Midleton AC Senior Section 30.05.11

by Peter Gunning - Joint P.R.O

The fourth week in May heralds the arrival of the Ballycotton 5 Mile Road race series. Last week in Ballyandreen the first of the four races took place with 73 of the 500 finishers wearing the white, green and black of Midleton AC. Marc Dalton in 29:41 led our men’s team home with both Kevin Smith 30:14 and Adam Duchnicz 31:07 already well-placed on the leader board. Ann Geary 34:21 again continues to impress finishing just ahead of club captain Sally Drennan. Breda Cahill finished in a very creditable 35:00 with Marian Aherne chasing her down in 35:46. Michael Furlong came in at 31:48 to finish as fourth junior. Next race in this series takes place in Shanagarry on Thursday 23rd June.

The focus this fortnight is on the Cork City Marathon which takes place on Monday next 6th June Peter Gunning hopes to build on his Rotterdam experience as he lines up for the main event with both Mary B Walsh and Ned Ramsell. Several club members will also compete in both the half-marathon and in the team relays. Among them is triathlete, Colm Egan who will take on the 13.1 miles alongside Claire Fitzgerald, Sandra Bohan and Yvonne Kennedy. Surely the prize for the best named relay team must go to that Midleton AC foursome, Ann Savage, Mags Mulcahy, Barbara O’Connor and Mary Jo Keane who will run under the banner “Guess Who’s the Granny!” Ladies, we can’t! Give us a clue... ! Good luck to all involved in the race and please email your own marathon stories to John for inclusion on the blog.

Speaking of marathons, gremlins prevented the publication of the last set of notes which had included a tribute to Sean O’Sullivan who clocked 3:36 in Boston. Sean has now run in four of the five world majors with solid previous runs in New York, Chicago and Boston. London is calling in 2012 for Sean to complete the quintet. Another well-merited bouquet goes to the quiet man from the north, Jim Boyle who broke 3:30 for the first time in the nearer to home but equally challenging Limerick Marathon. Gentlemen take a bow and accept the admiration of your running colleagues.

Take a bow also ultra-marathon man, Denis Kelleher who ran in this year’s Newry City Marathon and to Mary Toher who tackled the gruelling Burren Marathon on 21st May. Keep the applause going for Tom Cody and Capt. Edmund O’Sullivan who led our prize winners at the recent Eagle AC Cheetah Run in Fota where Elga Ryan was one of many of our runners who posted a four mile pb. Thankfully all are runners returned home fully-limbed.

Next BHAA event is on Tuesday 31st May on the Marina, the John Buckley 5km. Meanwhile training continues each Monday 6pm at the CBS and Tuesday from the community centre, 6pm and 7pm.

Until the next time .... coimead ag rith!

Message From Fergal O'Meara - Social Committee

The Social Club are organising the away trip 2011 to Wexford this year. There is a 10k race close to Wexford town on Sat evening the 10th September. Check it out on www.kilmore10k.com. We have been in contact with The Maldron Hotel in Wexford and they have reserved twin rooms for us for Friday 9th & Saturday 10th September. This hotel is a good option as they have full leisure facilities inc a swimming pool.
They can offer us 2 x nights B&B including an evening meal on one of the nights for €89 per person sharing. The evening meal is 3 courses with 3/4 choices on each course. Also full use of the leisure facilities and they have live entertainment on the Fri and Sat nights in the bar. Fairly good value!

We will start collecting names and deposits over the next few weeks and more details on travel and club subsidy to follow.


Press Release RE Ballyhoura Series - Starts On Friday

Doneraile Debut for 2011 Ballyhoura Active Series of Runs & Walks

Last year over a thousand people participated in the seven events in this series which took place during the summer and autumn months. This year it is hoped that this number will increase significantly given the positive reviews that all the events got. The series of road runs and walks are specifically targeted at increasing participation in the Ballyhoura region because in the past number of years, despite an overall increase in these types of events nationally, there was a noticeable decrease in events taking place in rural areas such as Ballyhoura.

Ballyhoura Fáilte in association with local athletic clubs have helped organise this series to increase the level of publicity for these events and to give all the events a collective boost being part of a series such as this. This year there are nine events spread across the four months from June to September. The first event is a 5km through the quiet scenic surroundings of Doneraile Park which takes place on June 3rd at 8pm. It will provide a great kick start to what will be a great variety of events in different communities across the region.

The nature of all the events except the half-marathon is that they are accessible to most with a basic level of fitness and the entry fee is usually small. Even the half-marathon has a relay event so teams of people can cover the distance over four legs of 5km or other variations of the distance. There is always a nice friendly atmosphere at each of the races and the post-race refreshments/prize-giving.

This is a great way for anyone who wants to try out running or walking an event for the first time to get a taste for the sport and what’s involved. It is also a chance to meet with people from the local athletic club and see about joining them to improve your running abilities. For those who are intimated and afraid of finishing last or being too slow, then they should be aware that most of the races are organised to cater for walkers and beginner runners, so they should not worry in this regard.

The Doneraile 5km race is probably the ideal easy start to the series since it is within the enclosed traffic free surroundings of the park and it is run over a mixture of tarmac and trail surfaces. It is only 5 Euro to enter on the evening at Nagle Rice Secondary School who has kindly allowed the use of their facilities. It is recommended that people arrive early, at least an hour before the 8pm start to get parking, which will be outside the entrance to the park and to get entered. The race this year is named the Dan Byrne Memorial 5km by Mallow AC in memory of one of their members who passed away last year. All proceeds will be donated to charity.

The following is a list of all the races in the Ballyhoura ACTIVE series of Road races and walks;

Friday 3rd June 8pm – Doneraile Park Dan Byrne Memorial 5km Trail Race - Mallow AC



Friday 17th June 8pm – Ger Mullane Memorial Bilboa 10k – Bilboa AC



Monday 4th July 8pm - Dromcollogher Festival 4 mile Road Race - West Limerick AC



Sunday 10th July 12pm - Kilworth Army Camp 5 mile Road Race - Grange Fermoy AC



Friday 5th August 8pm - GR8KM Road Race Mitchelstown - Galtee Runners AC



Saturday 13th August 7pm – Kilteely Festival 5 mile Road Race – Kilteely CC & Bilboa AC



Friday 26th August 7pm – Kilfinane Festival 5 mile road race – Kilfinane AC



Friday 2nd September 7pm - Liscarroll Tom Fitzpatrick Memorial 10km Road Race - Liscarroll AC



Sunday 18th September 10am – Charleville Half-Marathon & HM Relay(4x5km) – North Cork AC



Anyone who completes 5 of the first 8 races will receive a high quality technical t-shirt. For further updates on the series go to; www.ballyhouracountry.com/events or contact Michael Herlihy Ballyhoura Fáilte Outdoor Recreation Officer; Email; mherlihy@ballyhoura.org Phone; 086 3168954 or contact him on the Ballyhoura ACTIVE facebook page.