Wednesday 5th August 2009

The final evening of the graded series for 2009 took place at a warm and sunny but breezy Irishtown stadium. First up was the 200m, and there were 2 grade C races. In the 1st Sportsworld’s fastest man Conor Murphy was an impressive gun to tape winner 27.08 and would have bettered this if there was somebody to chase. In the 2nd Packie Enright made his debut at sprint events and finished third in 27.52. It wasn’t a bad result for someone with no track or speed work of any sort done, but it wasn’t a sensible decision to race either with no preparation; one based on impulse.

Next up was the 1500m girls, and Crona was a decent 4th in Grade A behind fellow national senior finalists Lorraine Manning and Azmera Gebrezgi. In a mere 18 months running Crona has climbed to a level that no one would have expected of her, and the national championship of three days beforehand was her peak of the season. As a result she looked a little tired, and maybe should be on a break from running for a few weeks. She wanted to come back this evening to try for a pb but on such a breezy evening no athlete recorded one. Hopefully she’ll be very pleased with what she’s achieved this year, it’s rare that someone of such little experience progresses so quickly, and the Brady’s enthusiasm is something we can all learn from.

Conor was back in action at the 1500m grade D and did very respectably considering that distance running is not his event. With laps of 84, two 89s and a 56 second last 300m, he was driven on by Paul Duffy’s “come on Conor, you’re dropping off” along the way! Our next club member in action was another novice who punches above his weight, Gareth Murran. Going in grade C, he’d a super race with 3 steady 73s and a last 300m in 48 seconds. He was always to the forefront of the closely knit and cautious pack, looking like a contender and was leading with 120m left. Coming round the final bend the strong wind hit him hard and he was beaten into 4th place. However he did look the part and this maybe his event to concentrate on for next year.

The race of the night was undoubtedly the star studded mens 1500m grade A, bringing together the recently crowned national 10,000m champion from Kenya (who was skulling pints three days previously may I add!), the 800m bronze medallist,steeple bronze medallist, 1500m silver medallist, 5000m 4th placer and the 800m 5th placer. In a fast race it came down to a photo finish with the 5000m US based runner getting the nod over Alan O Brien (by only one hundredth of a second), Josphat Boit also running 3:48; with the wind ruining the athletes faster times they’d hoped for.

And so it was onto long distance which is what our club members are best at in most cases, and by now both the wind and sun had died down considerably. Having raced only 15 mins earlier, Gareth was next up in the 3000m grade C which he won at ease, displaying superior fitness for this grade. Grades A & B were combined in the final race of the night. Packie struggled with poor fitness to break 10 mins with kilometres of 3:08, 3:21 and 3:30. Conor, a glutton for punishment decided for yet another race this evening, and didn’t do badly at all. However Paul was the success story of the night with a pb of around 20 seconds. At the front he was in a group of 3 or 4 Liffey Valley lads and finished in 3rd place. Well done Paul. Also well done to the organisers for putting on a great series for everyone all summer. Another year has passed, and with the exception of a few BHAA races, that’s the end of the Irish track season for 2009.

Men’s 200m, Grade C (I)
1 Conor Murphy Sportsworld A.C. 27.08

Men’s 200m, Grade C (II)
1 Eoin Bradshaw Raheny Shamrock A.C. 24.97
3 Packie Enright Sportsworld A.C. 27.52

Men’s 1500m, Grade D
1 John Healy Dundrum South Dublin A.C. 4.44.83
10 Conor Murphy Sportsworld A.C. 5.18.76

Men’s 1500m, Grade C
1 Paul Gleeson Clones A.C. 4.26.28
4 Gareth Murran Sportsworld A.C. 4.28.93

Women’s 1500m, Grade A
1 Martina Mc Carthy Athenry A.C.4.38.33
4 Crona Brady Sportsworld A.C. 4.56.93

Men’s 3000m, Grade C
1 Gareth Murran Sportsworld A.C. 9.39.67

Men’s 3000m, Grades A & B
1 Ian O’Leary Dundrum South Dublin A.C. 9.06.39
3 Paul Duffy Sportsworld A.C. 9.10.57
8 Packie Enright Sportsworld A.C. 9.59.42
9 Conor Murphy Sportsworld A.C. 11.53.12

Race Report By
Packie Enright

Tuesday July 7th Lord Mayor 2m Road Series # 4, Raheny

Packie Enright was the only red & white representative at the 4th round of the Lord Mayor Series and duly came 3rd out of around 50 people in total. Conditions were fresh & breezy but nice & dry. The harmless low key race comprising mainly of veterans, average club runners, triathletes, BHAA members & general fitness enthusiasts was a slow tactical one with many running negative or even splits. The series takes place on the same quiet housing estate as the National Road Relays, except instead of being 2 full laps it finishes back a smidgen from where it started (as the course is 1620m or just 11m longer than a mile).

After a slow 1st mile (5.24) Enright was at the back of a bunch of 10. The pace picked up significantly then by the leaders, & Enright passed lads that went out too hard; moving up to 6th with 600m left & 5th with 400m to go. The clareman outsprinted the next 2 in the last 150m with one of them fighting back in a mighty ding dong, both runners credited with the same time (10.45). Enright left it too late to catch the first 2, won by the ageless ox Mick Traynor in 10.31. It was a mediocre time for Enright’s 1st race in over 10 wks and there was a definite lack of sharpness & simple ability to distance run at 5 min pace.

Then it was back to the clubhouse for tea & biscuits, and the organisers are well known for their hospitality along with knowledge of athletics. The prize on offer was
a beautiful poetry book written by Raheny club member Ciaran O Coigligh comprising of a poem about many club members printed in both English and Irish. It’s available in most reputable book stores for €10 and is well worth a look!

Full Results.

Report by
Packie Enright

Wednesday July 15th Graded meeting No. 7 in Morton stadium, Santry

On Wednesday last July 15th, three of our athletes took part in Graded meeting No. 7 in Morton stadium, Santry

First in action was Conor Murphy in the 100m. Conor ran strongly to take 5th place in his grade in a time of 13.09.

Ronan Kearns, returning from injury, ran a strong race in the 800m to finish in 2.04.98. Well done Ronan.

Next up was the ladies 3000m where we were represented by Crona Brady on her first outing over the distance. Crona put in a fantastic performance, staying in the leading group for the majority of the race to finish 7th in a high quality race in an excellent 10.28. Crona competes in the 800m at the IMC meet on Saturday
July 25th.

Paul Duffy and Conor Murphy competed in the men’s 3000m, with Paul running very close to his pb finishing sixth in 9.34.82. Unfortunately Conor had to pull out at the half way mark due to a hamstring injury picked up in the 100m.

Next race is the Irish Milers Club’s final meeting of the season in Irishtown on Saturday July 24th starting at 6pm. This is the final track race before the National track and field championships to be held in Santry on Saturday and Sunday August 1st and 2nd. So if you are around the bank holiday weekend come out and watch and support!

Full Results.

Report by
Aoife Brady

Tuesday July 21st Lord Mayor 2m Road Series # 5, Raheny

Over 50 runners attended the 5th round of the Lord Mayor 2m road series in a bright and breezy Raheny on Tuesday July 21st, and again Sportsworld came away in the prizes thanks to a brilliant display by our Helen. While she normally competes as an F40, this time she was good enough for 2nd place in the senior category less than 10 seconds behind senior champion Catriona Hooper who won in 11:45. On the day she beat the series F40 victor Mary McDermott by a minute. So well done Helen.

Sportsworld was also represented by Packie Enright who came 7th in 10:53. Enright, who didn’t venture out of bed all of last week because of food poisoning, wasn’t
expecting to beat his 10:45 from 2 weeks ago; but at least he got to collect his racing shoes which he left behind on that occasion! Now who said Dublin was a bad place for crime?

At the sharp end it was a 2 horse race between the legendary veteran Mick Traynor and national senior indoor 3000m champ and outdoor 1500m silver medalist Richie Corcoran. The pair went through the mile in 4:50 with the former being strong enough to run an impressive 9:46. The latter was unable to hang on but to be fair is only 5 wks back running mileage after a stress fracture, which has ended the Villanova
graduate’s genuine ambitions to become this year’s national senior outdoor
metric mile champ.

Full Results.

Report By
Packie Enright

Wednesday 1st July had the Dublin Graded No.6 track meeting in Irishtown on a perfect summers evening. Poor Lorraine Manning of Raheny had a tough time as she faced Aoife Brady on stunning form in the 3000m race. Unfortunately there was not much competition for Aoife to help push the pace but she still managed by herself to do a brilliant time of 9.35 betting her PB. Lorraine then had to face an ever improving Crona in the mile, with Crona pushing Lorraine for the first couple of laps and finished up in an excellent 3rd in 5.12. Lucky for Lorraine Paul Duffy is the only triplet in the club.

We had new club member Conor Murphy who is really relishing the track season taking part in all the events (400m, 3000m and mile) and still managing a sprint finish in each one. Paul Duffy who after winning the C grade a couple of weeks ago could of taken the easy option of running grade C again but took the tough decision to move up a grade to B and did a great run in a tough field of 4.50 for the mile .

I managed to avoid track races up to now but Packie did a brilliant report on what is involved in the graded track races a few weeks ago so I had to give it a try. I went for grade C in the mile and just told myself its just a lap and a bit of the top lap in Bushy park we do for warm up but without the dogs, dog owners with 20meter nearly invisible leashes, walkers, tree roots and the distraction of the girls doing aerobics. Racing on the track is tough but no tougher then the Tuesday training session and there is something about the track when your body and brain tells you can’t keep the pace the group drags you along.

Having watched all the races yesterday there are a load of people in the club who are doing brilliant training sessions on Tuesdays and would out class a lot of the club runners in the Graded races. There are 2 more chances to do Graded track races this year(check Packie’s report in the Graded section) or we also have training sessions on Saturday mornings if people want to see what it’s like running on the track and what their times are like. Considering some of the marathons, half marathons, cross country races, meet and train races in the rain and mountain runs people have done track racing in the sunshine is a breeze.

Big thanks to Eoin, Dave and Myles who came out to Irishtown and gave great support during the races.

Conor Murphy 400m 57.36
Conor Murphy 3000m 11.16
Conor Murphy mile 5.38

Paul Duffy 1 mile 4.50

Aoife Brady 3000m 9.35

Crona Brady 1 mile 5.12

Michael Cunningham 1 mile 4.46

Full results and photos.

Report By
Michael Cunningham

The Brady sisters were to the fore in a very competitive ladys 1500. Aoife won comfortably in 4.36. The ever-improving Crona ran strongly in the pack, coming in 9th in 4.55.

The men’s 1500 started with the D race. Colm McCarthy took off like the proverbial clappers, opening up a 20 metre lead after the first lap. He maintained this gap until the last lap, when a combination of tiredness and strong finishing from the athlete behind denied him victory. A fine run nonethess (4.42) and Colm should certainly be comfortable in the C grade next time around.

Next up was Paul Duffy in the 1500 C. Paul ran strongly in an unfamiliar event. He battled well and finished in the pack in an impressive 4.32. More to come from the club’s fastest improving athlete.

Well if Paul O’Connell was a novice to the 1500, he could have fooled me. Maintaining second for most of the race and seemed to be tiring with a lap to go. Then, from nowhere the trademark burst of speed kicked in on the back straight. Second and third were left for dead in a matter of metres and Paul cruised home in 4.14.

Then it was left to the old horse (yours truly)to reaquaint himself with with the sacred santry track. The 5000m wasn’t as packed as usual. It was one in a fine 15.08 by James McFadden. With 2nd and 3rd sewn up, it was left to my old adversary Michael Frehilly and I to decide 4th. It was a good old ding dong as we took turns onwind-shielding duty. With 400 metres to go I went for broke and just held him off, finishing in 15.44.

Full results and Graded Track & Field Info.

Report By
Phil Kilgannon

Also on the June Bank Holiday Monday saw an impressive Sportsworld contingent set out in sweltering conditions in the Womens Mini Marathon. An epic sight of a field of 40,000 took on the 10km course. Those of us spectating were melting in the heat so it must have been akin to running in a cauldron for the competitors. Congratulations to everyone who took part and even more so to the club member’s who braved the hot weather, basked in the sun and cheered the club on. Out of the huge field Sportsworld had Lucy D’Arcy, Helen White, Kathleen O’Callaghan, Stephanie Bergin all finishing in the top 50. See the Photos Menu for pictures of the great day.

Up in the hills and far away a steady stream of Sportworld runners have been competing in the Irish Mountain Races in all weather conditions. Recent events have included the Powerscourt 6km uphill race, Corrig Mountain and Prince Williams Seat where Colm Kennedy, Paul Mitchell & Jakub Splawski all had top 30 finishes.

Also Best of luck to the Sportsworld Wicklow Way Relay Team this Saturday, 5th of June. Colm Kennedy (a 7am start!!!), Paul O’Connell, Ciara Foster, Liam McFadden, Helen White, Paul Mitchell, Ed McEntee and Paul Duffy are competing in a staggering 105km relay event across some wild terrain. Race report to follow.