Well done to everyone that took part in last nights 5k - brilliant stuff all round.  The next big event for the club happens on Friday evening at 6PM (7PM Irish time) when Gerry Ryan takes on the best that Europe has to offer over 10 kilometers of Czech roads.  We all know how brilliant Gerry is, but it won't be easy to get a medal, even for him.  He's at the top end of his age category and there are over 681 competitors arriving from 28 countries, including as per the website:

"28 European Federations will be represented by its athletes.
Germany will send 183 athletes, Czech Republic 160, Switzerland 43, Italy 38, Ukraine 34."

The program for the event is here:

http://www.evaa.ch/files/brozura-1.pdf 

Having only decided to do this at the road relays last month, Gerry has been training hard since in preparation and said on Saturday night "whoever beats me will have to work for it, I won't be giving anything away easily".

All the very best of luck Gerry!

We have the weather on our side today (as promised !!! ) for all travelling to Craughwell tonight for the 4th leg of the Galway 2013 5k series. Here is some information for tonight’s race.

The race starts outside Craughwell National School @ 8:00pm sharp.

The school is situated 800 meters from St. Michael’s hall on the Galway side of the level crossing.

Parking is limited, so please carpool if at all possible. 

Parking is permitted at the church in the village and at St. Michael’s Hall.

No parking along the Athenry road.

Please use common sense and park safely without obstructing traffic. 

There will be a number of portaloo's available at the start line.

Enjoy the race!

Craughwell AC.

Provisional results of yesterday's competition are here. I will add the electronic times once they are made available.

Well done to everyone on another great day for the club. I will update with a full report on the club's performance later tonight or tomorrow.

Hi folks, Gerry Ryan is heading to the European road champs next week and would like a hard fast race over 5k.  I'll time anyone through 3k or 5k on the track on Saturday night at 6PM if they would like to send him on his way. Great, free chance for a pb - challengers of all levels welcome - a prize to anyone that can beat the great man to 3k or 5k!  

This week's (14th May 2013) leg of the Galway 5k series sees us travel to Loughrea. The start line is just past Gaelscoil Riabhach, just off the Gort Road. It starts at 8pm so see you all on the starting line. Car pool if possible as parking is limited.

We would also like to congratulate our senior club registrar Mairead Lane on her recent engagement to Eamon Ryan.  Wishing ye both best wishes for the future. 

 

Provisional results of today's championships are attached here.

A big thank you to everyone who helped out on the day and to the sponsors Avaya. It was good to see so many clubs there, in particular Corrib AC who I think were participating in this event for the first time.

And a big well done to the Craughwell athletes who had a marvellous day. There were many many highlights and I will get a report up together with photographs as soon as possible.

 

Craughwell ICA ladies are holding their 2nd annual charity 5k walk/run in aid of NBCRI (Breast Cancer Research) this Sunday May 12th. Registration will take place at 2.30pm in St. Michael's Hall, Craughwell and the walk/run will start at 3pm. Why not bring the family and enjoy a lovely 5k walk in aid of a great charity. All donations are welcome on the day. *Please note this is not measured and there is no official timing or results*.

I counted over 50 Craughwell Ac athletes line out for the 2nd leg of the Galway 5k series in Claregalway last Tuesday evening. Johnny Lane was the first Cruaghwell man over the finish line in a time of 17.00 on the button followed by Niall Callanan and Barry Phelan.  Anne Moran was the first Craughwell lady home in a time of 22.14 followed by Treasa Gannon and Niamh Flavin.  Again it was great to see so many Craughwell AC members out

Craughwell's order of Malta are holding a table quiz in Cawley's Lounge Craughwell this Friday night 10th May at 9pm.  Entry fee is just €5 per person. All are welcome to support

The provisional timetable for next Sunday's track and field is attached here.

Best of luck to the large number of Craughwell AC athletes who will be taking part!

There was a good turnout on Saturday afternoon for the 2013 Craughwell Community Games, particularly in the younger ages. Many thanks to the hurling club for the use of Gilligan Park for the event. Results of the events which were run off on Saturday are below. The remaining events will be run off this week and relay teams will be finalised at training sessions during the week.

This weekend sees over 25 Craughwell AC members taking to the streets of Limerick to take part in either the full, half or 10k run through Limerick City.  We would like to wish each and every one of you running in Limerick tomorrow the very best of luck, especially to Tony Nevin who is running his 25th Marathon tomorrow.  For those of you around Limerick after the tomorrow’s run, call into the Royal George, just up from the finish line after 2.30pm to meet up where there will be some presentations. Happy Running to you all. Looking forward to reading some race reports on it next week. 

Great article on the legendary Gerry Ryan in this week's Connacht Tribune as he prepares for his assault on the European Masters Road Championships in the Czech Republic later this month.

It promises to be a busy few weekends for juvenile athletes and coaches over the next month with

• Craughwell Community Games taking place this Saturday 4th May at 4pm
• Ardrahan Community Games on this Monday 5th May
• Oranmore Community Games taking place next Wednesday 8th May at 6pm
• Clarinbridge Community Games contact Ann Moran
• Avaya Galway U9-11 track & field championships on Sunday 12th May in Dangan
• Connacht Secondary Schools track & field finals on Thursday 16th May in Athlone
• Avaya Galway U12-19 track & field on Sunday 19th May in Dangan
• National Community Games cross country on 25/26 May
• Irish Secondary Schools track & field on Sat 1 June
• Galway Community Games finals on Sun/Mon 2/3 June
• the list goes on !!

 

If you will be going to the u9-11 championships on Sunday week and have never been to Dangan, here's how to get there:-

• drive in past Terryland shopping centre and turn right at the roundabout onto the new bridge
• continue through the traffic lights after you cross the river
• turn right at the next roundabout, heading for Moycullen
• turn left at the T-junction (Westwood Hotel), heading towards Moycullen
• after 100m take the right turn (a small lane) into the Dangan sports complex
• there is a car-park on the left and one further down at the sports centre
• the track is on the right hand side on the way down to the sports centre

 

Here's a snippet from "Galway in the Days Gone By" from this week's Connacht Tribune for the year 1988 to help you recognise Dangan :-)

"New sports centre: Construction work on the new £1.5 million regional sports centre at Dangan will begin before the end of the year, according to Assistant County Manager, Mr. Donal O'Donoghue. The centre will contain an ultra-modern synthetic running track, a pitch plus various other athletic facilities, will have spectator capacity for about 10,000 people, with possibly two main stands running on opposite sides of the track. There will also be carparking for over 600 cars."

Some omissions from the above article:-

• the "two main stands running on opposite sides of the track" were actually built over at Terryland on the opposite side of the river and at Pearse Stadium - so bring your binoculars if you want to use the stands!
• get in early because if there are 9,999 spectators in before you, you will have difficulty getting a good view of the track
• the carparking for over 600 cars requires cars to be stacked on top of each other, we're looking for volunteer stackers on the day

 

Ah, sorry to be making a joke of the vision, Dangan is a fine facility, they just didn't deliver fully to the vision stated in above article. It could use a bit of shelter though so if there is a hint of rain, bring a couple of brollies for yourself and your athletes.

Dangan last Tuesday - not quite but close enough!!

In windy track conditions, athletes from the club put in some exceptional performances at the South Connacht Schools Track & Field Championships in Dangan - none more so that our middle/long distance group of boys who dominated their events from 400m to 3000m.

The tone for the day was set early on when Nicholas Sheehan took to the track for the Intermediate Boys 800m.

 

Want to enter a race with a difference???

Well why not enter the Ballindine Guess your time race which takes place on Saturday 18th May 2013 from Ballindine Community Centre at 7pm in support of Western Alzheimers.  This is a race with a twist, the first person cross the finish line could be the last. All participants will predict their race time in advance of the run.  The winner is determined by whose time is closest to their predicted time. No watches, headphones, or any timing devices allowed. Entry is on €15 on www.runireland.com.  €300 cash prize fund. Enquiries to David Huane on 0879272242.  Measured Course –AAI Permitted, Fit – 4- Life Welcome - Spot prizes.  Race winners over Last 4 years include Stephen Finnigan Sligo AC (2012), Brendan Monaghan Tuam AC (2011), Michael Walsh Craughwell AC (2010), David Mullins Tuam AC (2009).

And it’s off… The first leg of the Galway 5k series started off on a glorious evening in Athenry along a new route last Tuesday evening 30th April 2013.

An ideal evening for running, brought more than 600 athletes from all corners of the county to The Roads of Athenry, with over 50 Craughwell AC athletes line up on the start line. Johnny Lane was the first Craughwell man to cross the finish line in a time of 17.13, followed by Barry Phelan and Eddie Corban. The first Craughwell AC woman to cross the finish line was Ann Moran followed by Irene Spellman and Ann Kelly. 

Congrats and well done to all who ran the first leg of this years 5k series in Athenry on such a lovely evening. 

Results can be found on http://www.redtagtiming.com/results/Galway5km2013_1_Athenry.pdf

Craughwell Community Games will take place this Saturday May 4th at 3pm in the main hurling field. Children can take part in the following events in each age group. 

Preschool: 20m
U6s: 40m
U8s: 60m & 80m
U10s: 100m, 200m & hurdles
U12s: 100m, 600m, ball throw & long puck (boys)
U14s: 100m, 800m, hurdles, long jump, shot putt & long puck (girls)
U16s: 100m, 1500m, javelin, discus & high jump

I will update this information with a more detailed schedule later in the week.

    Conor Duggan at the Leevale Open Track & Field   A small group of athletes took part in the prestigious Leevale Track & Field in Cork recently. Conor Duggan was in flying form in the sprints where he took gold in the U17 100m hurdles, bronze in the U17 100m in an impressive 11.55 and placed 6th in the U20 200m in a time of 24.42.    Damien O’Boyle placed 7th in the U20 1500m in a time of 4.18.68 with Jamie Fallon-Spellman in 8th in 4.19.99. Damien also recorded an impressive time of 6.56.89 to take silver n the 2k steeplechase. John Cormican took 6th place in the U20 800m in 2.06.09. Sineád Treacy placed 3rd in the B final of the U20 Women’s 200m in 27.22 with Tara McNally 4th in 27.52.   The above times were all achieved in quite windy conditions with headwinds of -3 in some cases.