Saturday the 25th of August next will see the first running of the Connemara Breakfast run.

This great addition to the road racing calendar in Galway is being organised as a fundraiser for under-age athletics in County Galway and has the full support of the Galway County Board of the AAI and the Connemara International Marathon.

Many Athenry AC members will know Gerry McIntyre. Gerry established the Shannon Injury Clinic a few short years ago, specialising in sports injuries, and is currently based in Peach House in the Shannon Town Centre complex. Gerry has also been one of the principal organisers behind the hugely successful Peach House 10k Road Race which has developed into one of the best events on the road racing calendar in the West. Gerry generously supported Athenry AC by providing physiotherapy services to our Twilight Track and Field Meeting in 2006.

Some photographs from the recent and highly successful Annaghdown 10k Road Race are now posted in our photo gallery.

Link below,

http://www.athenryac.com/image-galleries/anaghdown-10k-2007

The was a tremendous atmosphere in Galway this Saturday for the inaugural Spar Mile Challenge, organised in conjuction with the Athletics Association of Ireland. The citizens of Galway had been invited to the Dangan track to take on the challenge of running, jogging or walking four laps of the track and they responded with enthusiasm and in great numbers. Participants were blessed with beautiful summer weather on the day and Paul McNamara, regional development officer for the AAI , acted as host on the day.

For many club runners in and around Galway City the ‘HP’ Series lunchtime races have been a regular fixture for nearly five years now. Organised by a group of dedicated runners from the Hewlett Packard plant in the city these races are organised primarily to provide a low key competitive opportunity for recreational runners at the company and a sprinkling of running 'associates'. As the races are all organised on a handicap basis everyone that lines up has a chance to feature amongst the winners.

Whilst the attention of many Irish Athletics fans was diverted towards the Cork City Sports last weekend a small but highly talented contingent of Irish athletes travelled to London to compete in the British Milers Club meet at the Watford track. Amongst their number was GCH runner Gary Thornton who is also the current Fields of Athenry 10k Champion.

Paul Hession continued his magnificent run of form at the Cork City Sports this weekend with victory over a top class international field at the Mardyke stadium. The quality of Paul's performance was underscored by the fact that he dipped under both the meet record by a considerable margin and also the Irish record time for the distance. Paul had scorched around the 200m in only 20.43 seconds. See link to full race result below.

Representing Ireland at the European Cup in Vassa, Finland, Paul Hession has posted 10.16 breaking his own 100m record

http://live.time4results.com/yu/2007/ecvaasa/17-1-r.html
http://www.rte.ie/sport/athletics/2007/0623/athletics.html

Great stuff Paul, surely a new National 200m record in on the cards for Cork next weekend!

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European Cup 1st League Vaasa, Finland
Men 100 m
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Heat 1 Wind: +1,9
Rank # Name / Nat Result React

1 5 Guus Hoogmoed
Netherlands 10,15 0,152

Congratulations to Brendan upon being selected as a member of Adidas's
_Nothing Is Impossible_ Marathon team for Dublin 2007.

See:

http://www.galwayadvertiser.ie/content/ - Page 140 of 21 June 2007 edition
for the full article with *L* picture or attached!

Do you want to take on the Streets of Galway! Athenry AC is here to help!

Many people take on the annual Streets of Galway 8km road race as a good challenge to get themselves fit and have a bit of fun over the summer. There's less than 50 days to go and regardless of your level, Athenry AC can help.

Our main training sessions take part on Saturday mornings, and we cater for two groups.

At 10am, our meet and train takes off from the Church car park.

Ever wondered what you could run for a mile? Well, here is your chance to find out. On Saturday 7th July a series of mile races will take place at the Regional Sports Centre, Dangan as part of a nationwide event - the SPAR Mile Challenge.

Paul Hession ran magnificently at the Bislett Games in Oslo last Fridy night. On a night of high drama at the Norwegian track that included a new worlds record in the women’s 5,000m event, posted by Meseret Defar of Ethiopia, the pride of Athenry Paul ran faster than the current Irish record for 200m. It was only a wind speed marginally over the legal limit that prevented the Irishman from taking his second national record in only two weeks.

Link to Paul’s Result.

http://www.bislettgames.com/2007/results/re0020040.html

Caroline McLoughlin and Paul McNamara ran strongly in the first of the Craughwell handicap chase races for 2007. Recent Athenry AC recruit Caroline McLoughlin, fresh from the Women's Mini-Marathon in Dublin, showed that she has retained her fitness by being first home on handicap over the 5k course. The innovative handicap format used by Craughwell AC allows everyone in the field a chance of competing for top honours but Caroline demolished her handicap and came home well clear of the rest of the field.

Athenry AC star Paul Hession has a big week ahead. On Wednesday he heads to Stavanger in Norway to take part in the Exxon Mobil Stavanger Games and then next Friday he moves on to Oslo to take part in their world famous Golden League meeting, the Bislett Games.

With his brand new national record in the 100m tucked away from his recent outing in Greece his confidence must be high going into this week’s races.

The best of luck Paul!

We’ll all have the video recorders set

Start List 200m Bislett Games Oslo, 15th June 2007

19:20 200m men

2 June 2007 Update:

Paul Hession breaks Irish 100m record at a meet in Athens.

His time of 10.28 shatters the old record of 10.35 jointly held by Gary Ryan and Paul Brizzell.

Paul beat quality fields to take a 100m & 200m double.

http://www.athletix.org/Results07/Kalamata_out07.html

http://www.rte.ie/sport/2007/0603/hessionp.html

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Congratulations to Paul Hession upon his securing of valuable sponsorship
in his drive to compete in the Beijing Olympics next year.

See http://www.galwayindependent.com/sport/12026.html or below!