Dublin Marathon

Let’s begin with good wishes to all our runners heading for Dublin on Monday next to take part in the 31st Marathon to be held in the capital city. A lot of tough weeks of training have been put in by a dedicated group of athletes, many of whom have had this race as their main focus since early summer.

Dublin on Marathon day is a special place, with a special atmosphere. The first priority is to enjoy the occasion, the build up and the race itself. After that it’s a case of getting home safely and achieving the target time or better has to be seen as the icing on the cake.

Our contingent for the 2010 race has a mix of regulars, newcomers and dare we say veterans when it comes to the marathon distance. At the time of going to press this appears to be our line up for big race day –
Deirdre Aherne, Neilus Aherne, Noreen Emerson, Peter Gunning, Denis Kelleher, Mick Murphy, Michelle Nolan, Anne McCarthy, Danny McCarthy, Joan McCarthy, Vincent O’Neill, Nell Roche, Mary Toher, Mary B. Walshe and Mark Walshe.

Incidentally Michelle Nolan is running the Marathon in aid of the Chernobyl Children’s Project. Local Carrigtwohill man Pat O’Sullivan will be driving a truck to Chernobyl in the near future. If you would like to sponsor Michelle in aid of this very worthy cause, she would be delighted to hear from you.

Cork To Cobh Successes

There were many great displays by our athletes at the Cork to Cobh Race earlier this month with some athletes figuring in the overall prize list and others recording personal best times. Congrats are extended to Sally Drennan who won the Over 40 category, and to both Sandra Bohan and Deirdre Aherne who combined to take second place in the ladies AA1 team event. Members of the Midleton News ladies team also performed very well to finish in 4th place in the BHAA team rankings.

Next BHAA Fixture

Sunday week, October 31st offers runners the chance to round off the autumn season by taking part in the HSE 4 Mile Race on the Marina Road Circuit in Cork. This Cork BHAA fixture has it’s HQ at the Lee Rowing Club (same as John Buckley and IPS/Garda races) . Race time is 11am.

3K Series

The East Cork AC 3K Series got off the ground for another winter with a strong Midleton AC contingent involved in the action last week. The new surface on the main road has certainly made running there a more attractive proposition and this may have helped many competitors to record fast times.

Our top man Marc Dalton is certainly ‘burning’ it up at the moment, as reflected by his eye catching 10:29 finishing time. Behind him Darragh Canavan 10:51, Owen O’Connell 10:58, John O’Connell 11:11, Eric Owers 11:14, Adam Duchnicz 11:23, Billy O’Sullivan 11:39 and Kevin O’Reilly 11:59 all enjoyed great performances.
As for our ladies Sally Drennan finished runner up in 12:26 whilst Joan Hough in 4th and Claire Fitzgerald in 6th also excelled.
A further feature of the results was the very solid showings by some of our relative newcomers.

Next race in this very enjoyable series is on Tuesday November 2nd – 7.30pm.

Fixtures

Overall it is obviously going to be a quieter time on the road scene with the advent of winter. However, there a number of regular races which take place between now and Christmas that we will keep you posted on. One new addition is on Sunday next October 24th in Bandon where the local Gael Scoil have combined with Bandon A.C to promote a 10K Race at 2pm.

Already some of our runners are beginning to look at winter training with a view to the Munster 10 Mile Series early next year. At this stage dates have been confirmed for the two opening fixtures. Mallow kicks off the Series on Sunday January 9th with the West Waterford AC 10 miler in Dungarvan on Sunday January 30th. Meantime for those of you looking to creep over the 10 mile mark at this time of year there is the Waterford AC Half Marathon at 11am on Saturday December 11th.

Training

Again this season it’s great to see the influx of new members under the guidance of Vincent Connolly from 6pm to 7pm each Wednesday. A number of new recruits have also joined the 7pm to 8pm session. We extend a very warm welcome to all our new members.

All members should note that there will be no training next week. Due to the Bank Holiday Monday (25th) and the unavailability of the Community Centre on Wednesday (27th) there will be NO TRAINING on these nights. Training will resume as usual on Monday November 1st.
Training takes place as usual this week.

Cross Country

Great progress has been made on the cross country scene by many of our athletes. It’s very encouraging to see the Midleton AC colours back on the scene again. On Sunday at the provincial Novice Championships at Carrigadrohid, Adam Duchnicz, Stanislaw Byczek and Conor McGrath all performed well over a testing hilly course.

A week earlier we had a big contingent at the County Novice/Masters Championships in Carraig na bhFear. Here over the 6000 meters distance Marc Dalton, Eric Owers and Adam Duchnicz led our crew home. Other good performances were produced by Stanislaw Byczek, John O’Connell, Kevin O’Reilly, Mike Hallahan, Conor McGrath and Ned Ramsell.

In the corresponding ladies race at Carraig na bhFear Sally Drennan won the Over 40 category with another excellent run whilst Joan Hough took the bronze medal in the Over 50’s. Good performances were also produced by Susan Delaney and Rose Barrett.
The next big cross country event is on our door step as the County Senior Championships will take place in Cloyne on Sunday week October 31st.

Christmas Party

Our social committee have made great progress in organising our Christmas Party Night. This year we are heading to Midleton Park Hotel on Saturday December 4th. The cost of subsidised ticket for club members is 20 euro and 39 euro for non members. This includes a three course meal, music and entertainment. All payments should be made at training to Fergal O’Meara or Marc Dalton.

Trip To Lanzarote

Close on thirty members are now on countdown for the club tour which is only a few weeks away. Again the people in the social committee have done great work in organising the event. We wish everybody well on their travels.

Midleton AC Blog and E Mail Service

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 on 087-2403940.
Also a reminder to keep an eye to the Club Notice Board at training each Wednesday night for further updates etc.

Marc Dalton has been good enough to set up a Flicker Acct. for the club and has uploaded some photos he took at the Cork -Cobh race hey can be accessed http://www.flickr.com/photos/54731306@N07/

Anyone that has photos that they want put online please e mail them to the club at midletonac@ireland.com or contact Marc at training and he will arrange it for you. It would be a good idea to save the address to your browser as he hopes to update it regularly.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/54731306@N07/


Wear Your Club Colours With Pride

Please note a large range of new Midleton A.C. clothing will be on sale at training on this Wednesday at the following subsidised prices for club members. Tracksuits €50 Raincoats €25 Beanie hats €5 Tshirts €15 and Singlets €15.

Until next time ‘keep on running’