Weather Is The Big Winner

Unfortunately the weather was the big winner over Christmas and the New Year period with many sporting events falling by the way. As we extend Happy New Year to all our members and friends we do so with a rather briefer bulletin that anticipated before Christmas.

The Belgooly ‘4’ Mile and the Mallow AC ‘10’were the big two race casualties of the holiday period. Last Sunday’s postponement of the Mallow 10 Miler was a big blow to the organisers as it was the third occasion that they have been forced to pull the plug on this land mark fixture. Over 550 entries had been received for the race and although the inclement weather had restricted training for most athletes there was no doubt that many from our club were eagerly looking forward to getting a 10 mile behind them early in the season.

As for a likely re-arrangement? At the time of going to press no announcement has been made. A number of options were instantly though of but with a full road fixture schedule and also lots of cross country action on the immediate agenda, finding an alternative on the AAI list is no easy task. Keep an eye to our Midleton AC blog or check the Mallow AC web site for progress reports.

Bandon ‘5’

The Bandon ‘5’ miler on January 2nd ironically had almost perfect running conditions and some of the Midleton AC crew certainly laid down a major early season marker. Amongst our star performers were Noel O’Regan who ran 28:14, Kevin Smith who clocked 28:43 and Marc Dalton who recorded a personal best of 29:32. This is serious early season running and suggests this trio have a major season ahead. Well done guys!
John O’Connell, Peter Gunning, Donie O’Connell, Danny McCarthy, Olive Hallihan, Colm Jordan and Mary Toher also enjoyed good performances.

Incidentally on the previous day Mary had taken the Over 50 prize in the Beaufort 10K in Kerry a race in which Denis Kelleher also had a good run. Denis is already gearing his preparations towards an Ultra Marathon in Connemara.

3K Continues

The East Cork AC 3K continues to attract big numbers with the latest fixture having taken place last week. Here John Hennessy was in brilliant form following a return from foreign shores as he crossed the line in 10:21. John O’Connell was another man to hit top form in 10:57 with Adam Duchnicz also setting a personal best when finishing in 11:03. Eric Owers, Eugene McCarthy, Kevin O’Reilly and Mike Hallihan also produced big performances.

Overall as always there was a huge Midleton AC representation in this race with others such as Paul Kierans, Claire Fitzgerald, Caroline Fletcher, Frances Maunsell, Camilla O’Connor, Marie Megan and Collette Barry making a favourable impression.
(As always as P.R.O I would be delighted to hear from any of our athletes who produce personal best or satisfying times). Abandon the modesty tag for the New Year and let me know!

There are just two remaining races in this year’s 3K Series. Race 6 is next on the list on January 25. Remember to qualify for a long sleeve tees shirt you must compete in 5 of the 7 races.

Shanagarry Survives

The Shanagarry 5K survived on Christmas Eve – just about! After the initial postponement a week earlier a few hardy souls relinquished the last minute shopping for the 5K race. Midleton AC had a strong representation and it was the aforementioned John Hennessy who grabbed the headlines as our first senior club finisher in 5th overall, recording 17:37 in the process.

Owen O’Connell and John O’Connell also had excellent outings whilst Kevin Cooney also had a very satisfying run as he begins to focus on an early summer marathon in Scotland. Local man Billy O’Sullivan made the most of his home ground with a very steady show, whist it was also great to see one of our newcomers Alan Kelleher complete his first race over the distance.

Membership

Membership for 2011 is now due. The annual sub’ of 30 euro may be paid at any training session at Monday or Wednesday training during the month of January. February will see a special training night to promote our club merchandise whilst the month will also see a club meeting to fill various positions. (Specific dates to follow in the near future)

Looking Ahead
Fingers crossed, we will have a full fixture list over the next few weeks, beginning with next Saturday’s Waterford AC Half Marathon which commences at the Regional Sports Centre at 12 noon. The following weekend will see the start of the BHAA fixtures with the FMC ‘4’ in Little Island – don’t forget to get your BHAA membership sent in advance. You can download the necessary application form from the Cork BHAA website.

Dungarvan ‘10’ – Pre Entry Only

Just a final reminder that this year’s Quantum Life Dungarvan ‘10’ Mile Race on Sunday January 30th is by pre entry only and the closing date is next Monday January 17th. Check the West Waterford Ac web site for up to the minute news. You can enter the race via their web site.

Midleton AC Key Contacts

Again we would like to highlight especially to new members the many ways of keeping in touch with club info and ongoing running details.
Just check www.midletonathleticclub.blogspot.com for all regular updates. 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.


In the meantime we close with the immediate fixture list and as always an invitation to ‘keep on running’.

Road Fixtures

Saturday January 15th – Waterford City Half Marathon – 12 noon – 086-0879790
Monday 17th – Dungarvan ‘10’ CUT OFF DATE
Sunday January 23rd – FMC 4 Mile Race – Little Island – 11am – 021-4292509
Sunday January 23rd – Colligan Cup- 5 Mile – Dungarvan – 2pm – 086-8184762
Tuesday January 25th – East Cork 3K – Race 6 – 7.30pm
Sunday January 30th – Munster Series – Dungarvan 10 Mile – 1pm – 086-8184762
Sunday February 13th – BHAA Cross Country – Beaumount – 11am – 087-9790806
Sunday February 13th – Mealagh Valley – 10 Mile Race – Bantry -
Tuesday February 15th – East Cork 3K – Race 7 – 7.30pm
Sunday February 20th – Carrigaline 5 Mile – 11am – 087-6261178
Sunday February 27th – ESB – Fota Island Hotel 5K – 11am – 086-1091782
Sunday March 6th – 34th Ballycotton 10 Mile – 1.30pm