Top Distance Runners Converge on Charleville

Some of the best distance runners in the country are to compete at the Cavanaghs Charleville Half Marathon this Sunday 18th of September at 10am over a course between Charleville and Kilmallock. North Cork AC, the organising club are getting great assistance from the communities in both towns and their neighbouring club Kilmallock AC to put on an event which will do the area proud. The event overall looks like it will be very popular with runners of all levels of ability due to the flat nature of the course which allows runners to set fast times. This flat characteristic is very important for some of the top runners competing as some of them are putting the finishing touches to their preparations for the National Half Marathon next month in Dublin. The performances of these runners in Dublin will influence whether they will be selected for next years London Olympics so there is a lot weighing on the next couple of weeks and their result at this event.

Top Ranked Men

Alan O’Shea, former Cork Marathon champion and recently third in the national half marathon is one of the favourites along with Vinny Mulvey of Dublin who is a multiple national title holder over the long distances on the track, road and cross country. Both athletes are rounding into good shape after spells away from normal training due to injury and work commitments. There are also a number of other top male distance runners such as Gary O Hanlon from Clonliffe Harriers in Dublin and Rory McDonnell of Dunboyne AC who both finished in the top ten of the national half marathon recently. Philip Harty from Waterford now running for Donore Harriers is another one who is coming back into shape and improving week by week, therefore with all these runners on the upward curve, we could have some really impressive times if the weather holds out. Feidhlim Kelly of Raheny Shamrocks who normally competes over 1500m is stepping up in distance to the Half marathon for the first time and could be the surprise package on the day of the race and upset some of the other invaders from the Dublin area. Cillian O Leary, also from Raheny Shamrocks AC but originally from Ballincollig in Cork has been struggling with injury recently but hopefully running in his own county will help motivate him to be able to pick up his form on the day. If all runners are healthy on the day we could have at least six or seven of the men under the 70 minute mark.

High Number of Entries

Despite the fact that there has been three popular half marathons held in Munster over the past two weeks, the number of entries for this race, in its first year of existence are impressive and are set to exceed 400 entries on the day if normal entry trends are anything to go by. The number of relay team entrants will also swell the field with over 40 teams expected to compete on the day. The relay teams are made up of 2, 3 and 4 person teams of male and female runners. There are a number of prize categories for Corporate, Sports teams, Family teams and other mixed teams of people. Overall it should be a fun day out for everyone and very satisfying for individual runners looking for a good course on country roads. Entries can still be completed online at www.runireland.com until Saturday and registration for individual runners will be available on Sunday morning. Details about the race and a map of the course can be found on www.ballyhouraActive.com or on the Cork Running Blog. For further details contact race director Michael Herlihy on 086 3168954 or email charlevillehalf@gmail.com


DIARY DATES –
Club Members are asked to note the following dates –

Thursday September 22nd
Committee Meeting at O Meara’s Bar – 8.30pm

Wednesday September 28th
Open Night at Midleton Community Centre – 7pm to 8pm

Monday October 3rd
First Training Session of Autumn Season at Midleton College – 6pm

Wednesday October 5th
First Indoor Training Session of Autumn at Midleton Community Centre
Beginners 6pm
Regular Training 7pm

Saturday November 5th
Captain’s 4 Mile Handicap Run at Walshtown Wood 4pm
(Confined to registered Club members )

Regards
John Cashman