The Long Version of a Short Runner

Ok anyone that knows me knows that I like to talk so as it was a long race here’s a long race report.

Back in October after finishing the Dublin Marathon I felt that I could have gone further but not necessarily at that speed and maybe not another 13.1, but definitely more, so in my endorphin fuelled buzz I registered for the Connemara Ultra!

Good Luck Ray - Marathon Des Sables 2009

Fresh from his organisation of a hugely successful Connemara Marathon Weekend Ray O'Connor is on the brink of taking on the biggest challenge of his racing life. This might sound strange as many of us know that Ray completed the infamous 10-in-10 Brathay Challenge which involved running ten standard road marathons (on a hilly course) in ten days, but, Ray flies out today on the first leg of the trip that will lead him to the starting line of the Marathon des Sables.
Keep a close eye on Ray at www.rayinthedesert.com

Connemara Snapshots - Updated!!

Pictured Above: Johnny O'Connor describes the first hill out of Leenane.

The say that a picture speaks a thousand words.

Well, as I don't have time to write the thousand words here are some snapshots of the action in Connemara over the weekend. There was some fantastic racing out there amongst the hills and our club was well respresented in all three races with some stunning performances to boast of from our athletes.

Valerie Conquers Connemara

Athenry AC's Valerie Glavin produced a stunning run in the Connemara sun yesterday to claim her first Connemara Ultra Marathon title. Running strongly from the start Valerie proved immensely strong over the tough Connemara course and came home strongly over the 'Hell of the West' to the resounding cheers of her Athenry clubmates, many of whom were there to witness her triumph.

Connacht Juvenille Indoors

The Connacht indoor juvenile athletic finals were held in Nenagh recently, 42 athletes from Athenry competed in these finals where they won 7 Gold, 6 Silver and 8 Bronze medals in the individual events and 1Gold and 1 Bronze medal in the relays.
The following were the individual medal winners;
The Gold medal winners were Eilis Hynes U13 Shot Putt, Stephen Coleman U13 Shot Putt, Hannah Kindregan U16 Shot Putt, Maria Cooney in the U 15 60m Hurdles and the U15 Long Jump, Orlaith McGrath in the U15 60m and Sorcha Murphy in the U17 High Jump.

National Road Records for Masters

You can now look up the Irish Masters national records (or officially "road best performances") for the different age categories at the new website. See the URL's below for men and women, respectively. (The records for indoor and outdoor track and field will be put up shortly).

It's a fascinating read. Galway's Gerry Ryan holds the 5k record at M40 with a time of 14:23 set in 2004. Donore Harriers' Jim McNamara holds records at several age categories for 5k, 10k, and half marathon. What about his 68 mins for the half at M45?