anticipation will be mounting with Ballycotton just three weeks further down the road. As always our club will be looking forward to their annual post race dinner on the evening of the race. - Details to follow shortly.


GOAL Mile Saturday 30th 2-4pm CIT Track

Everybody is aware of the recent disaster in Hati, which has caused so much harm to this impoverished nation. A fundraising mile run/jog/walk will be held in the CIT Track on Saturday next 2pm to 4pm (January 30th) to raise funds for the GOAL charity. The event will be the same as the Christmas Goal Mile. The event is being fully supported by the Athletics Community in Cork and the Track is being made available by the Cork Institute of Technology free of charge. There will be no overheads so every cent raised will go straight to the Goal Charity.
There is no minimum or maximum donation. The event is open to all ages and abilities. Clubs are asked to publicise this event so that this fundraising venture will be very successful.


Here’s the full upcoming fixture guide –
Sat Jan 30 – Goal Mile – CIT Track – 2pm
Sun Jan 31 – Dungarvan ‘10’ – 1pm
Tue Feb 2 – East Cork AC 3K – Race 5 – 7.30pm
Sun Feb 7 – Mallow ‘10’ – 12.30pm
Sun Feb 14 – Bantry 10 Mile Race – 11am
Sun Feb 14 – BHAA Cross Country – Beaumont, Blackrock – 11am
Sun Feb 21 – BHAA – ESB 5K – Mahon – 11am
Tue Feb 23 – East Cork AC 3K – Race 6 – 7.30pm
Sun Feb 28 – Eagle AC 5 Mile – Carrigaline – 11am
Sun Feb 28 – Dungarvan 10K – 11am



ANNUAL CLUB MEMBERSHIP NOW DUE

ALL club members should note that membership costing 30 euro is now DUE for the 2010 running year. The official club membership form is available
each evening at training, or alternatively is also available on our club
blog - www.midletonathleticclub.blogspot.com. Anybody not attending
training is advised to use the online system and return the completed form
to any club officer at any forthcoming race.
ALL MEMBERSHIP DETAILS MUST BE FORWARDED TO THE ATHLETICS ASSOCIATION OF IRELAND BEFORE THE END OF THIS MONTH.
(Athletics Ireland insurance covers you only until the end of Jan 2010 after that if you are not registered and you are not insured).
THUS, WE WOULD APPEAL TO ALL INTENDING MEMBERS OF OUR CLUB FOR 2010 TO PLEASE HELP OUR OFFICERS TO ABIDE BY THIS POLICY, BY FORWARDING PAYMENT AND REGISTRATION DETAILS AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.

THANKING YOU FOR YOU CO-OPERATION


Training

Training continues as usual on Monday 6pm at Midleton College All Weather Pitch with the Wednesday session also going ahead at 7pm at Midleton Community Centre. Both sessions are boasting great numbers over the past few weeks.

Keep In Contact – On The Blog or e mail

-Staying in touch with what is happening in our club is now easier than ever, as our new non interactive blog is now in operation.

Check http://www.midletonathleticclub.blogspot.com/ for all the latest club news.
E mail contact is midletonac@ireland.com
You may also have regular club news, updates and results sent directly to you via our club e mail service. Please give your e mail address to PRO John Cashman to avail of this service.
Telephone enquiries regarding the club may be directed to Danny McCarthy on 087-2403940


Until next time – “keep on running”.