If you participated in the 2008 Flora Womens Mini Marathon you have three opportunities to see yourself on television. So it's time to sit back, relax and try to spot yourself or your friends in Setanta's hour-long special.

The first broadcast is on this Thursday night 5th June at 9.30. It will be repeated again on Friday afternoon 6th Jun at 4.10pm and again on Sunday 6th June at 2.00pm.

Report from Maria Hehir

The maroon & white colours of Athenry AC were very visible yesterday when 13 lady members, together with over 40,000 other women, gathered in a sun drenched Dublin yesterday for the 26th Flora Mini Marathon. All of us were in good form and after months of training we were well prepared for the 10k but what we were not prepared for was the heat. There was some fun rivalry between Ann Cater & her sister Dette. Pauline Mulqueen completed her 1st 10k and for others they just wanted to complete the course in a good time. When we got to the pen for those running under 60 mins some of the girls were surprised to see how close to the start they were and were delighted.

A few minutes before the race started 5,000 red heart shaped balloons were released and the anthem of the mini marathon 'Molly Malone' was sung. Then the gun went off. The course I was familer with from previous years and took it easy from the start and kept a pace of 5min per km with Maeve but we found we had to find shelter under trees whenever we could as there was not a puff of wind about. The music was great and there was great support around the course and a few people gave us a shout when they saw the Athenry colours.

As we came to the 5km I could see Ann heading down to the 7km mark followed closely by Dette, they were in flying form. Maeve and myself still kept a steady pace and were delighted to see the fire hose to cool us down at the 7km mark. As we got to the finish we were both delighted. This year they introduced a new medal in the shape of a heart. The results I have to date are as follows

Flora Mini 10k Results 2008

Position Race Number Name Time

27 143 Ann Carter 00:40:12 3rd O' 40

37 136 Bernie Carter 00:41:09

275 405 Maeve Noone 00:50:26

282 424 Maria Hehir 00:50:30

434 440 Breege Mc Gath 00:52:48

435 422 Pauline Murray 00:52:49

461 430 Noreen Cooley 00:53:09

479 418 Ita Corcoran 00:53:22

505 407 Niamh Tierney 00:53:34

865 393 Debbie Flynn 00:56:37

889 392 Assumpta Feeney 00:56:47

2008 4146 Anne Ruane 01:04:36

2101 427 Mel Stanley 01:05:09

2501 8630 Pauline Mulqueen 01:07:46

I would just like to add a 'thank you' to Dominic from Burke's Buses for being so helpful & pleasant. We finished off the day with a lovely and well deserved meal in The Hilamer Hotel in Co. Westmeath.

Debbie Flynn

15 years 11 months ago

Just like to pay particular thanks to Maria for all her efforts in making it a great day out for all, for organising bus and ringing ahead to hotel so we could all enjoy lovely meal on arrival at The Hilamer..........much appreciated Maria!

Assumpta

15 years 11 months ago

First of all thanks to Maria for organising a wonderful day. Not easy keeping track of 16 women amongst 41,000!
The highlight of the day for me was the water-station at the 7K mark. It was a godsend. The only thing that kept me going after that was the bud-station at the 10K mark. Congrats to all that took part and for making it an enjoyable day. I'll see ye for a "jog" this evening in Dangan. The legeens are a bit heavy today for a run!

Tony Nevin

15 years 11 months ago

Well done Maria,Maeve and crew -fantastic times in the heat -What a team spirit,great to see Ann Carter returnng to form,I know it's difficult to make time in a crowd that size and in warm weather-so thats worth a minute or so off -great stuff Ann.Fantastic to see so many out in the club colours -ye are a credit to your club! one and all .

Anonymous

15 years 10 months ago

Well done to all the organisers from the various clubs on a brilliant 5k series again this year, and the weather held up for each of the six nights! Lovely finale in Dangan and Kelehans. Take a bow and we look forward to next year...lovely t shirts too!

Maeve Noone

15 years 10 months ago

Congratulations and well done to Anne Carter who came in 27th overall and 3rd in the over 40's. What an achievement , this girl is going from strength to strength.
Congratulations to all the FIt 4 Lifers who have put in regular and consistent training over the past few months for this event . For some it was there first time over this distance and to achieve this on such a hot day was brilliant.
Well done to all on a wonderful race and a wonderful day out. See ye all at training on Thursday eve.

olivia

15 years 10 months ago

Many thanks ot Maria and all the girls from Athenry AC, for letting myself (olivia), my mum and sister tag along with ye for the day. It was my first time to take part in the event, and ye made it a very memorable day out, and I certainly will be going again!!
Olivia

pauline mulqueen

15 years 10 months ago

As a novice I was somewhat surprised to find myself at that starting line as running/jogging a 10k seemed a distant dream. However with Marias constant encouragement there I was! What a fantastic atmosphere ..... the excitement waiting to start was palpable. My enthusiasm waned slightly as we jostled through the crowd for the first couple of kilometres (I was in the jogging/walking section). By the time 3k came I wondered if Id really lost all reason as surely this couldnt be natural. Maeve had lent me a spare Athenry AC vest on the bus which proved to be my downfall as each time I considered just stopping and having a nice stroll for myself some stranger would run up behind me and shout come on Athenry you can do it!!! One of whom announced she was from Craughwell (many thanks unknown friend) another encoraging shout came from a lady with very manly legs and 5 o'clock shadow! Once the water station appeared I knew I could do it, the heat was unreal and every hose I passed I ran under which revived me enough to go on. The feeling having completed was fantastic but that was nothing compared with the pride I felt at being beside the super Athenry runners for the group photos.
Maria and Maeve did a wonderful job organising a great day and making even the slowest of runners feel like a champion.

Maria H

15 years 10 months ago

Thank you girls for all your kind comments but it was down to each one of you that made the day by achieving the goals you set out for yours self’s and seen the smiles on your faces when ye crossed the finish line.
Well done to you all.

"Running is the greatest metaphor for life because you get out of it what you put into it." Oprah Winfrey.

Niamh T

15 years 10 months ago

Big thanks to Maria for organising all the details and leading us to such an enjoyable event, we had some craic! So many funny memories from the day, especially discovering that the queues for the men's loo's are always shorter but not always men free : ) A special thanks to Dominic for being an ever so patient bus driver.
In particular though, what lay the foundation for many new to running or anyone who wanted to meet, train and have the chat was the constant fit4life leadership and motivation provided by Maeve and Maria over the last few months. As a result, so many have benefited from all your help - thanks a million girls!!

Peter Delmer

15 years 10 months ago

Don't know about the rest of you but I'm running this next year! Sounds great. I'm sure Mick will lend me his lipstick.

Well done Athenry Ladies one and all. Pauline, your words are inspirational!!!