Poulmucka 8k
On Friday evening last there was a field of 170 athletes for the annual 8k race in Poulmucka. Some very fast times were recorded on a beautiful summer's evening. The ladies' race was won by the great Caitriona Mc Kiernan from Cavan who was on a visit to Clonmel for a Chi Running workshop on Saturday. Caitriona recorded a time of 29:05 and second place went to Angela McCann (Clonmel). Third and fourth places in the ladies' race were filled by Carrick AC runners. Martina O' Dwyer came home in 30:09 and Claire Annan finished in 32:16. Ann Cronin took second prize in the O/45 category with a time of 40:12 and Susan Collins returned to race action with a time of 50:18.
The men's race was won by Sandis Bralitis (West Waterford AC) in an impressive 25:43 with Kevin Moore (Dundrum) in second place. Carrick AC's first finisher was Patrick Roche in fifth place (28:47), continuing in his fantastic recent form. Next Carrick AC finisher was the very consistent Tommy Falconer in ninth place (29:30).Brendan Cronin (30:48) and James Fox (31:42) were our next two finishers and their points, added to Patrick's and Tommy's, meant that the team prize went to Carrick AC.Michael Freaney (36:42), Sean O'Donovan (36:50) and Gordon Collins (39:16) all enjoyed very good runs also. Well done to all our runners.
Champion Kiely 5k in Ballyneale
The village of Ballyneale, just outside Carrick-on-Suir, will be the venue for the Champion Kiely 5k road race on Friday of next week, June 8th. In a change to the usual race schedule, this will be the first of the four races in the Outfield Sports Three Counties Challenge, a series which is now in its sixth year and goes from strength to strength. The race will get underway at 7:30pm. The very fast, flat course offers a great opportunity to achieve a personal best time for the 5km. Race entries (€10) will be taken at the Community Hall in Ballyneale from 6:15pm.Chip timing will be used to ensure the accurate recording of every participant's time.Registration for the four-race series (which will also include the Carraig Hotel Deadman's '5', the AutoPower Rathgormack '5' and the MorrisOil.ie Piltown 10k) can be completed on the night for €35.This facility is also available on runireland.com up to Friday, June 8th.This race has traditionally attracted very large fields of runners and race organiser Cornelius MacFadden is confident that Friday week will continue this trend.
The 'Champion Kiely' honours the great Olympian, Tom Kiely, who was born at Curraghdobbin, Ballyneale in 1869. It was in the 'All-Round' event, the equivalent of the modernday decathlon, that Tom excelled.He resisted offers from the American and British teams and paid his own fare to St. Louis, Missouri for the 1904 Olympic Games to represent his native country. In those days all ten events in the competition were held on the same day.Conditions on July 4th, 1904 were atrocious with strong winds and driving rain making life very difficult for the athletes. However, Tom accumulated over 6000 points to become Olympic Champion.A beautiful memorial to Tom was erected in 1978 opposite Ballyneale Church.Fittingly, runners will pass within yards of this memorial during the Champion Kiely race, almost 108 years after his outstanding achievement.
Clashmore '5'
Our club's sole representative at the Clashmore '5' mile road race on Friday evening last was Teresa Cunningham. Teresa put in a fine run over this difficult course to record a time of 35:54 which made her the fourth lady to finish and secured first prize in the O/40 category.