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On September the 28th next Loughrea AC will celebrate their 40th anniversary by hosting their annual road race which will once more be over the classic distance of 5 miles. Not content with hosting one of the best races West of the Shannon the Loughrea club will also organise a seminar entitled "Success in Middle and Long-Distance Running" on the evening before the race (27th September) at 6.00pm. They've assembled an absolutely stellar panel of contributors for the seminar which takes place in the Loughrea Hotel & Spa (http://www.loughreahotelandspa.com/). Such an august gathering of distance running talent has not been assembled in the West of Ireland for many years, if it ever has. It'll be a 'must' for club-runners from Galway, Mayo, Clare and further afield.

Entries for the race itself are now open online at www.runIreland.com and it may be advisable to enter soon as my sources in Loughrea tell me that pre-entries are well ahead of expectations.

More race details available on the Loughrea AC site at http://www.athleticsloughrea.com/node/36

Seminar Panelists

Catherina McKiernan.

Olive Loughnane.

Steve Jones.

Rosemary Ryan.

Maria Keane.

Pauline Curley.

Paul McNamara.

Other guests will be added to this list as the race approaches. The guests will each speak on a running related topic followed by an open forum involving a question and answer session. As part of their 40th anniversary celebrations the seminar will be open to the public free of charge.

Any questions on either road race or seminar should be directed to Barry Beirne (Club Secretary) 086-1777736 or Darragh O'Brien (Club Chairman) 087-9004525.

Panelist's Bio's

Ian O'Riordan (Chairperson)

Ian is sports correspondent with the Irish Times newspaper. He was on an athletic scholarship in the U.S. previously

Catherina McKiernan

Catherina won four consecutive silver medals in world cross country, 1992, 1993, 1994 and 1995.

She won three major marathon titles, Berlin (1997), London and Amsterdam (1998) and her fastest ever marathon was 2:23:47. Catherina competed for Ireland in the Atlanta Olympic Games and finished 11th in the 10,000M. Catherina is still heavily involved in athletics and conducts Chi Running seminars.

Paul McNamara

Paul is member of Athenry AC. Amongst his many achievements are;

National Short Course Cross Country Champion

Two time National 10k Champion (2005, 2006).

Winner of 2008 Edinburgh Marathon

Member of Irish Team at World Cross Country Championships on 4 occasions.

Member of Irish Team at European Cross Country Championships on 4 occasions.

Multiple under-age national champion in cross country, indoor and outdoor track.

Tailtean Games Champion.

Schools International Cross Country Champion.

Irish Universities Champion in cross country, indoor and outdoor tracks.

National Senior Championships individual medalist on 15 occasions.

Rosemary Ryan

One of Irelands top female distance runners Rosemary spent three years in Boston University on a sports scholarship. Also a member of Bilboa AC and competed for Ireland in the Sydney Olympics Games in 5000M. Rosemary has won numerous Irish titles including

Inter Club Cross Country 2001

Half Marathon 2003 time of 73 minutes 45 seconds

Inter County Cross Country 2003

National 10km Road Champion 2004, 2005.

Rosemary competed for Ireland in the IAAF World Cross Country and finished 19th overall helping the Irish team to bronze medals. For the record her team mates that day were 7th Sonia O'Sullivan, 10th Ann Keenan-Buckley, 62nd Maria McCambridge.

This year she ran Berlin Marathon in 2:39:31 and just missed out on the Beijing Olympic Games qualifying time.

Steve Jones

Steve is Welsh but now lives in Boulder California. He was the first Welsh athlete to appear on the cover of American running magazine "Running Times".

Steve ran both track and cross-country before coming to prominence in the marathon.

Steve ran a half marathon in 1hour 59 seconds.

Steve held the World record for the marathon which he broke in Chicago in 2:08:05.

His best marathon was 2:07:13 in Chicago this was 1 second outside the world record at the time.

In 1984 Steve achieved 3rd place in the world cross country held in New York. This was his best placing and a great achievement.

Olive Loughnane

Olive now resides in Cork but remains loyal to her home club, Loughrea AC.

Olive is heading to her 3rd Olympic Games and competes in the 20km walk.

Olive was placed 6th in the world race walking cup in Russia where she posted a personal best time 1:29:17.

She was 17th in world championships in Osaka in 2007.

12th in Paris in 2003. In 2002 Olive was13th in the European championships.

Olive won gold in the 5km walk in 21 minutes 7 seconds at the national championships held in Santry in July 2008.

Maria Keane

A qualified nutritionist Maria is a sister to Loughrea AC members Fionnuala and Annette.

Maria gave dietary advice to Rosemary Ryan before Berlin.

She will be talking about nutritional needs before, during, and after a Marathon Race. This will be sure to spark the interest.

Pauline Curley

Pauline is a member of the Tullamore Harriers Athletic Club.

Pauline was on holidays recently in Spain when she was notified of her selection to represent Ireland in the Marathon at the Beijing Olympic Games. She achieved the B standard having ran a time of 2:39:01 in Rotterdam over the 26.2 miles.

This time is 2 minutes off the A standard of 2:37 and well inside the B time of 2:42.

Pauline described her selection as a "bolt from the blue" and claims coach Mick Hayden has had sleepless nights since,

Pauline won the National Marathon in 2005 in a time of 2:42:16.

She has won the streets of Galway on four occasions 2000,2002,2003,2005.

Pauline has won the Irish runner challenge, 10 mile and half marathon all in the same year.

In 1997 Pauline was a member of the Irish team that won bronze medals in Turin.