Senior Section News

All Roads Lead To Cloyne

The curtain comes down this week on the busiest summer ever on the local road running scene. All roads lead to Cloyne on Thursday for the inaugural 5K Race which is in aid of Cystic Fibrosis. Our club colleague Margaret Twohig has done an outstanding job in heading up the organising team. A major publicity campaign kicked into gear about a month back and at this stage there are few runners in the county that are not aware of the fixture.

Thus a huge gathering is expected to be present. Cloyne National School is Race HQ – entries will be taken from 6pm onwards with the race due to start at 7.30pm sharp. Afterwards refreshments and prize giving will take place at the school.

A lively 5K looks on the cards as the route known locally as ‘The Commons’ is a flat fast course.

Remember to spread the word about the race. Entry fee is 8 euro, prizes in all categories. Any further information is available calling 087-2094493.

Half Marathon In Blarney

The John Buckley Sports Cork Half Marathon is now just a few days away. Race time in Blarney on Sunday next is at 11am with chip time being introduced for the first year. As always headquarters are based at Blarney GAA Club. Cathal O’Connell, race organiser from St Finbarr’s AC says despite the big push to enter in advance, he still feels that over 200 people will enter on the day. Give yourself plenty of time if you are not already entered.

The course starts in Blarney just close to the GAA Club and takes in Grenagh village just before half way. The approach to the Grenagh represents the most difficult part as a tough up hill section lasts for over a mile.

IPS/Garda 5K

The IPS Garda 5K has been rescheduled to Sunday week September 19th, from it’s original mid summer date. It will be familiar ground for athletes who normally attend the John Buckley Sports 5K in mid summer. The course along the Marina Road circuit is the same with entries again taken at Lee Rowing Club. Action gets under way at 11am.

Mini Marathion

The Evening Echo Ladies Mini Marathon is again scheduled for the last Sunday of the month on September 26th. Application forms are readily available with a number of runners due to compete in aid of local charities.




Our club colleague Deirdre Aherne has been in touch to say that the Midleton Branch of Cork Mental Health Association are looking for people to take part in the Mini Marathon.
Sponsorship cards and T-shirts are available.
Enquiries to Helen at Midleton Day Centre - 4635347/087 9270472


Cross Country Races

Would you like a change from road races? Would you like to try something new? Have you ever thought about cross country?
Cross country races are held during the Autumn and Winter months. They are shorter than most road races and offer a totally different challenge. They are a great way of helping your fitness during the winter months.

This year we hope to encourage more Midleton AC athletes to give cross country a go and maybe get a team together.

The team aspect of cross country running is partly what makes it so attractive. Even if an athlete is well down the field his/her overall place can help the team.
We hope to organise a cross country training session in the near future and would love to hear from you if you are interested. You do not need spikes to begin with and if there is enough interest the club will consider subsidising them.

Please contact Sally Drennan @021 4883960 or 0872265857 or e mail midletonac@ireland.com for further details.

Review

Looking back at recent action a number of our members produced outstanding performances in the recent PTAA 5K race in Togher. Eric Owers, John O’Connell, Darragh Canavan, Mickey O’Connell, Brian Healy and Ned Ramsell were all in excellent form. Certainly some of our new brigade have made a huge impression over the summer months and are making a serious attack on the personal best target in every race they run.

As for the prizes Sally Drennan produced another great run to top the Over 40 category whilst Joan Hough was top lady Over 50. Congratulations to both of you!

Ballycotton Finale

- A final reflection back to the Ballycotton Summer Series which concluded a few weeks back. Midleton AC had it’s biggest ever entry in the Series which once again produced some fantastic action during the summer months. When the sums were done at the end of the 4 races, our club had a healthy representation on the overall honours list.

In the chase for the Top 15 Ladies prizes, Michelle Nolan finished a superb 3rd place overall, reflecting her best ever form on the summer circuit. Marian Aherne (14th) and Breda Cahill (15th) also produced consistently excellent displays to secure their place in the limelight.

Noel O’Regan was our top man, only 16 finishers managed to beat Noel in the overall roll of honour, which is a great indicator of his excellent form over the 4 races. Donal Broderick who also enjoyed a great series was 29th, Neilus Aherne finished 39th whilst one of our new signings Darragh Canavan finished a splendid 49th. A special word goes to David Murphy from our juvenile section who made a real impact in the 4 races and finished in 30th place overall.

Marathon Mission

One of the aforementioned Neilus Aherne followed his Ballycotton run with an outstanding 3 hours 9 minutes finish in the Longford Marathon just a few days after the Ballycotton ‘5’ Miler.
Sweltering conditions made life far from easy for any of the marathon runners, but Neilus who ran up to 15 miles on his own came home in a tremendous 12th place overall in the men’s line up and that meant he was the third prize winner in his age category – overall a superb display from a man on top of his form.

Denis On The Double

Mention of marathon exploits the performances of our colleague Denis Kelleher have also hit the headlines. Despite suffering from injury for much of the year and spending much of his time walking instead of running Denis ran in Longford and returned in 3:54:21 – quite a run!.

But …. There was more to follow just 6 days later Denis headed to picturesque Dingle last Saturday and again took the marathon challenging. A punishing course and soaring temperatures did not Denis producing another superb run crossing the line in just over 4 hours, to complete a famous double all within a week. Well done Denis! – roll on Dublin.

Get Well Wishes

Get well wishes are sent to both Mary Keane and John Carey, two great performers in our club colours. Hope you are both back in action in the not too distant future!

Training Arrangements

With autumn upon us and winter on the radar it is time to think ahead and contemplate a change in training arrangements.
An Open/Introductory Evening will be held at Midleton Community Centre on Wednesday September 29th between 7pm and 8pm to officially launch our winter programme. Indoor training will then take place at Midleton Community Centre each Wednesday from October 6th. From that date onwards the Tuesday sessions outdoors will no longer take place.
We will retain our current arrangement at Midleton CBS over the next weeks until further notice before moving back to Midleton College each Monday for the winter season.

In the meantime – “keep on running”.